🌍 CONCERNING TONGUES — PART 2 OF 4

The Spirit-Filled Life: Moving Beyond Form into the Reality of New Testament Christianity

“The world does not know what real Christianity is.” — John G. Lake (quoted by Curry Blake) https://www.otakada.org/%f0%9f%8c%8d-concerning-tongues-part-2-of-4-the-spirit-filled-life/

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📖 Introduction

Many believers are content with attending church, reading their Bible, and praying occasionally. Yet the Christianity revealed in the New Testament is far more than religious observance. It is a life empowered by the Holy Spirit, overflowing with the life of God, and demonstrating the reality of Jesus Christ to the world.

In this section, Curry Blake begins to move beyond the basic understanding of tongues and Spirit baptism and introduces a deeper question:

What does a truly Spirit-filled Christian actually look like?

To answer that question, he draws heavily from the life and writings of John G. Lake, one of the most influential healing ministers of the twentieth century.

Lake had witnessed extraordinary miracles, raised up healing rooms, ministered across South Africa and America, and seen hundreds of thousands healed. Yet despite all of these accomplishments, he remained convinced that Christianity had still not fully revealed its intended glory.

That realization should challenge every believer today.

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🔥 John G. Lake’s Burden for Authentic Christianity

In a remarkable 1927 letter written to Charles Parham, John G. Lake expressed deep concern regarding the condition of Pentecostal Christianity.

Lake and several respected leaders, including E.W. Kenyon and others, had gathered together asking a simple but profound question:

“What can we do that would truly help Christianity?”

Their concern was not denominational success. It was not organizational growth. It was not building larger ministries.

Their concern was that the world still did not understand what Christianity was supposed to look like.

Lake wrote that Pentecost had demonstrated the reality of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but had not yet demonstrated the fullness of Christ’s life to the world.

His burden was not for bigger meetings.

His burden was for believers who would become living expressions of Jesus Christ.

“A group of Holy Ghost baptized souls in which dwell and through which is manifest the life of the Lord.”

That remains God’s desire today.

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🦅 Reflection

• Am I pursuing genuine transformation or merely religious activity?
• What would my Christianity look like if Christ were fully expressed through me?
• Am I satisfied with where I am spiritually?
• Have I settled for less than God’s intended purpose?

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⚔️ The Three Major Traits of a Christian

Curry Blake explains that a mature Christian is not defined by a single characteristic.

Three elements must work together.

1️⃣ The Gifts of the Spirit

These reveal God’s supernatural power.

• Healing
• Miracles
• Prophecy
• Words of Knowledge
• Words of Wisdom
• Tongues
• Interpretation
• Discernment

These gifts are given by God and often manifest suddenly.

However, gifts alone do not produce maturity.

2️⃣ The Fruit of the Spirit

Unlike gifts, fruit must be cultivated.

• Love
• Joy
• Peace
• Patience
• Kindness
• Goodness
• Faithfulness
• Gentleness
• Self-Control

Fruit develops character, stability, and spiritual endurance.

Many people have operated in spiritual gifts but later drifted into error because character never matured.

3️⃣ The Nature of God

This is the ultimate goal.

Not merely demonstrating power.

Not merely displaying good character.

But becoming a living representation of Jesus Christ.

Christ in you. Christ through you. Christ revealed by you.

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💡 Inspiration: Gifts Are Given, Fruit Is Grown

Many believers spend years pursuing power.

Few spend equal effort pursuing Christlike character.

Yet God’s intention is not merely to make us powerful.

His intention is to make us like Jesus.

The gifts attract attention.

The fruit sustains influence.

The nature of God transforms the world.

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👩 The Woman Who Drew Power from Jesus

Curry Blake uses one of the most famous healing accounts in Scripture to reveal how faith operates.

For twelve years, a woman suffered from an issue of blood.

She spent everything she had.

Doctors could not help her.

Then she heard about Jesus.

“If I may touch but His garment, I shall be whole.”

Notice her certainty.

She did not wonder if Jesus wanted to heal her.

She did not ask for permission.

She believed healing was already available.

She simply needed to connect with it.

When she touched His garment, Jesus immediately recognized that power had gone out from Him.

The lesson is profound.

The power of God was not falling from Heaven.

The power of God was flowing through a Spirit-filled vessel.

Jesus declared:

“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.”

Faith connected with available power.

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🔋 The Spiritual Battery Principle

One of Curry Blake’s most practical illustrations compares praying in tongues to charging a battery.

Years ago, telephones required users to crank a handle to generate power.

Power was generated and stored for use.

Likewise, when believers pray in tongues, they build spiritual reserves.

The Holy Spirit knows future conversations.

He knows future ministry opportunities.

He knows future challenges.

As we pray in tongues, He deposits wisdom, revelation, and insight into our spirit.

Later, when situations arise, that wisdom is released.

Praying in tongues prepares you for situations you have not yet encountered.

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🌍 John G. Lake’s Healing Post in Africa

One of the most remarkable testimonies in this section occurred during Lake’s ministry in South Africa.

Lake and his ministry companion were exhausted.

They entered a village hoping to rest.

Instead, hundreds of sick people gathered seeking healing.

Unable to minister individually, Lake approached a wooden post used in village sacrifices.

He placed his hand upon it and consciously released the life of God.

Then he instructed the people:

“Anyone who touches this post will be healed.”

Reports later claimed that thousands upon thousands came and received healing simply by touching that post.

The principle remains:

The Spirit of God within believers is real, active, and transferable through faith.

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🙌 Curry Blake’s African Testimony

While ministering in Africa, Curry encountered an elderly blind man.

The man’s grandson instructed him to wait where Curry was staying.

As Curry walked by, the blind man reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

Instantly the man’s eyes changed from milky white to clear.

His sight returned.

He walked away praising God.

Curry openly admitted he felt nothing.

No sensation.

No electricity.

No emotional confirmation.

Only results.

This teaches a vital lesson:

Faith works whether you feel something or not.

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📝 Paul’s Secret

Paul made a statement that should cause every believer to pause and think.

“I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all.”

This same Paul:

• Received extraordinary revelations.
• Wrote much of the New Testament.
• Performed miracles.
• Endured persecution.
• Changed the course of Christian history.

Could there be a connection?

Paul explained that praying in tongues allows believers to speak mysteries unto God.

These mysteries can later become revelation, wisdom, understanding, and ministry direction.

John G. Lake often prepared sermons by praying in tongues, interpreting what he prayed, and then teaching from those interpretations.

His messages were born in the Spirit before they were delivered in public.

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🏗️ Building Yourself Up

Jude gives one of the clearest instructions in Scripture:

“Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.”

Notice the responsibility.

You build yourself up.

You stir yourself up.

You cooperate with God.

Praying in tongues is one of God’s primary tools for spiritual strengthening.

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📋 Action Plan

• Pray in tongues for at least 15 minutes daily.
• Read Jude 20 every day this week.
• Meditate on Mark 5 and the woman with the issue of blood.
• Study Ephesians 5:18-19.
• Keep a journal of impressions and insights received while praying.
• Identify one area where you need greater fruit of the Spirit.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of spiritual complacency.

🤔 Personal Reflection Questions

• Am I pursuing power without character?
• What spiritual gifts operate in my life?
• Which fruit of the Spirit needs development?
• Am I intentionally building myself up in faith?
• How much time do I spend praying in the Spirit?
• What would authentic New Testament Christianity look like through me?

📢 Proclamations

Today I proclaim that I am a carrier of God’s presence. I proclaim that I am growing in character and power. I proclaim that Christ is being formed in me. I proclaim that I walk in wisdom and revelation. I proclaim that I am sensitive to the Holy Spirit. I proclaim that rivers of living water flow from my life. I proclaim that the gifts of the Spirit operate through me. I proclaim that the fruit of the Spirit grows within me. I proclaim that I reveal Jesus everywhere I go.

🔥 Declarations

• 🔥 I am filled with the Holy Spirit.
• 🔥 I carry the life of God.
• 🔥 I build myself up daily in faith.
• 🔥 I walk in divine wisdom.
• 🔥 I release the life of God wherever I go.
• 🔥 I am growing in spiritual maturity.
• 🔥 Christ is formed in me.
• 🔥 I am a vessel of honor for the Master’s use.
• 🔥 I walk in bold faith.
• 🔥 The Spirit of God flows freely through me.

🙏 Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank You that You have not called us to religious activity but to a living relationship with You. Teach us to walk in the fullness of Your Spirit. Help us to grow in gifts, fruit, and character. Deliver us from shallow Christianity. Build within us a hunger for Your presence. Teach us to pray in the Spirit. Teach us to walk in faith. Teach us to release Your life to a hurting world. May Christ be revealed in us and through us. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen. Shalom! Ambassador Godseagle Monday Ogbe Find the books via the links https://shop.otakada.org/product/concerning-tongues-the-promise-of-the-father-and-the-power-of-the-saints-by-curry-r-blake/ https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Curry_R_Blake_Concerning_Tongues_by_Curry_Blake?id=fUvaEQAAQBAJ