To Jerusalem, Again

Good morning,

It is quite early here in my locale, and I only slept for about 5 hours.  When I was awake on my bed and praying the Lord sent me this scripture reference - - John 12:12, with the label "healing verse".  I could not remember what that verse said.  So, naturally, curiosity won out; I had to get up and look it up.  This is what I found:

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

John 12:12

In our church family many of us have been praying over several heartbreaking situations that have happened in the past two weeks, particularly in the last three days, and especially yesterday. Specifically, we have been praying for a miracle healing.  So, when the Lord burned this verse into my feeble mind, I was eager to go look it up.

Upon reading it, my first thought was, "What?!"  This verse seems to have nothing to do with the current prayer burden.  I have sat here and pondered and prayed over it.  This verse begins to tell the story of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  On the surface, it seemed so irrelevant and random that I truly wanted to reject it and not even blog about it.  The word "crazy" comes to mind...

Yesterday, I was reading about a young mother in our congregation who was reading the Bible story of Jonah and the whale to her young son.  He said to her, "That's a crazy book, Mama!", to which she thought, "Yes, I just love our crazy God."  Bless her!

The Holy Spirit moves in ways we cannot fully comprehend.  So, I'm going to be obedient and run with this verse today.  If you want to come along, "put on your crazy" and let's go.

What does this verse have to do with healing?  Malachi 4:2 prophesied of Jesus's first coming and how He would bring healing to all those who, by revering the name of the Lord God Almighty, hide under His wings.

But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves.

When Jesus was fulfilling other scriptures by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, He was bringing with Him the healing that would allow all people who trust in Him to be reconciled to God.  In that sense, He came to Jerusalem during that Passion Week long ago to fulfill the will of His Father and to sacrifice Himself for our spiritual healing.  He, the Sun of Righteousness, came to Jerusalem with "healing in His wings".  His healing is a forever healing, one that cannot be revoked, one that makes our spirits fat and prosperous, like calves that are pampered and given the best food.

I've heard preachers say that references to Jerusalem can be interpreted as references to where we live/reside at the moment.  In that sense, Jerusalem would mean for me the greater Atlanta area.  Is Jesus coming to visit us here?  Is He bringing healing to the specific situation about which many of my brothers and sisters have been laboring in prayer?  We have been praying for a healing miracle. Is it on the way?  God is Sovereign.  His very love for us is in itself a miracle of healing.  Even so, unless He makes it very clear otherwise, I am choosing to have faith in His miraculous healing power.  I am putting my faith in Him for a healing miracle.

When the pre-incarnate Jesus was visiting Abraham and Sarah, He told them that Sarah would soon give birth to a son.  When Sarah laughed, He asked "Is anything too difficult for the LORD?" (Gen. 18:14).  The only true God, my Savior, Jesus Christ, can do anything.  He can raise the dead, and will.  He can heal any sickness.  He can bind up any wounds - - physical, mental, spiritual.  He can cure addictions to the vilest of drugs.  He can mend the most devastated and broken of hearts. His power and greatness are limitless!

Trust in the LORD forever, for in GOD the LORD we have an everlasting Rock.

Isaiah 26:4 

Another application could be that maybe God is speaking to my heart about the specific city of Jerusalem.  Things are heating up in the Middle East.  It certainly appears that we are living in what is commonly referred to as "the end times".  Many believe that Jesus' return is imminent.  Perhaps His return to Jerusalem is near.  This time, He won't be riding in meekly, on a donkey.  He will return with His Beloved and with all the heavenly hosts, as the Triumphant King.  I look forward to being with Him, on that great day.

Loving Father, You do all things well.  Your ways are perfect.  Your love is complete and eternal.  I pray for Jesus to come to Jerusalem...again, for Your honor and glory.  In my Savior's name, that Name which is above every name, I pray, amen.

Embraces and Heartbeats

Good afternoon,

When I picture David in my mind, the first mental picture is of him dancing in fearless, fervent praise before His Lord (2 Samuel 6:12-14).  He was leading a parade down "main street", leaping and dancing, wearing nothing but a linen ephod (whatever that is).  I think it's safe to assume that he was scantily clad...

This behavior may make us shake our heads in wonder and maybe even have a sanctimonious response as did one of David's wives, Michal, (vs. 16).  It is David's same exuberant love for His God that led him to write Psalm 150.

1 

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary!

Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength!

2 

Praise him for his mighty acts!

Praise him for his surpassing greatness!

3 

Praise him with the blast of the horn!

Praise him with the lyre and the harp!

4 

Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing!

Praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!

5 

Praise him with loud cymbals!

Praise him with clanging cymbals!

6 

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

In addition to being a masterful musician (harpist and songwriter) ... and apparently dancer, the Bible tells us that David was "a man after God's own heart" (Acts 13:22).  The Message translation puts it like this:   He’s a man whose heart beats to my heart, a man who will do what I tell him.

Some of the sweetest moments in life come from embraces:  holding a newborn loved one, lying in bed with your spouse, holding in your arms a loved one who is insane with grief.  In those embraces and in others our hearts beat together.  Our spirits commune with one another as we share love with each other. Our hearts beat to their hearts.

When we pray together, even across time and space, our hearts are beating together.  It is such a mystical truth that, when we lift up our hearts in prayer together, our united "heartbeats" touch the heart of our Father in Heaven, hallowed be His matchless name!

David was a man who was not without troubles; neither are we.  In fact, if you look at God's blessing on your life as an absence of troubles, you will be deceived.  David was chased by Saul (Ps. 59 & 63) or frequently defended himself against enemies (Ps. 7) or had to deal with the many ungodly antics of his sons (2 Samuel).  Despite his challenges and hardships, we still see his name in the Hebrews 11 roll call of faith and this commendation in Acts 13:22.  Why is that?!

No matter what David was experiencing, he almost always ran into the embrace of His God.  Often, he wrote a psalm while there.  When God was holding David in His arms, David was able to hear the heartbeat of God, in all kinds of situations - - - wonderful ones...and awful ones.

This is one of the greatest things about prayer, no matter what circumstance impels us to pray.  We may arrive there frantic, desperate or thankful or joyful or serene.  But, no matter what our state when we arrive, He embraces us so that we can feel and hear His heartbeat, so that our hearts can align with His, so that we can discern His will or, if not discerning it, so that we can pray that His will will be done here in the middle of our circumstances.

I'll be honest.  There are times when I don't want to pray that His will will be done in a given situation.  Or, there are other things the Holy Spirit prompts me to do, and I don't want to do them. Does that ever happen to you?  But, the verse in Acts tells us that a key to why David's heart did beat steadily with God's was not just because he crawled up into God's lap; it was also because David was consistently obedient to God's revealed will.  The New King James Version puts the end of Acts 13:22 like this:  a man "who will do all my will".

"I will arise and go to Jesus.  He will embrace me in His arms.  In the arms of my dear Savior, oh, there are 10,000 charms." 1

His heartbeat...can you hear it?

Dear Father, thank you for Your all-surpassing greatness, Your perfect knowledge in every situation, Your flawless plan.  Thank you for calling us to a life of walking by faith, which has as a perk the permission to run and jump up into your lap on a moment's notice.    Thank you for sharing Your heart with us, as we walk in obedience to Your Word, and as we draw near to You.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Source:
1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LFW6pXC2wk  I love this choral arrangement of the old hymn...

A Heavy Shield

Good morning,

Horatio Spafford was a successful, young businessman in Chicago, when the Great Chicago Fire broke out in 1871.  The fire killed many hundreds of people and destroyed the Chicago business district where Spafford was heavily invested.  The fire was followed by a severe economic downturn in America.  Spafford and his wife had planned to travel to England; but, having some business to finish, he sent his wife and four daughters on ahead, with plans to follow them soon.

Tragically, the ship on which the Spafford ladies traveled, SS Ville du Havre, was involved in a terrible collision with another ship and rapidly sank.  All four of the Spaffords' daughters perished in the accident.  His wife, alone, was saved.

Ephesians 6:16 says this:

"In every situation, take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."

Shortly after receiving word his daughters had died, Spafford made the lonely journey across the sea to reunite with his grieving wife.  Although brokenhearted, as he passed the area where the collision had occurred, he wrote the words to that now-famous hymn:  "It is Well With My Soul".

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well with my soul,
     It is well, it is well with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG525x2mUTU

It is "reasonable" to have faith when things are smooth and silky.  When a boulder comes crashing down on us, faith seems almost repugnant. Sometimes, the idea of having faith in the face of tragedy makes us angry.  In his hideous circumstances, Spafford found peace because he deliberately chose to take up the shield of faith and use it to quell Satan's attacks on his life.

Faith and trust in Him who loves us perfectly is the only worshipful response.  Even when we don't feel His love, it never fails.  Even when we don't understand His ways, His love for us is constant and everlasting. Faith and only faith during desperate times will draw us close to Him.  Only faith will bring us new life and new victory.

"In every situation..."

Faith in times of heartbreak or desperation is counterintuitive.  So is giving thanks.  Yet, we are also commanded to respond thankfully in all situations (1 Thess. 5:18) What kind of mentally ill person gives thanks or praises the name of the Lord or declares her faith in her Savior during times of tragedy?  Illogical!  Unreasonable!  Still, that is what we are commanded to do.

Look at the example of David, who begged and prayed that God would spare his toddler son.  When the word came that the child had died, David said and did this:

18Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he did not listen to our voice. How then can we tell him that the child is dead, since he might do himself harm!” 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the LORD and worshipped. 

2 Samuel 12:18-20

We read in the book of Job, chapter 1 that, when told all 10 of his children had been killed in a massive storm, Job said this:

"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Job 1:21

What faith!
Truly, these are examples of faith which is supernatural.

My heart is broken when friends and loved ones lose a son or daughter, husband or wife, mother or father, sister or brother, precious friend without warning, being emotionally unprepared for the onslaught of Satan's flaming arrows.  I can't pretend to understand the depth of their grief.  I can't even say that I would take up the shield of faith like David did, as Job did.  I probably wouldn't.

In fact, I'd probably rant and rave, scream and cry like a banshee.  At best, I MIGHT respond more like Jesus's friend, Martha did, when she said to the Lord,

"If You had been here, my brother would not have died."  

(John 11:21)  

While that statement expresses great faith and deep belief, it also carries a taint of accusation, a questioning of why Jesus allowed Lazarus to die in the first place.  What did Jesus ask Martha to do? He asked her to have faith in Him.

40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

(John 11:40)

There is only one way that such faith is possible.  Faith is the gift of God, both for salvation and for salvation...the eternal salvation that will carry us to Heaven and the salvation of our sanity through the cataclysmic events of this earthly life.  Only through the power and work of the Holy Spirit can we take up the shield of faith in the face of flaming arrows.  Only He can give true peace.

A few days ago, a young man in his early 30s dropped dead suddenly.  He was a godly young man, a member of a large, Baptist church here in my area.  He left behind a Christian wife and three young children.  Yesterday, his widow walked into a local bank and spoke with the teller, who is a member of our church's college youth group.  The young widow testified to my younger friend about the supernatural faith and peace God has given her through her horrible ordeal, how He continues to sustain her and how she is confident He will carry her through the difficult days ahead.  The world is not worthy of such faith (Hebrews 11:38).

Heavenly Father, there are times when the shield is so heavy that only through the supernatural power or Your Holy Spirit can we even contemplate lifting it.  As we reach to pick it up, we are reminded that You are near to the brokenhearted and that you save those whose spirits have been crushed (Ps. 34:18-19).  Oh LORD, please be that everlasting, all-encompassing Comforter to them in their pit of despair and deliver them.  Deliver them through their grief.  Pour out your healing on their wounded spirits. Although it may seem that joy has fled forever, restore Your joy to them again.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vG525x2mUTU

Eternal Love + Perfect Understanding

Good morning,

Saturday afternoon while cruising social media I was horrified to learn that the husband of a dear friend had died. Suddenly.  What a tremendous shock that was to us, one of those smackdowns that just really pulls you up short.  It was not an "accidental" death.  He unexpectedly died of physical causes.  Hubster and I are so grieved for our friend's loss of her beloved husband.  I've been thinking about that a lot since then.

I had cooked a dinner Saturday night that was convenient for me, but not one of Hubster's favorites.   He was in a foul mood over his sports team losing (badly) that afternoon and (uncharacteristically) said that he just did not want that dinner I had prepared.  Thinking about how blessed I was to have him alive and sitting there spouting such "heresy", in total love and gratitude I offered to cook him anything he wanted.  "SPAM it is!  Coming right up!"

Sigh!
Love never fails.

Oh, my love for my husband frequently fails.  His love for me is imperfect.  I wrote on Saturday morning about "Mylanta Darlings", our loved ones who try our very souls from time to time.

But, I'm convinced of this scriptural truth: real love never fails.

God's perfect love for us certainly never fails.  I'm convinced that, in a similar manner, our God-like, selfless love for our loved ones will carry on into eternity as well.  The difference is that, here, our love for each other is still a poor imitation of God's love for us.  But, in Heaven, our love for each other will be perfect!

See, when we love each other on Earth, selflessly, imitating the way that Christ loved us, such agape love is eternal.  I'm so glad that our friends who suffered this sudden separation are Christians: strong, devoted believers.  I don't doubt at all that he is with our Savior.  I don't doubt at all that, when her time on earth is done, she will be in Heaven as well.  And, I believe that their love will be rekindled in that heavenly realm.

True, Jesus said that there would be no marrying or giving in marriage in Heaven.  That truth does not negate the love we have for one another.  Married or not, we will still love one another on the other side.  If we delight in each other here, we will delight in each other there.  If the souls of believers connect here, they will likewise re-connect there, with perfect love.

Before I left on the Peru trip, I bid my sons good-bye.  Telling the older one good-bye, I put my hand on his chest and said, "If the unthinkable happens, you will know where to find me. And, you know The Way there."

8-10 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11 When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12 We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13 But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 Cor. 13:8-13 The Message

Love never dies.  What a beautiful promise!  Separation from our loved ones, where they are in Heaven with our Savior and we are still here - - - is only for a brief moment, when measured in light of eternity.  I will see my loved ones again, because they, like me, were and are His!  He has promised not to lose any of those who belong to Him (John 17:12).

Next, Paul reveals another precious promise from God.  What a delightful surprise!  Listen now...

We will know, even as we are known 

(1 Cor. 13:12).  

Can you even imagine?
Aren't there times when it bursts out of you - - you have to rant and rave and scream, "I do not understand!!"  "Why, Lord?  Why?"  (Or, "Why not, Lord, why not?!")

The translator of The Message version describes us as squinting through a fog, other translations as trying to see our reflection in a poor quality mirror.  There is much that we don't understand on this side of eternity.  Very much.

How well does God know us?  Perfectly, completely!  He created each of us, after all.  He knows us "inside and out".  The apostle Paul, writing under divine inspiration, declares that....as well as God knows each of us, so will we then know Him.

Wait, WHAT?  Can you even conceive of knowing, loving and understanding God that well?  It blows my mind.  The old gospel song goes like this:

"By and by, when the morning comes, when the saints of God are gathered home, we will tell the story, how we've overcome, and we'll understand it better, by and by."1

Well....no.  That's not what Paul says.  He doesn't say we'll understand it better.  He declares with confidence that we will understand it perfectly!

Don't doubt it, for nothing is impossible with God (Matt. 19:26).

Now, to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.    
(Ephesians 3:20-21)

Source:
1 http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/w/e/welunder.htm

Mylanta Darlings

Good morning,

So here we are at 1 Corinthians 13, what the apostle Paul called at the end of chapter 12 "a more excellent way".  He urges us in verses 1-3 to give love the preeminence.

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body [a]to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

In other words, instead of fixating on this spiritual gift or that one, focus on love. After all, Jesus said, "by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Whole books have been written about this one chapter of the Bible!  There is so much wisdom here. This chapter is ultra-important because "love" is often misunderstood and the term so frequently misapplied.  Fortunately, if you wonder "Is this love?", you can measure it by the standard in 1 Cor. 13.

This past week a group from my church was involved in sharing love with a young person, although she did not recognize it as such.  There are times when love does not seem .... well, "loving".  Love does not rejoice in sin or unrighteousness (vs. 6).  Instead, love seeks the truth, promotes the truth, speaks the truth.  Sometimes, that is not well-received.  There are times when, "love must be tough".  Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, wrote a landmark book with this very title.

Tough love is not legalism or self-righteous condemnation of another.  Rather, it is knowing the right way and urging, exhorting others to walk in it.   One of the reasons this is so unpopular today is that truth and love are inexorably linked!  One cannot exist without the other. Yet, in our American culture, it is deemed impolite to take a stand for truth.  "How dare you tell me how to live my life?!" is the mantra of modern American culture.

In response to this, we who know the Truth, we the Light-Bearers, we the Salt of the Earth frequently cower and shrink and back-pedal our testimony.  That is not love, Friends.  That is spiritual cowardice.

Of course, we must be sensitive to the Spirit in how we communicate Jesus Christ's exclusive message of love and truth.  We must not run rough-shod over people and piously proclaim, "Well, you certainly needed to hear THAT!"  No, that is not the Christian way either.

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails;

Nothing challenges our belief in love more keenly than our closest personal relationships - - - our family.  Nothing has tested my understanding of love as much as being a mother of two rowdy, headstrong boys.  My husband is easy to love; he is a dream!  That is because he is one of the most unselfish, loving people I have ever known.  My teenage boys, on the other hand ... "Oh Mylanta!", as the saying goes!  Pass the antacid!

We all, at some time, have a Mylanta Darlin' in our lives.

Bears all things,

Believes all things,

Hopes all things,

Endures all things,

Love never fails.

Isn't that how God deals with us, His children?  Oh, the beauty of His perfect love, His agape love!  I figure I'm His "Mylanta Darlin'" each and every day.  Still, at the moment the foundations of the world were laid, He made the decision to pour Himself out for me, broken and spilled out, dead, buried and resurrected, and now reigning with the Father....all for me.  He calls me to pour myself out for others in that same way.

"By THIS all men will know"....

Loving Heavenly Father, you KNOW that I have not mastered this.  Please forgive me for how often I fall short, especially in the area of "believing all things" that are true, in holding fast to Your faithful promises.  Give me that perfect love, that love that never fails, so that "all men will know".  In Jesus' name, amen.

Gifts, Small and Great

Good morning,

I've waded into a difficult passage this morning, 1 Corinthians 12:14-31.  Because of its length I won't reproduce it here.  If you don't go read it, however, you will be lost.  Here is a link, to make things easy:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+12%3A14-31&version=NASB

The essential difficulty of this passage is the seeming contradiction contained in it.
First of all, Paul is saying that all of the spiritual gifts are as necessary as each part of the human body is necessary.  But, then, later (in verses 28-31), he seems to imply that some of the gifts are more special and important than others.

I love the analogy of the Church to the human body.  (Paul expounds on this also in Ephesians 1 and 4.)  Each believer is created by God, according to His perfect foreknowledge.  Each is a miracle. Each is designed to work beautifully together.  It is God that constructs the body in the womb of the mother.  It is God who gifts each new believer.  It is God who leads believers to the local churches, along with the gifts each received at the time of his/her conversion (salvation).  He builds churches according to the giftedness of each individual member.

And, here is a powerful truth - - -
To the extent each of those members yields to the Holy Spirit, walks in obedience to the Word of God and exercises his or her spiritual gifts, the local church grows.
(Now, there are exceptions to this.  There are, for example, churches which have unhealthy growth, based on false teaching and deception.  Satan will pervert anything that is of God, even the growth of the local church.)

Diversity of gifts is healthy.  Where there is little diversity, there is an overabundance of uniformity. Uniformity is not the same as unity. We should pray for and work for unity of purpose in our churches, while we celebrate the diversity of our spiritual gifts.

Another distortion of the devil's is to persuade us to honor some spiritual gifts more than others. Paul seems to confirm this false teaching by mentioning how the Church got started, through the work of the apostles (that gift was preeminent in spreading the gospel initially), prophets, teachers and so on.

Yet, Paul speaks of this to "call out" the false teaching and frame the truth correctly.  Some gifts are more "important" for specific times.  Some are more "showy" in that they seem more effective in leading others to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  Evangelism is one of those, for example. Healing is another.  Yet, all the spiritual gifts are necessary, whether they are "pretty" or "flamboyant" or "sensational".... or not.  After all, you can live without some of the more visible parts of the body (ears, eyes, hands, feet, face); but, it's hard to live without some of the "less honorable" parts (the elimination system, the heart, the brain, etc.)

What, then, does Paul mean when he says, "Earnestly desire the greater gifts, and I will still show you a more excellent way" (verse 31)?  How can we "desire" something that is not part of our individual "gift package" the Holy Spirit gives us at the time of our salvation experience?

There ARE "greater gifts", and they are the heritage of every believer, in addition to their customized "gift package" from the Holy Spirit.  They are gifts found in every Christ follower, every child of the King: faith that leads to salvation by grace alone (Ephesians 2:8), justification (Romans 5:1 - being made positionally right with God forever), sanctification (John 17:17 - the continual purifying we can have through the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, in this earthly life), glorification (Philippians 3:20-21 - when we finally are totally free from sin, see Him face-to-face and are with him eternally). Inherent in each of these stages are the gifts of righteousness, joy, peace and love, the beautiful anointing oils of the Holy Spirit onto and into our own spirits (Romans 14:17).  We should every day earnestly desire these extraordinary, available-to-all-believer gifts!

In the next chapter, Paul shows us "a more excellent way", as he describes that ultimate mark of the Christian, the spiritual gift of Christ-like love.

Lord Jesus, you know I have truly wrestled with this post today.  There were (good) distractions.  I could not find things I wanted.  I believe this post to be horribly imperfect.  But, I pray that you will anoint it with Your matchless grace and use it in my life and in the lives of those who read it, as I pray for all my "almost daily" posts.  It is not about me; it is about You, and all of this (sometimes seemingly wretched mess) is offered up for Your honor and glory alone.  All love and praise to You, my King!  Amen.

To Each His Own

Good morning,

I don't hear that English expression much anymore, the title of this post.  In years past, I heard it often, to explain a person's choices or preferences.  I chose it for a slightly different meaning in the context of this post.

Yesterday I was telling a dear friend about the Peru trip.  She lamented the fact that she could not go. Not that she could not afford to go, but that she did not have the emotional endurance to go.  It is plain as can be that her spiritual gifts are different than mine.  The Holy Spirit has gifted her differently.  For example, while I have a small measure of the gift of hospitality, she has a heaping helping!  I love that about her.  She has the ability to make everyone feel welcome and loved.

God has equipped each of us differently so that, although we are united in our purpose to serve our Savior, we have the gifts to do that in a number of different ways.  Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 (NET)

With regard to spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were often led astray by speechless idols, however you were led. 3 So I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are different ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are different results, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. 7 To each person the manifestation of the ZonaSpirit is given for the benefit of all. 8 For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as he decides to each person, who produces all these things.

When preparing to go to Peru, the leader of Zona Zegura asked that I prepare teachings for the women on "the woman's leadership role in the church".  As I prayed about what to teach, the Holy Spirit led me to begin with personal holiness (although that segment ended up being taught by the other teacher, my pastor; so, I omitted that segment), then to move on to the woman's leadership role in the home, and then after proper spiritual authority had been established, the topic of spiritual gifts. I'm not going to reproduce that teaching here.

The point is this:  we must embrace the spiritual gifts the Lord has given us.  Why?  Because He gave them to us so that we can bless others, both within the Body of Christ and outside it as well.  Some gifts are given primarily for the unbelieving world (the gifts of evangelism and healing, for example) and others primarily for the building up of the Christian fellowship (the Body of Christ).  An example of that would be the gift of teaching.

The crux of this passage is in the underlined verses above.
1.  We are not the source of our spiritual gifts.  We receive them the moment we accept Jesus as Savior because it is at that moment the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.
2.  Because we are not the source of our gifts, we cannot take the credit for them nor can we accept any praise that comes from the use of our gifts.  Verse 11 clearly states that it is the Holy Spirit who produces both the gifts and the results of exercising them.
3.  It is SO important to remember that the purpose of our gifts is not only to benefit others, but also to glorify God.  Some of the gifts - - healing, for example, should always lead to a praise session and an invitation to others/observers to accept Christ, the One who performed the healing.

Finally, a common mistake we make in the Body of Christ is to glorify some gifts above others.  In fact, some use this "excuse" to not exercise their own gifts.  However, Paul goes on to say that this is a deception and a trap from the evil one.  Our gifts should bring unity, not disunity, peace not discord or dissension or envy or strife.  We'll examine those verses tomorrow.

Dear Father, I praise You for the gifts you give to Your children.  Each new day is an opportunity to use mine to advance Your kingdom, to encourage and support Your children, to bring You all the glory!  May it be done in my life today.  In Jesus' name, amen.