*** I Corinthians 12 ***
Verse 1
*
Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren,
I do not want you to be unaware.
(Soul Winner's New American Standard New Testament)
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Grace be unto you from me, my beloved
Christian brothers & sisters.
May we all thank God for allowing us once again
to join together in fellowship,
to share His Word.
Do not negate in your personal daily routine
to give Him some praise in thanking
Him for all He has done for you.
Giving praise to all of those who on last week
shared in the fellowship & their response topics.
I know God is well pleased.
Remember to keep God first in all
you do in the upcoming week.
There is a story being told about a woman
cooking for the family & she is asked why did
she prepare an item a certain way.
Her response was "momma did it that way,"
to make a long story short,
it is later found out that,
the way to prepare that item was done
out of tradition, not taking in account,
was it the correct way.
For this brings me to my topic this week:
(Loose Change)
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All of us somewhere in our possession
have some loose change, as an individual,
the worth is minimal, but collectively,
a wealth of a billion dollars or more
is just lying around.
This is a wonderful illustration
of wealth & worth of believers.
The bible refers to the church as
"the body of Christ," & says that
"all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body."
All of us are equally important as a whole
with all of our diverse gifts & talents.
By ourselves we often feel insignificant,
unneeded, and of little value, just like
"loose change,"
but we are all different & unique,
with our own talents & gifts from God.
Make no mistake that you are of Great Value to God.
That is why we must be careful not to
put down each other, rather, build up
with love each other as Christ loves us.
Strife in the church is a big problem, but
(Psalm 133)
gives us the key to unlock the door of unity.
You know, I have stated before, do not continue
in tradition, being ignorant of God's Word,
search the scripture for yourself,
& let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart,
finding out the truth for yourself.
Just because momma or someone else said it is
or they do something a certain way,
does not make it right,
as God's Word is concerned.
I have often heard Christian people say
"if you do not speak in tongues, you are not saved."
I am here to share what God has to say about that,
not the so called "saints,"
who need to really seek out what God's Word
has to say about that issue.
Can I Teach A Little?
OK
*Be Educated, Through God's Word*
Thank You Lord
In I Corinthians 12, Paul is making mention
that the people were given gifts,
as they believed unto Christ.
There was a change in their lives,
when they turned away from worshiping dead idols
to the living Christ.
In order that they develop in their Christian life,
Christ gave them the gifts of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the Giver of spiritual gifts.
One cannot teach the scriptures unless
the Spirit gives him/her wisdom.
One must pray or sing unto God in the Spirit.
Just as in Paul's day, in this day,
people covet the more showy gifts,
such as speaking in tongues.
Bringing honor to themselves.
We should desire earnestly the best gifts
of wisdom, knowledge, and faith.
Dear friends, mind you, these are gifts,
not a right of passage to salvation.
~Am I Right About It~
We tend to forget that all of the gifts
that God gives were given that Christ
be exalted & others blessed.
It can be said that gifts like healing, miracles,
visions & tongues are "sign" gifts,
to prove to the world that Jesus was the true Messiah
& in that day, the apostles
were divinely appointed,
but in some of our churches today,
it is being used to entertain &
not edify the glory of God.
We all have been given according to God
some sort of gift & the Holy Spirit divides
to every man severally as he will.
If God chooses to give a gift, He will,
if not, He will not & we should be very careful
not play with God in that respect.
Just as there are different members to the body,
so are the gifts given to the believer &
not all will have the same gift.
New Testament Lists Of Spiritual Gifts
There are four "focal" passages in the New Testament
that give strong emphasis to the matter of
"spiritual gifts."
Within those four texts, the inspired writers
provide us with six listings of spiritual gifts.
No two of the lists are identical.
The six lists are:
Romans 12:6-8
1. Prophesying
2. Serving
3. Teaching
4. Encouraging
5. Giving
6. Leadership
7. Mercy
Ephesians 4:11
1. Apostleship
2. Prophesying
3. Evangelizing
4. Pastoring
5. Teaching
I Peter 4:9-11
1. Hospitality
2. Speaking
3. Serving
I Corinthians 12:7-10
1. Message Of Wisdom
2. Message Of Knowledge
3. Faith
4. Healing
5. Miracles
6. Prophesy
7. Discerning Spirits
8. Tongues
I Corinthians 12:28
1. Apostles
2. Prophesy
4. Miracles
5. Healing
6. Helps
7. Administration
I Corinthians 12:29-30
1. Apostles
2. Prophets
3. Teachers
4. Miracles
5. Healing
6. Tongues
7. Interpretation
"Spiritual Gifts" are... "Grace Gifts" or
"Grace Endowments" that Christians receive
from God in the form of "Skills," "Abilities,"
and "Talents" through which
God desires to channel
His energy and power as a means of strengthening
the body and bringing glory to His Name!!!!!!
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Thus, there is reason to believe that there
may be other gifts of grace that God sees
fit to bestow at various times which are
not included in the four passages that are
cited above. For example, are there some
who have the gift of celibacy as mentioned in
(Matthew 19:12 and I Corinthians 7:7?)
Or, are there others who have received from
God special abilities as craftsmen
(Exodus 31:1-5?)
Dear friends, this is such a wonderful lesson
& I could teach on this subject for a very
long time, even giving the meaning for each gift,
but in order for you to grow, take some time
for yourself & see what gift God has bestowed
unto you, using it to the edification
of Christ Jesus & study the Bible in
order to become more mature in God's Word.
Now, on to a matter that has disturbed
me in hearing from "so called Christians"
about the gift of speaking in tongues.
If a person is not solidly grounded in the
teaching & believing of salvation by grace,
he may follow an illusion of those who inject
human works into the matter of being saved,
as in gifts, they are but only works.
*Am I Right About It*
Dear friends that is why I stress to you
about being thorough in our knowledge of biblical
doctrines for ourselves, being diligent in our
study of the Word of God, standing firmly
on the truth. Here are some scriptures from
the Word of God on our salvation, see for
yourself what God has to say, not me,
about our salvation.
(Acts 4:12; John 3:14-16, 5:24, 17:3; Isaiah 53:6)
(Matthew 1:21; I Peter 1:18-19, 3:18)
(Romans 3:24, 3:28, 4:5, 5:10, 5:15, 8:16-17, 10:9, 10:13)
(II Timothy 3:15; Titus 3:3-7)
Thank God for all of His gifts, especially Christ,
the greatest gift of all.
Pray for one in the uplifting of spirit & healing.
If this has been a beacon of light or if you wish
to be opted from this group, send me a note of
that reflection, in that, I shall delete your name,
as I wish not to offend anyone.
May God always walk with you & you with God.
Peace
Don