31 Days of Healing: Gifts of the Spirit

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:  You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.  Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.- 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (NKJV)

The other night I woke up thinking about the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12. Several thoughts came to mind.

One, the gifts are of the Spirit of God. It requires Him moving through us and within us for them to work. We do not work them on our own at will. (Interestingly, it is the same with the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5.  We have to learn to yield to the Holy Spirit on the inside of us, and it will grow.)

Another thought is they are spiritual gifts, not natural. This kind of builds on my first thought. They cannot be physically seen, and we cannot work them, but He works them through us, as we learn how to yield to Him and the gift.

The last thought, the gifts are spiritual, but will solve problems in the natural. Gifts of healings for example. If the Holy Spirit works through a person with this gift, when it manifests, healing will take place in a person's life. You can see that. All believers are called to lay hands on the sick, but this is a gift that moves as the Holy Spirit wills. If you look at the life of Jesus, you can see this gift working, as many of the other gifts. He is our example. Often people got healed because of their faith in Him in the Gospels, but other times, it was this gift in manifestation. You can look at all the gifts from this perspective.

There are many things we can expect as Believers, through prayer, and other promises that God has for us, but these gifts are supernatural and moved by the Spirit of God on the inside of us.

Many blessings as you continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him,

Beth

Important Parts of the Body of Christ

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees;" for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.- 1 Samuel 16:7

The above scripture comes from the story in the Bible where Samuel was choosing the next King of Israel from among Jesse's sons. Jesse had sons that were warriors, and by all outward appearances, would have made a better king than David. David was a shepherd.

Sometimes people make this same mistake. They look at people's status or their jobs, and think that is so great, and they make the perfect servants for the Kingdom. But with God, this is not so.

In the Gospels, Jesus chose people who looked like unlikely candidates. He chose fishermen and tax collectors to be his servants. He didn't pick them because of their status in life. The Bible doesn't really say why He chose them in particular, but if we go by the above scripture in Samuel, it was because He saw something you and I cannot see.

In the book of Acts, there is a story about a disciple named Ananias. You can find it in Acts 9. In that story, Jesus calls to him in a vision and tells him to go and find a man named Saul and restore his sight. The account doesn't give us any information, no titles, no big labels, just he was a "disciple." Ananias, a "disciple" hears specific instructions from the Lord, and obeys Him. The result is Saul of Tarsus, later to be known Paul, writes 2/3 of the New Testament that we have today.

In 1 Corinthians 12, we find information about the Body of Christ. Verses 23-25 read

And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.

There are no accolades in the Body of Christ, just parts.

So, that mechanic who works down the street, and leads 10 people a month to the Lord, he is important. That retail worker who prays for people to receive healing, she is important. Not everything that is big and bright and sparkles is best. What counts is: are we doing what God has for us to do? Can we hear from Him? Are we listening to Him?

He has something for every believer to do.