(1 Cor 12:6-7 NKJV) And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. {7} But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
I love talking about the holy spirit and all that God has done for, in and through me. I have been saved since a little boy and have had the holy spirit manifest through me since I was ten. Yes, I did speak in a language I did not understand. No, I was not looking for it and was not prompted to do so. Just one night at a prayer meeting in a home as I was kneeling to pray I felt in a way I never had before and then it just happened. Ever since that day I have had pursued God with all my heart and have had His spirit manifest through me. I preached my first sermon at the age of eleven and to this day I want to be obedient to the Father.
I spoke about my childhood for a reason. From that time as a child to now, my whole life has been a learning experience. It has been the holy spirit that has birthed the righteous seed of God in me to say I have been born again. It has been a journey of change and spiritual growth, and I am not where I need to be yet. Yet, there is something I always say,” I am not where I need to be, but thank God I have left where I was”. In all my years of growing in church I have heard every camp of doctrine say that they believed that all those that did not believe like them could not truly be saved or born again. I say that none of us has the right to make that judgment with anyone. There is no doubt in my mind that I was born again as a young man even though I had much to learn about God and who Jesus is. It has been the holy spirit that has been my guide to truth, but I had to cast off mans traditions to learn it’s leading.
I can say that what I now have learned is nothing like what I knew over forty years ago. There has been much diversity in my life and many great memories of God’s spirit at work in me. As I think Paul was trying to teach us that God works through all of us by His spirit. That we have to let God do the work and stop worrying about if everyone’s doctrine is right, as long as it is not leading to sin and abominations. Are there men and women today who are deceivers and false leaders? Yes, but maybe we need to stop worrying about the false and just let God do what He needs to do in His church. Let Him work through and in us to bring us to that place He would have us to be. We are all different and God works within that diversity, each one fitting in their place in the body of Christ.
How does all this work with the title of this weeks blog? Let me please explain, if I can briefly. I want to share a parallel thought, if I may today. This weekend I spent this last Friday night, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning in a motorcycle safety class. It is required here in Texas
I picked out a street bike that was a Suzuki 250. That is small and way short of the power of the Harley Davidson I now have. We were there to learn skills and small was where we needed to start. Look at the scripture in First Corinthians and all those I closed with last time. You see we were all different and used different cycles that worked best for each one of us to accomplish a single purpose. We all had the same goal, complete the course and learn to be a safe rider. We all learned differently and used different bikes but completed all the same challenges set before us. We all had different fears to overcome to safely operate the bike. Not one of us was the same. There was even a man in our class that had been riding for over 25 years without a motorcycle license. He was there only because he received a ticket. Yet, that same man struggled with some of the challenges. He spoke after a time, saying how glad he was to take the course and that he learned things he did not know and it was going to improve his riding skills.
The point I want to make was we were all given motorcycles they were all different to fit us who were all different. They work differently based on the ability of each rider. They all had about the same power but they each worked according to the work of the user. You see God gave of his spirit to the church, according to the New Testament writers to everyone who is born again. It is different in each person and works within each person according to their faith, obedience and who they are. It is the same holy spirit but works differently in each person based on that person. Those motorcycles were provided for the benefit of each rider for the common purpose to help us accomplish the common goal. The gift of God’s spirit is just the same way for every believer, it is provided to use for the common good of each of us and the church. To help us all achieve the same goal in Christ to become as he would have us be and be the church he desires, people of victory and growing into the complete person and maturity in Christ.
We are called into God’s kingdom together. We are all members one of another and He has given us the same hope. We are all given the same spirit to help us do ministry, and be changed into the image of Christ. We may all be different and we may all not be on the same level in many ways. We may not all have let the spirit manifest as it should or taken full advantage of what it is given to do. None the same, we have come to be born again by the same spirit and are recipients of God’s grace by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We all belong to Him and His spirit will lead us into truth if we would be willing to cast off traditions of men and let the spirit do what it was given to do.
(John 16:13 NRSV) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
As a testimony of my own life, it has been that love and passion that has driven me over the years. With my heart hot after the Father, over the years the holy spirit has lead me to truth and new discoveries. Many of the things I believed growing up with have changed for me, the doctrines of God, Jesus and many more things have come to a deeper understanding by the spirit. In the next few weeks we will talk about manifestations and I hope to challenge your thinking. While we do this let’s remember we are all a part of the body of Christ.
(1 Cor 12:3 NRSV) Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit.
(Col
(Gal 5:13-14 NRSV) For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. {14} For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
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