How many layers!?

I have been thinking lately about how when I first became a Christian I was made aware of the "revelation" of the Holy Spirit that had swept the church within fairly recent years, say 100 years or less. Before that people were content to just be Christians. Since then some have sort to be "empowered" by the Holy Spirit.

So, there are two layers, saved and Baptised in the Spirit! Lately I have heard about the idea that there is a "Favour" of God. So now, we have to be born again, be Spirit filled and come into the "breakthrough" of blessing!

The idea here is that we come to a point, by seeking God and fulfilling certain requirements whereby we are open to a special blessing from God, wealth, health, ease of life. It kind of sounds a lot like the faith by works the Old Catholics used to peddle.

When you look at scripture and especially the people in scripture, you can find some who seem to have "breakthroughs." Take Joseph, he was someone who seems to have had it hard all his life then suddenly he was blessed with position, power, wealth and recognition even from his own family. However, if you examine him more closely you see that he was actually blessed all along. He was favoured by his dad, favoured by Potiphar, favoured in the prison and so on. It was the the breakthrough that brought the blessing, it was the blessing that brought the breakthrough.

When a baby is born you never hear anyone getting worked up because it hasn't got any teeth. I mean it can't be right! We all have teeth yet no one seems to care that babies don't have them! They even let them out of hospital without saying anything! Nothing is said, is this not a concern?! Of course not! The baby has got teeth, they are just in the gum, out of sight and ready to come out in their own good time. Just by growing the teeth come.

It isn't by a special operation that they come. In the same way our "breakthrough" doesn't come by a special prayer or anything, it comes by growth. I'm not even sure what I mean by "breakthrough!" I think that the point is, it's not by going from counsellor to counsellor, or from prayer ministry to prayer ministry. It's not by jumping through hoops it's by growing.

A tree that crack the pavement did it just by growing. They didn't expect the tree to win, they thought the pavement would stop the tree, but even a hard pavement can't stop a tree growing.