Strengthen, Encourage & Comfort

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. I Corinthians 13:13-14:5

 

Faith, hope and love endure forever. These three will never die among God's people. Anything we can do to express love, offer hope and build faith in others has eternal reward for both us and those we minister to.

 

Prophecy, Paul says, is at the top of the list. When we speak into the lives of fellow believers with words to encourage, build up or console, we are sowing the love of God into their hearts that it may grow into healthy faith. You can get through this. You are not alone. With God's help, you can overcome. God has everything you need. He has a wonderful plan and you are a part of it.

 

Building up believers builds up the church. Little by little we bring the Kingdom of God into dark places one person at a time, one encounter at a time, one challenge at a time. The glacier of despair does not melt away overnight, but it will shrink as the warm waters of fellowship and brotherly love wash up against it day after day.

Ramblings on What We Share: The Road to Maturity

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I Corinthians 13:8b-12

 

When kids travel, the dreaded question always comes up, “Are we there yet?” The answer is always, "Not yet, but we're closer than we were when we started.”

 

In this passage, Paul speaks of spiritual development in comparison to human development. When we started on this journey of faith, we were as children in our speech, understanding and behaviors.

 

Now we have matured. We are beginning to understand how to function in concert with the work of the Holy Spirit through His gifts. Yet, those gifts are but a foreshadowing of what things will be like when the Kingdom of God fully comes. When we finally get there, to our final destination, we will have fill understanding of all mysteries. We will experience the Holy Spirit without limit. There will be no need for spiritual gifts as all believers will have everything they need directly from the hand of God himself.

 

All we are or have ever hoped to be will be fully realized. We will come to know who we are through God's eyes and exactly where we fit in His plan for His eternal kingdom.

Ramblings on What We Share: Love is Everything

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. I Corinthians 13:4-8

 

Some people say I’m a romantic and I guess I am. Why wouldn’t I be when love is such a splendid thing? I love all the ways love is good, right and true. It is like a faithful friend who never hurts anyone. Paul describes love in this passage as always looking out for others.

 

The Apostle John further expounds on the source of love in his epistle.

 

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love… God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.    I John 4:8, 16b

 

If we want to be able to experience love and live in love, we must know God. Our Heavenly Father is the source of all love. Without His Spirit, there would be only the raw, harsh emotions that are left when love is taken out of the world. All we would have left is the opposite of everything Paul says: impatience, unkindness, envy, boasting, pride, dishonor, self-seeking, anger, unforgive-ness, evil, untruthfulness, assault, distrust, despair and surrender.

 

Everything we love about life has its source in love. The very existence of love is one of the best witnesses for the existence of God for the unbeliever. Jesus himself explained His mission to Nicodemus as an expression of God’s love for the world (John 3:16).

Ramblings on What We Share: The Greatest Gift

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. I Corinthians 12:31b-13:3

 

Why is it when you receive a gift that it’s the person who gave it rather than the object received that makes it special? On my shelf in my office are trinkets given to me by various people throughout my life. A German shot glass given to me by old Mrs. Murphy who used to run a party barn near the farm where I grew up. A tiny music box given to me by my friend Terry after his wife died as a memento of kindness I had shown her. It is the love and affection shared with people that make their gifts most precious.

 

The same could be said of the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit. No spiritual gift, whether tongues, faith, prophecy or giving, can match the value of the love the triune God demonstrates to us by giving the gifts. And no level of excitement or fulfillment that we experience when used by God should ever compare to the depth, height and breadth of our love for God, our loving Father, Savior, and Comforter.

 

Spiritual gifts only gain value when demonstrated in and through love. Unless they are an expression of our compassion and kindness to those around us, they have little benefit. The most excellent way Paul describes is the way of the heart. Regardless of whether we are greatly gifted or feel we have no gift to share, every one of us can show love and that gains everything.

Ramblings on What We Share: Meeting Peoples’ Needs

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. I Corinthians 12:27-31a

 

Nature itself tells us that each species has different strengths. The leopard has speed. The turtle has protection. The wolf has a pack. Most species use their strength for self-preservation. Mankind is distinct in that God has given us supernatural strength through the Holy Spirit to be used for the preservation of others. The apostle is only effective if he has someone to lead. The prophet is only beneficial if there is someone to receive and benefit from his prophecies. The healer can’t exercise his gift if there is no one sick.

 

Paul tells us to eagerly desire these gifts, not because it will make us great in the eyes of others, but because these are the gifts the world needs the most. There is no shortage of lost, wandering souls looking for someone to show them the way. Flocks of people turn every day to palm readers and psychics because they need to know that which is unknowable by human wisdom. Hospitals are bursting with those who are hurt or struck with illness.

 

Jesus met these needs of mankind during His ministry. The multitudes followed Him because he spoke as one who has authority (Matt. 7:29). When He prophesied, they would ask, “When will these things be?” (Matt. 24:3). When He saw the sick being brought to Him, He had compassion on them and healed every last one (Matt. 12:15, 14:14).

 

God the Father appointed Jesus to these good works and He has a work for us as well. It should be our greatest wish and prayer to be able to follow Jesus’ example by providing for the needs of the people around us.

 

Ramblings on What We Share: All for One, One for All

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 

I Corinthians 12:12-26

The Body of Christ is one. Every follower of Jesus Christ is brought into unity with all Christians everywhere as those born of the Spirit (John 3:5-8). Race, status, gender and perceived usefulness do not factor in determining one’s inclusion or importance in the Body.

Each one in the Body is equally important and equally dependent on others in the Body. We are also equally responsible to look after and show concern for each other. The Body needs all of its members to make their contribution to the benefit of the whole Body. We share in each others’ sufferings and joys. We share what we have to give and depend on other members to do the same for us when we need it.

Ramblings On What We Share: One Spirit

Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,  to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

I Corinthians 12:1-11

There is only one Spirit – not many. In most pagan religions multiple gods or spirits are given reverence. Christianity, Paul says, is different. There is only one God and only one Spirit. The one God is a Trinity, which includes Jesus Christ, who is the Lord. The Trinity also includes the Holy Spirit – the one and only Spirit.

This Spirit works through various manifestations among mankind by giving believers gifts, services and workings. He gives them to each person according to His determination of what that person needs. Each gift, service or working is from the same God.

The test of whether a manifestation is from that God is whether it glorifies Jesus Christ. Any manifestation that speaks against Jesus is not from God. The second test is whether the manifestation works for the common good of the whole group. There is no place for selfishness nor pride in the work of the Holy Spirit. The very nature of the Holy Spirit shows us this as He deflects all glory for His work to Christ.