Like A Mighty Wind

by Mel Tari

It is just marvelous when we see the Lord Jesus prove His Word that the Bible is not an old book for people 2,000 years ago. It is more relevant than our daily newspaper. We just need to trust God for everything we need in this life. His power and His glory are sufficient for all our needs.

My brother-in-law had the first taste. I looked at his face because I thought if he smiled then it must be good. When he drank it, he smiled really big, and I said in my heart, Oh, it must be okay. Then I took the glass, and I tasted it. You know what it tasted like? It tasted exactly like water.

The Lord said to me, "Mel, there is nothing wrong." I said, "Nothing wrong! Nothing wrong, my dear! This is just old plain colored water. This isn't wine!" "Mel, you need to know what faith really means," said the Lord. "I told you it was wine. It's your tongue and mind telling you it's water. Which one are you going to believe?"

But Abraham was a man of God. Even if the whole world told him that what God said was crazy and impossible, he knew it was possible, because God said so. He stood on the Word of God. He wasn't looking at the circumstances. He was looking to God and His promises.

Now that I have been in America, I realize that America's greatest problem is that the Church doesn't recognize that demonic power is real. Satan has blinded your eyes until you do not even see the problem.

We have so many people in the churches who trust God for salvation and healing only. I don't approve of Christians like this. This is like buying a ticket to a ball game. You only want to get in, not be a player. It is selfish; like self-enjoyment. There must be more of a purpose to the Christian life than this.

My dears, God didn't create man only for this shallow life. If that is all there is to it, we would probably be a bother in heaven. His purpose is not only to save us; God wants us to have a deeper life with Him. God wants our lives to be lived with a purpose and to bring benefit to His kingdom. For that, Jesus needs to help us to minister in a deeper way to people's needs.

The more I have traveled in America, the more aware I have become that many people in the churches have a brokenness or a wound because of past experiences. In the hearts of most Americans, there is bitterness, hurt, or something. The result is that they feel bad inside and have no power or joy. In counseling many, I have discovered that this is something from their past. Sometimes from their childhood or teenage years. Even when they become Christians and they have forgiven, often the bitterness and hate are still there. Many never think of giving it to the Lord for healing.

"Has somebody done something in your past that has hurt you and even though you have forgiven them, the injury is still there?"

I would say that 95 percent of the root of American sickness is spiritual and only 5 percent real physical problems. The nervous breakdowns are mostly caused by spiritual problems because of the tension, doubt, worry, and fear.

Most Americans are so blind to demonic powers that they think they are hearing God, when it is really Satan. We can't blame most of the people. For if sheep do not have green grass, they will eat dry leaves.

Why do people go to fortunetellers and look at the horoscope? It is because the church has lost the gift of prophecy. So the church member finds out about the future from the demons. All this demon power is a counterfeit of the spiritual gifts.

Two things happen when people read the horoscopes. First, they have committed sin because God said, "Don't do it!" Second, a demon binds them. For this bondage, they don't need forgiveness, they need deliverance. These two things are totally different.

We should pray, and if we have ten bondages, we should renounce them one by one in the name of Jesus. By renouncing them, we set ourselves free.

The same is true of bondage by demonic powers. One is to do it ourselves by playing with astrology or evil things. The second way is to be bound because our forefathers committed the sin. Now because of the curse, the demons are driving us to do the same sins in this generation.

You know, it's a funny thing: when you trust Jesus, He takes away fear and worry.

when you have His peace, you don't get sick too often.

We wouldn't know the way, but we just followed the light. When we would follow the light, we would always come to the exact place where the Lord wanted us to go.

God always does miracles for a purpose.

we can't expect God to perform miracles if we do not have a need. We must remember that God has a purpose in every miracle.

When I came unto this truth, I said, "Lord, I don't only want the well of water springing up to everlasting life, but I want the rivers of living water out of my belly - even though I don't understand what that is. Please reveal it to me."

began to realize what Jesus meant when He spoke of a well of living water springing up into everlasting life and rivers of water that flow out. The well of water goes up to everlasting life but has nothing to do with other people; it is between God and me. Rivers of water that flow out have not only something to do with me, but with my fellow man as well.

The well is where you personally have water; the river is where the water flows out and reaches others.

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

"Just pray for them. You are not the healer. I, Jesus Christ, am the healer. You have told them about Me; now let Me do the job."

Maybe the most important reason I didn't like tongues was because I hadn't experienced that gift myself. I used my own experience as the standard and not the Bible. That is the problem of many people.

But we in the non-Pentecostal evangelical churches are so prejudiced against even the word tongues, we get mad at people who even know about tongues. If we had the power, many of us would take out the chapters or verses in the Bible that refer to tongues and just forget about them. But I believe that since Jesus spoke about tongues, and the Bible speaks to us about tongues, there must be something to it.

God spoke to me again and said, "Sure, Mel, the gift of tongues is a small thing, but why do you refuse it? If you receive it, not because it is small or big, you honor the person who gives it to you."

Many persons say they honor God, but for sure they don't honor God, because when they speak about tongues, they just hate it, and they say, "I don't like that small, funny, gibbering thing."

How can we say that God's gift is a funny, gibbering thing and say we don't need it? We should honor God and receive everything He wants to give us, whether it's large or small. Anyone can receive a big gift, but when we rec...

Let me ask you a question. Have you been to heaven? No, you haven't been there. Nor have I been there. Not one of us has been there. Yet we call heaven our home. But if we used our experience as a standard, we would have to forget about heaven, because no one has been there. What is our standard? The Bible is our standard. Why do we believe in heaven? Because the Bible says so.

But my experience can never be the standard. The Bible must be my standard.

The question is, why did Simon get excited and want that power? Why didn't he want it before? He had seen miracles, the casting out of demons, and the joy. Why didn't all those things move him? When they received the Holy Ghost, he wanted that power. The Bible doesn't say that they spoke in tongues. But something took place outwardly so that Simon wanted that power.

Oh, the Bible is wonderful. We just need to open our hearts and pray that Jesus will make it clear to us.

The important thing is to be foolish enough to believe God.

Finally, I had come to the point where I realized that tongues was something wonderful; that God would give the gift of tongues to me for my personal relationship with my dear and wonderful Father. It would edify me, and the Spirit of God would enable me to communicate with God.

Finally, God reminded me of the song of Wesley, where it says, "One thousand tongues is not enough to praise the wonderful Savior, my mighty Redeemer."

I believe that if someone asks the Lord by faith to baptize him or her unto the Holy Spirit, he or she receives it right then. Since the baptism of the Holy Spirit comes by faith, we know that we are baptized because of faith.

By this biblical promise, we can know that our Christian life is not built simply upon experiences, but upon the Word of God. Because the Word of God says so - that is where I stand on this position.

I feel that it is this idea that we should stress to people who are seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They are to accept it by faith. Their purpose in speaking in tongues is not to feel good. It is done because the Bible says to do it. Jesus said that He would baptize you unto the Holy Spirit as you ask. As we understand this basic idea, we progress. Our lives are to be built upon the right foundation, which is the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.

It is my belief now that tongues, which may arrive sooner or later, is the development in the Holy Spirit whom the Christian received earlier by faith.

First of all, a person must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith and not on the basis of his experience of speaking in tongues whatsoever.

If our love is growing more and more, it follows that after 1a, we will abound in love, not only to God but also, as in part 1b, to our fellow men.

The power of the Holy Spirit can be manifested in two ways: in 2a by the winning of souls to Christ and in 2b by the miracles and wonders that are possible to follow.

Paul emphasizes the order of how to worship, whether publicly or privately. In my thinking, this justifies putting order into the third section with worship under it. And this is the third part of our life where we will grow as we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It must be divided into two parts. Under 3a, write "private," and under 3b, write "public."

I have learned that as we develop in the fruit of love, we will also grow in the fullness of power. The more you love men, the greater you long to have the Lord use you to help them find Him.

especially for those who want to serve the Lord. The first thing is obedience. We need to obey the Lord. Throughout the entire Bible, we can see how God could use men in a marvelous way when they obeyed Him. It is very important to know His will and obey Him.

The Still, Small Voice God also speaks through the still, small voice. This is the Holy Spirit speaking to our thoughts. It is very difficult to explain this in words. Most Christians experience this type of call perhaps more than any other. You just feel inside this is what you should or shouldn't do. This feeling is often apart from your own reasoning. If you feel uneasy or pushed, it's the devil. Jesus leads; He never pushes. He gives His peace.

God also speaks through His Word in our everyday meditation. Every Christian should read the Bible daily and let God speak to him.

When you go to a school with a special calling, knowing what God wants you to do, you can prepare yourself in the right way according to the purpose that God has for you. This is my prayer for you young men and women who will read this book. Don't just hope that some day He will call you to a certain direction, but seek and know that God has a divine purpose for your life.