Spiritual Gifts

Good Morning

Yesterday’s Scripture dealt with several of the gifts of the Spirit: Ephesians 4:11Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, … There are other gifts of the Spirit, found in Romans 12 and 1st Corinthians 12.:

Romans 12:6-8 (Contemporary English Version)
6God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. 7If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. 8If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (English Standard Version)
Spiritual Gifts
1Now concerning[a] spiritual gifts,[b] brothers,[c] I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says "Jesus is accursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit.
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 12:1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians’ letter; see 7:1
b. 1 Corinthians 12:1 Or spiritual persons
c. 1 Corinthians 12:1 Or brothers and sisters

Perhaps this is the first time you have ever heard of the gifts of the Spirit. If so, understand that God indwells each believer in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has several functions in our lives, one of which is to empower us to do the work of God where we never would imagine we could. Imagine being an introvert that God directs to teach a Sunday school class. Or imagine being called upon to share your testimony in front of a large group of people. Person after person I talk with will tell you that there are times that God leads them in areas they never thought they would go…and they see His hand at work when they thought it would never happen. How does it happen? The Holy Spirit makes it possible by leading and endowing the individual with the necessary gift to do the work of the ministry.

Look at some of the gifts: serving others; teaching others; encouraging others, giving; being good to others; leading; and on. Notice that not all the gifts involve standing before a congregation. As a matter of fact, many of the gifts are support gifts – faith, mercy, encouraging, giving, helps and the like. Every one of these is important to the life of the Body of Christ. No gift is more valuable than another – because each serves its purpose in evangelism and discipleship.

Bottom line: God values each one of us. God wants us to enjoy being a part of His family. He knows we are happiest when we are busy doing the work of the ministry.

As I said before, we are one brotherhood/sisterhood together. And that makes our days special.

Agape’

Mr. Jim
Fatdad5@comcast.net
"Preach the Gospel everyday - and if you have to, use words" ... St. Francis of Assisi