"How then will they call on him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear with no one preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?" Romans 10:14-15
This is one of my favorite scripture verses.
We ALL are called to preach!
...."The word of God says how are they to hear if no one preaches?"
"It doesn't say how will they follow if no one holds their hand and leads them in a prayer?"
This was a quote from Tommy Gault from last nights fellowship time.
We are called to preach the gospel and not to lead the people to the Lord.
We preach, proclaim and the Lord ADDS!
That should make it simple and not intimidating for us.
Just give the people the gospel and then the Lord will give the increase!
Amen!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
The WORD OF GOD!
"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that know one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called it 'THE WORD OF GOD'." Revelation 19: 11-13
Jesus is the Faithful and True WORD OF GOD!
He is the one who spoke and all things were created.
He is the one who will judge the living and the dead.
He is the one who is the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS!
We all wiil be accountable to Him no matter what you believe.
He is the one who judges and makes war.
He is the one who dips His robe into the blood.
HE is the PERFECT!
He is I AM!
Jesus is the Faithful and True WORD OF GOD!
He is the one who spoke and all things were created.
He is the one who will judge the living and the dead.
He is the one who is the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS!
We all wiil be accountable to Him no matter what you believe.
He is the one who judges and makes war.
He is the one who dips His robe into the blood.
HE is the PERFECT!
He is I AM!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Willing to suffer for Christ....
To be a Christian you must be willing to suffer for the things of Christ.
You must be willing to be used of God to proclaim, minister, serve and die for Jesus.
This is not a social club religion.
It is a life! And it is not your own life.
It is the life of Jesus Christ who lives inside of you.
Go out and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of Jesus.
You must be willing to be used of God to proclaim, minister, serve and die for Jesus.
This is not a social club religion.
It is a life! And it is not your own life.
It is the life of Jesus Christ who lives inside of you.
Go out and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of Jesus.
"You might even be opposing God!"
"So in the present case: I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail, but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" Acts 5:38-39
This man did not realize how right he was.
The new move that was taking over Jerusalem was of God and it has not failed. It will not fail, because God cannot fail!
There is another issue that seems to be of God right now also. That is the move toward a more simpler fellowship. Moving away from the traditional setting to a more relational type gathering.
So much is pointing to the fact that God is moving us back to the way it was considering how we meet.
So much has been influenced by the world that you can't even recognize what is of God and what is not in the church. We have become to much like the world.
Now it seems again that God is moving on His people to go forward and continue to follow Him wherever you are. Assembling not just on Sundays in a big building with a name on the front.
But meeting on the street in the offices or other places not labeled as traditional.
I would just like to say that this is something some seem to be opposing, and I would like to point out to the scripture above again.
"If this plan is the undertaking of man, it will fail, but if it is of God you can't overthrow them. You might even find yourself opposing God!"
So before you go off and start critizing something that is not the traditional way be careful. As you may be opposing God.
Test the spirits and see if they are of God.
If this whole move toward a simpler way of Godly meeting is not of God then it will fail.
If it is of God you will not be able to stop it, you may be finding yourself joining.
This man did not realize how right he was.
The new move that was taking over Jerusalem was of God and it has not failed. It will not fail, because God cannot fail!
There is another issue that seems to be of God right now also. That is the move toward a more simpler fellowship. Moving away from the traditional setting to a more relational type gathering.
So much is pointing to the fact that God is moving us back to the way it was considering how we meet.
So much has been influenced by the world that you can't even recognize what is of God and what is not in the church. We have become to much like the world.
Now it seems again that God is moving on His people to go forward and continue to follow Him wherever you are. Assembling not just on Sundays in a big building with a name on the front.
But meeting on the street in the offices or other places not labeled as traditional.
I would just like to say that this is something some seem to be opposing, and I would like to point out to the scripture above again.
"If this plan is the undertaking of man, it will fail, but if it is of God you can't overthrow them. You might even find yourself opposing God!"
So before you go off and start critizing something that is not the traditional way be careful. As you may be opposing God.
Test the spirits and see if they are of God.
If this whole move toward a simpler way of Godly meeting is not of God then it will fail.
If it is of God you will not be able to stop it, you may be finding yourself joining.
We are the temple of God......
"Do you not know that you, are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroy's God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." 1 Cor. 3:16-17
If you are a Christian then "you" are the "temple" of God! Take care of that temple as we are who God dwells in not buildings.
Consecrate yourself to be holy and not a building.
I am not advocating house vs. building!
I am advocating the fact that we the people are the ones who the Lord dwells in.
So we are the one's who need to be careful of how we conduct ourselves.
Sinners should be getting convicted of their sin when we are around, because of WHO lives in us.If that is not happening then we need to be repenting and praying for more of HIM!
If you are a Christian then "you" are the "temple" of God! Take care of that temple as we are who God dwells in not buildings.
Consecrate yourself to be holy and not a building.
I am not advocating house vs. building!
I am advocating the fact that we the people are the ones who the Lord dwells in.
So we are the one's who need to be careful of how we conduct ourselves.
Sinners should be getting convicted of their sin when we are around, because of WHO lives in us.If that is not happening then we need to be repenting and praying for more of HIM!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Myths dispelled.....
The following comes from Keith Giles who had posted this on another site.
I just found it interesting as we need to be understanding the truth about the Truth of the Word.
The Myth of the Pastoral Epistles by; Keith Giles
"Search it up on Wikipedia.org and you'll find a brief entry about how 1 and 2 Timothy and the book of Titus (and sometimes Philemon) are referred to as the Pastoral Epistles of Paul the Apostle.
Nevermind that these are not written to Pastors.
Nevermind that Timothy is, like Paul a travelling missionary and church-planting evangelist.
Nevermind that Titus is also not a pastor but has been 'left behind in Crete' to help establish
a church community there before he moves on to plant other churches elsewhere.
Nevermind that Philemon isn't anything other than a slave-owner who needs encouragement from Paul regarding treatment of said slave.
Nevermind that both of the epistles to Timothy and the one to Titus deal primarily with the charactor of elders (plural) within the church community.
Nevermind that the word 'Pastor' does not appear in any of these so-called 'Pastoral Epistles'.
Nevermind that the word 'Pastor' only appears once in the entire New Testament.
As long as you can overlook all of these minor details, you should have no problem referring to these as the Pastoral Epistles of Paul."
K. G.
Now here is some information from another gentleman Alan Knox to coincide with the above statement.
"Second, as to the name 'Pastoral Epistles'. I agree. The nomendature is incorrect/ imprecise, which leads people to believe that the teaching is for 'pastors' or 'elders'. As you (KG) said, neither Timothy nor Titus nor Philemon are called pastor, elders, bishops, etc. in Scritpture. Timothy is called apostle and possibly a deacon(servant).
The idea that Timothy and Titus were bishops comes from a couple of hundred years later (Eusebius) when it was normanl for cities to have a single bishop. I think this has caused much confusion in our understanding of these letters and our understanding of the church." Alan Knox
One more thing Alan Knox pointed out was the terminology of which I find highly interesting and I will explain later.
Terminology
1) pastor = "poimen" = "shepherd"
2) elder = "presbuteros" = "an older person"
3) bishop = " episkopos" = "an overseer/caretaker"
4) deacon = "diakonos" = "a servant"
5) minister = "diakonos" = "a servant" -yes, the same term
"In the scriptural teaching specifically related to elders/bishops (1 Tim. 3, Titus 1, Acts 20, 1 Peter 5), the two terms elder and bishop/overseer seem to be interchangeable. The term 'pastor' is not used in these passages."
Alan Knox
I appreciate the way all of this was presented by Keith and then how Alan put his imput into it. Granted on the original post more people commented also, yet what Alan said really stood out in terms of well terminology.
I have been struggling with the whole "elder" issue for a while. Meaning that when we use it in everyday terms we mean those who are older than us. Like say our parents, grandparents etc.
Yet in the church we don't usually mean it that way. Looking down through history and also in modern days look at other cultures. The elders truly are the oldest, most wise of the group. Men who by very nature have lived their lives and have experiences to relate with those who are younger.
So why does it have a different meaning in the church? Or better yet why do we interchange it with pastor?
You have a young man who is fresh out of seminary who gets his "license" to preach. Then gets "hired" at a local body, does that automatically qualify him as an "elder".
I don't see that to be the case, and yet many churches place young men in the elder position.
Most of the discriptions in the bible about elders talks about them being the husband of one wife, or keeping their children in order. So to me that describes someone who knows something about marriages and kids. Someone who has "life"experience. Along with deacons also.
I may be wrong and stand corrected. So please don't crucify me for these thoughts.
I having grown up in the Catholic church in my past had a problem with getting counseling from a man about marriage when they themselves aren't nor ever were married. Or yet being told how to raise kids when in fact they have never had children.
There is a great significance to all of this. Granted the Lord does give wisdom to those who ask.
But the issue still stands with who could be an elder according to the word of God?
People may say that I am just chasing rabbits and need to focus on proclaiming the gospel only.
Yet this is very important. We need to get our history and definitions straight so we can have a clear understanding of the word of God. So when we go out and make disciples we will be able to teach them the full counsel of God according to the truth.
This is very important to the function of the body of Christ. It has great implications.
We have become a group of Christians who allow a few to do all of the work because of wrong teaching and misunderstanding of the word.
So while we go and proclaim we should also be examing what we believe and see the word in the light of truth.
Again I deeply appreciate the wisdom of Keith Giles and Alan Knox.
These two gentlemen truly love the Lord and truly want to do right unto HIM.
Thank you.
I just found it interesting as we need to be understanding the truth about the Truth of the Word.
The Myth of the Pastoral Epistles by; Keith Giles
"Search it up on Wikipedia.org and you'll find a brief entry about how 1 and 2 Timothy and the book of Titus (and sometimes Philemon) are referred to as the Pastoral Epistles of Paul the Apostle.
Nevermind that these are not written to Pastors.
Nevermind that Timothy is, like Paul a travelling missionary and church-planting evangelist.
Nevermind that Titus is also not a pastor but has been 'left behind in Crete' to help establish
a church community there before he moves on to plant other churches elsewhere.
Nevermind that Philemon isn't anything other than a slave-owner who needs encouragement from Paul regarding treatment of said slave.
Nevermind that both of the epistles to Timothy and the one to Titus deal primarily with the charactor of elders (plural) within the church community.
Nevermind that the word 'Pastor' does not appear in any of these so-called 'Pastoral Epistles'.
Nevermind that the word 'Pastor' only appears once in the entire New Testament.
As long as you can overlook all of these minor details, you should have no problem referring to these as the Pastoral Epistles of Paul."
K. G.
Now here is some information from another gentleman Alan Knox to coincide with the above statement.
"Second, as to the name 'Pastoral Epistles'. I agree. The nomendature is incorrect/ imprecise, which leads people to believe that the teaching is for 'pastors' or 'elders'. As you (KG) said, neither Timothy nor Titus nor Philemon are called pastor, elders, bishops, etc. in Scritpture. Timothy is called apostle and possibly a deacon(servant).
The idea that Timothy and Titus were bishops comes from a couple of hundred years later (Eusebius) when it was normanl for cities to have a single bishop. I think this has caused much confusion in our understanding of these letters and our understanding of the church." Alan Knox
One more thing Alan Knox pointed out was the terminology of which I find highly interesting and I will explain later.
Terminology
1) pastor = "poimen" = "shepherd"
2) elder = "presbuteros" = "an older person"
3) bishop = " episkopos" = "an overseer/caretaker"
4) deacon = "diakonos" = "a servant"
5) minister = "diakonos" = "a servant" -yes, the same term
"In the scriptural teaching specifically related to elders/bishops (1 Tim. 3, Titus 1, Acts 20, 1 Peter 5), the two terms elder and bishop/overseer seem to be interchangeable. The term 'pastor' is not used in these passages."
Alan Knox
I appreciate the way all of this was presented by Keith and then how Alan put his imput into it. Granted on the original post more people commented also, yet what Alan said really stood out in terms of well terminology.
I have been struggling with the whole "elder" issue for a while. Meaning that when we use it in everyday terms we mean those who are older than us. Like say our parents, grandparents etc.
Yet in the church we don't usually mean it that way. Looking down through history and also in modern days look at other cultures. The elders truly are the oldest, most wise of the group. Men who by very nature have lived their lives and have experiences to relate with those who are younger.
So why does it have a different meaning in the church? Or better yet why do we interchange it with pastor?
You have a young man who is fresh out of seminary who gets his "license" to preach. Then gets "hired" at a local body, does that automatically qualify him as an "elder".
I don't see that to be the case, and yet many churches place young men in the elder position.
Most of the discriptions in the bible about elders talks about them being the husband of one wife, or keeping their children in order. So to me that describes someone who knows something about marriages and kids. Someone who has "life"experience. Along with deacons also.
I may be wrong and stand corrected. So please don't crucify me for these thoughts.
I having grown up in the Catholic church in my past had a problem with getting counseling from a man about marriage when they themselves aren't nor ever were married. Or yet being told how to raise kids when in fact they have never had children.
There is a great significance to all of this. Granted the Lord does give wisdom to those who ask.
But the issue still stands with who could be an elder according to the word of God?
People may say that I am just chasing rabbits and need to focus on proclaiming the gospel only.
Yet this is very important. We need to get our history and definitions straight so we can have a clear understanding of the word of God. So when we go out and make disciples we will be able to teach them the full counsel of God according to the truth.
This is very important to the function of the body of Christ. It has great implications.
We have become a group of Christians who allow a few to do all of the work because of wrong teaching and misunderstanding of the word.
So while we go and proclaim we should also be examing what we believe and see the word in the light of truth.
Again I deeply appreciate the wisdom of Keith Giles and Alan Knox.
These two gentlemen truly love the Lord and truly want to do right unto HIM.
Thank you.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Let us consider how to stir....or provoke.....one another..
Hebrews 10:24b gets a lot of attention in the body of Christ on Sundays. Most of my days during the assembling of the saints the pastor would always mention "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves." All in the name of getting people to continue to meet.
Which there is nothing wrong with that, except they usually skip verse 24a.
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."
This has been an issue on my heart for a while. Then the other day one of those God thoughts came to me. In my mind the thought came to me that the word stir was an aggressive word and not a passive one. Meaning that we should almost be provoking each other to the point of anger in order to be on fire for the gospel.
Now realize I say to the point of anger and not to become angry. Yet if we do have that feeling it shouldn't be toward one another, but toward the direction of wanting to do something for God and not be slack.
I then got up and looked in my wife's collegiate dictionary for the definition of stir.
This is what I found; disturb, rouse, foment, arouse, provoke, stimulate, goad, spur.
To be emotionally moved. To rouse from inactivity.
So with these definitions lets look at the scripture.
Let us consider how to "provoke or rouse one another from inactivity" to love and good works.
You see how powerful that word stir is?
We as Christians come together in order to stir, rouse, provoke each other. It is not a passive word. It is a situation where we should be agitating each other as we assemble in order to be willing to go and praise the Lord and proclaim His word.
So then you can say forsake not the assembling of one another because we are to stir each other up. Our gathering together is not just for us to come and hear a good word from a pulpit. It is in order for us to get fired up, built up and stirred up to go out and reach the lost with the good news.
Timothy was told by Paul to stir up the gifts that were given him by the laying on of hands.
He is to stimulate, provoke and be disturbed in order to function in the gifts God laid upon him.
So it is with us that when we come together that our spirits are being fired up by each other.
We as Christians are not to be passive in our meetings nor are we to be passive in our going out.
It is something we must be passionate enough about that we want to do the zealous works of God without fail.
Granted in our walk we don't want to come off as aggressive either, yet we must have that good and perfect message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified as our guide to tell others of the word that became flesh.
So next time you gather with the saints be ready to provoke, rouse, stimulate, goad and spur on each other to good works.
Don't just sit and be a spectator or be passive.
Which there is nothing wrong with that, except they usually skip verse 24a.
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."
This has been an issue on my heart for a while. Then the other day one of those God thoughts came to me. In my mind the thought came to me that the word stir was an aggressive word and not a passive one. Meaning that we should almost be provoking each other to the point of anger in order to be on fire for the gospel.
Now realize I say to the point of anger and not to become angry. Yet if we do have that feeling it shouldn't be toward one another, but toward the direction of wanting to do something for God and not be slack.
I then got up and looked in my wife's collegiate dictionary for the definition of stir.
This is what I found; disturb, rouse, foment, arouse, provoke, stimulate, goad, spur.
To be emotionally moved. To rouse from inactivity.
So with these definitions lets look at the scripture.
Let us consider how to "provoke or rouse one another from inactivity" to love and good works.
You see how powerful that word stir is?
We as Christians come together in order to stir, rouse, provoke each other. It is not a passive word. It is a situation where we should be agitating each other as we assemble in order to be willing to go and praise the Lord and proclaim His word.
So then you can say forsake not the assembling of one another because we are to stir each other up. Our gathering together is not just for us to come and hear a good word from a pulpit. It is in order for us to get fired up, built up and stirred up to go out and reach the lost with the good news.
Timothy was told by Paul to stir up the gifts that were given him by the laying on of hands.
He is to stimulate, provoke and be disturbed in order to function in the gifts God laid upon him.
So it is with us that when we come together that our spirits are being fired up by each other.
We as Christians are not to be passive in our meetings nor are we to be passive in our going out.
It is something we must be passionate enough about that we want to do the zealous works of God without fail.
Granted in our walk we don't want to come off as aggressive either, yet we must have that good and perfect message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified as our guide to tell others of the word that became flesh.
So next time you gather with the saints be ready to provoke, rouse, stimulate, goad and spur on each other to good works.
Don't just sit and be a spectator or be passive.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Each according to the measure of faith...Romans 12:3-8
"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.: Romans 12:3
How many of us do the opposite of this word? How many of us think of ourselves more highly than we should think?
We are to think with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. He assigns the measure of faith. He gives us all things including our faith and that is according to a measure.
We use things to measure the amount of ingredients we need in recipes. Too much and it doesn't come out right or we have more than we need and it gets thrown out. Too little and then we must add more. We must follow the recipe to the t in order for our dish to come out right. So could that be with this measure of faith. Too much and we get the big head and become puffed up. Too little and we don't truly accomplish all God has for us to do. So the work isn't finished.
You see He gives us a measure that is perfect for whatever situation it is we will be doing.
So at times you may have more than other days. So could that explain why at times we feel we can climb mountains one day and the next, feel as if we were hit by a mountain?
Could it be because God is using us for His purpose and reminding us who is in control, so that we will continue to give Him glory?
"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we though many, aree one body in Christ, and individually members of another." Romans 12:4
We are many and yet one. Many different parts of the body, yet all members of the same.
Paul is using a description of our physical body to describe Jesus' body. We should all have two hands and 10 fingers. Yet if we only have two fingers with no thumb then you can't very well pick things up. We need our thumb in order to help the rest of the hand to fullfill its complete function. We need our feet to walk. We must know that in church we are not all thumbs, hands, feet, or eyes etc.. We each have a different purpose. And we must all be utilized in the church. Not just one person, but all!
"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Romans 12:6-8
I want to really talk about this word. Paul says "having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us." You see there are different gifts that operate in the body, and they function according to the grace given to us. Paul then says, "let us use them." According to that, it seems the gifts are still for today. These are grace gifts. Charismata.
If your faith is built up then prophecy as the Lord leads- Some may have this gift functioning and yet not be operating in the others.
Such as service- I am experiencing a lot being talked about serving. I know a lot of people who truly operate in this gift to the point that they give almost all of their free time to serving others.
Not everyone has that ability. So we shouldn't look down at others who don't.
I don't always have this gift, but when I do....look out. It becomes a joy for me. I am not saying we shouldn't be out helping others. I am just saying for some it is not hard because God has given them the grace to do it.
As well as with the other gifts spoken above-I know a gentleman who is an excellent teacher.
He can take a verse of scripture and just pull so much out of it. Yet others can look at the same scripture and just see word. It is a gift from God. This young man functions well in that area. Yet I know also that he doesn't function well in others. Nothing wrong with that, it is just the grace of God has been given to him for teaching.
The one who exhorts- I have been operating in this gift for a long time on and off. I love to give exhortations, especially when people are feeling down. Yet this gift often times gets shut down, because some people see a person operating in this as overbearing. So they uses ways of shutting the person down, sometimes to the point of quenching the fire. I know others who operate in this gift with great fervor.
The one who contributes- Again this could be right there with service. Whether contributing time, monetarily, or exhortations etc.. This gift is needed. I know those who contribute a lot in time during their service of others. Again not everyone has this gift.
The one who leads with zeal-There are a lot of people who are what we call natural born leaders.
That is a gift from God. He gifts leaders to get out in the front of the pack and help show the way.
They are good at delegating and directing. And they must do this with zeal according to the word.
The ones who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness-Again I can mention someone who I know operates in this really well. This lady has so much mercy and energy for those who she helps.
And she does it with cheerfulness. People like this are likely to have a gift of serving. As they usually love being around people.
I want to make it very clear that I am not trying to put a label on each of these or use this as a litmus test as to whether you have these gifts or not. Our personalities usually work in with these gifts as well. All I am trying to point out is don't feel bad if you see or hear about people going out and serving, leading, teaching or doing one of the other gifts while you don't feel the way they do. You see it is all according to the measure of faith and grace that these function the way they do. We are all one body though many members. So if you have a heart for the homeless you shouldn't look down at someone who doesn't, because they may not be operating in that gift. They may be the one who is supposed to lead or teach etc.. I have been wondering aobut this for a while and the other night the Lord put Romans 12 on my heart. That is when I noticed this as if it were for the very first time. We are all given a gift. Not everyone will be doing the same thing. Yet we shouldn't be quenching one another' gifts either. We should be able to all function together using all the grace gifts.
Please when you recognize any of these gifts operating don't try to snuff it out, because not everyone who is a teacher is a leader. And not everyone who serves is an exhorter. Yet when you have different ones with the different gifts there should be LOVE and harmony in the body.
Your fingers don't fight against the arm. They need the arm to help. The arms need the torso. The torso needs the legs. The legs need the feet. Not to mention the internal members. Those you can't see.
Yet they all need the head....which is Christ.
How many of us do the opposite of this word? How many of us think of ourselves more highly than we should think?
We are to think with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. He assigns the measure of faith. He gives us all things including our faith and that is according to a measure.
We use things to measure the amount of ingredients we need in recipes. Too much and it doesn't come out right or we have more than we need and it gets thrown out. Too little and then we must add more. We must follow the recipe to the t in order for our dish to come out right. So could that be with this measure of faith. Too much and we get the big head and become puffed up. Too little and we don't truly accomplish all God has for us to do. So the work isn't finished.
You see He gives us a measure that is perfect for whatever situation it is we will be doing.
So at times you may have more than other days. So could that explain why at times we feel we can climb mountains one day and the next, feel as if we were hit by a mountain?
Could it be because God is using us for His purpose and reminding us who is in control, so that we will continue to give Him glory?
"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we though many, aree one body in Christ, and individually members of another." Romans 12:4
We are many and yet one. Many different parts of the body, yet all members of the same.
Paul is using a description of our physical body to describe Jesus' body. We should all have two hands and 10 fingers. Yet if we only have two fingers with no thumb then you can't very well pick things up. We need our thumb in order to help the rest of the hand to fullfill its complete function. We need our feet to walk. We must know that in church we are not all thumbs, hands, feet, or eyes etc.. We each have a different purpose. And we must all be utilized in the church. Not just one person, but all!
"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness." Romans 12:6-8
I want to really talk about this word. Paul says "having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us." You see there are different gifts that operate in the body, and they function according to the grace given to us. Paul then says, "let us use them." According to that, it seems the gifts are still for today. These are grace gifts. Charismata.
If your faith is built up then prophecy as the Lord leads- Some may have this gift functioning and yet not be operating in the others.
Such as service- I am experiencing a lot being talked about serving. I know a lot of people who truly operate in this gift to the point that they give almost all of their free time to serving others.
Not everyone has that ability. So we shouldn't look down at others who don't.
I don't always have this gift, but when I do....look out. It becomes a joy for me. I am not saying we shouldn't be out helping others. I am just saying for some it is not hard because God has given them the grace to do it.
As well as with the other gifts spoken above-I know a gentleman who is an excellent teacher.
He can take a verse of scripture and just pull so much out of it. Yet others can look at the same scripture and just see word. It is a gift from God. This young man functions well in that area. Yet I know also that he doesn't function well in others. Nothing wrong with that, it is just the grace of God has been given to him for teaching.
The one who exhorts- I have been operating in this gift for a long time on and off. I love to give exhortations, especially when people are feeling down. Yet this gift often times gets shut down, because some people see a person operating in this as overbearing. So they uses ways of shutting the person down, sometimes to the point of quenching the fire. I know others who operate in this gift with great fervor.
The one who contributes- Again this could be right there with service. Whether contributing time, monetarily, or exhortations etc.. This gift is needed. I know those who contribute a lot in time during their service of others. Again not everyone has this gift.
The one who leads with zeal-There are a lot of people who are what we call natural born leaders.
That is a gift from God. He gifts leaders to get out in the front of the pack and help show the way.
They are good at delegating and directing. And they must do this with zeal according to the word.
The ones who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness-Again I can mention someone who I know operates in this really well. This lady has so much mercy and energy for those who she helps.
And she does it with cheerfulness. People like this are likely to have a gift of serving. As they usually love being around people.
I want to make it very clear that I am not trying to put a label on each of these or use this as a litmus test as to whether you have these gifts or not. Our personalities usually work in with these gifts as well. All I am trying to point out is don't feel bad if you see or hear about people going out and serving, leading, teaching or doing one of the other gifts while you don't feel the way they do. You see it is all according to the measure of faith and grace that these function the way they do. We are all one body though many members. So if you have a heart for the homeless you shouldn't look down at someone who doesn't, because they may not be operating in that gift. They may be the one who is supposed to lead or teach etc.. I have been wondering aobut this for a while and the other night the Lord put Romans 12 on my heart. That is when I noticed this as if it were for the very first time. We are all given a gift. Not everyone will be doing the same thing. Yet we shouldn't be quenching one another' gifts either. We should be able to all function together using all the grace gifts.
Please when you recognize any of these gifts operating don't try to snuff it out, because not everyone who is a teacher is a leader. And not everyone who serves is an exhorter. Yet when you have different ones with the different gifts there should be LOVE and harmony in the body.
Your fingers don't fight against the arm. They need the arm to help. The arms need the torso. The torso needs the legs. The legs need the feet. Not to mention the internal members. Those you can't see.
Yet they all need the head....which is Christ.
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