4-24-19 Today in the Word

THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT 
Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | 1 Corinthians 12:1–11
Have you ever opened a gift so perfectly chosen for you that it brought you to tears? Maybe it was a gift you received as a child—something you longed for—or a gift given to you as an adult that demonstrated how well your loved one knew you.
In today’s passage, we celebrate the gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit. The word used for spiritual gifts is charisma, the Greek word for “gift.” It is similar to the word charis, which means “grace” in Greek. Grace (charis) is God’s gift given to us for our salvation; and charisma, the gift of the Spirit, is used not to save us but to enable us to edify others. Both are freely given and life changing!
Our spiritual gifts are given to us by God and individually selected. For additional reading on spiritual gifts, see Romans 12:6–8 and Ephesians 4. In these passages, we see that our spiritual gifts are important to the body of Christ. God uses your gifts “for the common good” (v. 7) to build His church.
The primary spiritual gift that Christians receive is the Holy Spirit, who empowers us for ministry. He enables all believers to serve God in a variety of contexts and ways. The Holy Spirit works in supernatural ways and also enables us to use our natural abilities for God’s glory.
The gift of the Spirit’s indwelling is given to us at conversion. As we mature in our faith and grow in our experience of serving God, He enables us to recognize these gifts and use them to build up the church for the glory of God. To begin exploring how God has gifted you, ask the following: What do I enjoy doing? What ministry in my life does God seem to be blessing? What gifts do others see in me?
APPLY THE WORD
If you would like to understand more about the Holy Spirit and your gifts, we suggest these resources from Moody Publishers: The Baptism and Gifts of the Holy Spirit by Merrill F. Unger and an ebook The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit by Rene Pache. These are available from the Moody Publishers website or your favorite book retailer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9-17-23 Not in a Billion Years

Not In A Million Billion Years :: By Dave Hubley Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles (There is a special message at the end of this article for those who might happen to read this and do not have Jesus in their life and are looking for peace and a way to better understand the present-day insanity and confusion.) Several years ago, I had a conversation with a guy in a waiting room while getting an oil change (in the car, not me). I don’t recall exactly how the conversation originated or how it progressed, but I have never forgotten it. As I recall, it had something to do with evolution and an article that was contained in a “waiting room magazine” that was available there. He made the observation that God was “something that man had made up.” I can’t recall the exact reason he used to justify his opinion, but it had something to do with the usual reasons people give: Weak-willed people needing a crutch, and blah, blah, blah. I engaged him in a “witness,
Read more

9-16-23 Santa Staleness

Santa Staleness :: By Edwin Tan Published on: December 24, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles My one and only trip to Israel had more than a profound effect on my present-day psyche. It might have been three decades ago, but there is more than a lingering aftertaste. It happened smack in the last fortnight of the year. Surprisingly absent were the familiar sights and sounds of the Christmas most people are accustomed to. Hardly any Christmas decorations in downtown Tel Aviv, if not any of the shopping thoroughfares across the Holy Land. Hanukah was a breath of fresh air – not anything resembling a Christmas carol most people grew up with did surface. The Christmas Eve service in a small Protestant church not far away from Jerusalem’s Old City was awesome; songs that truly celebrated the virgin birth of our Lord, which though seemingly unheard of, were a welcome inspiration to many a soul. There was even one sung in Arabic! So it began, my overt disdain for the secular Christmas t
Read more

9-15-23 Miracles 2

Miracles 2 :: By Jim Towers Published on: December 21, 2022 by RR10 Category:General Articles This story is a continuation of the exciting things God continues doing in my life. I was supposed to have died a while back, and sometimes I feel as though I may do so soon. But since I’m ready to meet my maker, I have no fear of death. In fact, my evangelistic zeal has only increased, especially as I see the fast approaching of the “Tribulation period” mentioned in the book of Revelation. Insofar as my acting career is concerned, I just finished filming a soliloquy featuring Melchior, one of the three Magi who followed the star to Christ lying in the manger, and am preparing to portray a Jewish Priest on stage. Like I said, God is working overtime in my life, and I will be appearing on stage singing Broadway show tunes sometime in March, so I have a lot of rehearsing to do. In the meantime, I will be signing Christmas carols acapella at a park here in Naples. Since it is a spontaneous th
Read more