Today I went to meet with my pastor for counseling and what we discussed was spiritual gifts.
Let me start by exlaining that I know just months ago I was an infant on simple liquid formula.
I saw as the trials came upon me and I started searching deeper within myself and giving up things that were holding me back, obstacles that were clouding my vision, sins that kept the veil from coming completely down....I saw the sudden growth spurt, like a baby that takes its first steps no longer crawling, a child speaking it's first words.
I was suddenly on solid food, maybe cereal...no I am not ready for steak just yet. *Gentle smile*
But I started to see a change in me and with it came Gods gifts and my understanding of them.
So I offer you this Bible Chapter from 1 Corinthians as my pastor instructed me to read it and 2 more which I will share in the next few days.What I see is so clear to me that I need to share it with all of you.
Some of my CF friends here have said well what can I contribute I have nothing special about me nothing to give I can't do anything.
I suggest you read this chapter below as it says what I believed all the time. We each are part of the body and no matter how small the gift may seem it is large in the scheme of the whole.
I encourage those today who do not feel they have a gift to look within their hearts. It is those who quietly and silently pray for your brothers and sisters in the silence of your home that are a vital part of ministry. It is those who just show up to say hi to a friend here when they need it, that hear God speaking to them. It is those who send a welcoming pm to a new person or sign a guest book that have a still small voice speaking in their ear.
We need you, all of you.
Yes, I am loud and bold and boisterous and filled with bravado and Divaish
quite often....and I tend to forge and push and lead but it is not without those of you, who sit and laugh and listen and pick me up when I fall, and love me when I am down, because you feed me the love of our Lord and you nurse my wounds and without you I am nothing. I am only an instrument used by God to do His will. I do it loudly and noisely but your gentle voices in the choir are angels wings that fan the flames of my passion for Christ.
I need you...God needs you I am nothing but what Christ allows the Holy Spirit to instill in my heart, to move in me and you are the body that makes me feel complete.
"We are one body in Christ"
Stay with me for I am only useful in the whole, nothing without your tender love, the love you give me in Christ, I need you all as I need our precious Savior, I can not do it alone.
Blessings in our Lord
G
1 Corinthians 12 (New Living Translation)
1 Corinthians 12
Spiritual Gifts
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters,[a] regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[b]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[c] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[d] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. One Body with Many Parts
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[e] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[f]
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church: first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
you didn't cut me too deep tonight so glad bout that.. LOL
Love ya 2 Mom!
