Posted by: Anna I've spent the last couple weeks trying to come up with something to post on, occasionally getting on here only to have my mind go completely blank. I do have a topic now, and a cup of coffee, so I'm going to give it a go. That topic actually has a lot to do with why I started this website, about a year and a half ago. I've loved writing for as long as I can remember. For the most part, I write fiction. That's what I enjoy the most, and probably what I'm best at. But, I decided some time ago that any amount of gifting I had in the area of writing was from God, so it should be used for God. That's where this website comes in. It's not fiction, so hence the long periods where there isn't a new post because I just can't muster up the inspiration for one! All the same, I do feel like this is something God would have me doing. That said, I frequently struggle with a certain question, and I know for a fact that I'm not alone. That question is: "What on earth could I possibly accomplish for God? How can/will He use me? What do I have to offer?" Am I alone? Didn't think so. Before I get into it, warning! I'm pretty sure this is going to be a little unorganized and will probably drift over multiple topics. Sorry about that! To prevent it as much as possible, I'll do this in points. Point 1. The first thing I want to look at in regard to this question is the biblical concept of gifts. It just so happens my pastor has given a couple sermons on that recently. So let's head to 1 Corinthians! "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." -1 Corinthians 12:4-11 ESV That's a long one, but I had to share the whole thing so we could pick out different bits of it. First up: God is the Giver of these gifts, and He gives them as He sees fit to each one of us individually. He decides what gifts He wants what person to have. That in and of itself is pretty cool- think about it. That means that whatever gift(s) God has given you, weren't just by the roll of a die. He specifically chose them for you. Second: A variety of gifts. Not all of us will be prophets or speak in tongues, not all of us will have the utterance of wisdom, not all of us work miracles. That's an important thing to understand. We'll go more in depth on it in just a moment. Third: "For the common good". Also a biggie, that will be coming up later on, so keep it in mind! Basically, here's the conclusion of my first point- yes, God does give us gifts that we can (and should!) use to glorify and serve Him. I believe that everyone has such a gift, whether they realize it or not. Which leads to. . . Point 2. Variety. I think it's safe to say that God has a thing for variety. Look at all the things He's made. Wouldn't you agree there's a variety of animals, a variety of plants, a variety of landscapes? And a variety of people. We're all unique. It's the same way with gifts. There's denominations that think if you can't speak in tongues, you aren't actually saved. That would put a great many of us out of luck! I sure can't speak in tongues. And I can't prophesy, and I can't work miracles, and I can't distinguish between spirits. And I used to think that was pretty much all there was when it came to biblical gifts. They were these awesome, unexplainable, superpowers if you will. It just so happened that most of us didn't have a superpower, since most of us couldn't speak in tongues, and that was what the spiritual gifts were to me. Now I realize, there's a lot more than that! Check out the gifts listed before that. "the utterance of wisdom", "the utterance of knowledge", "faith". Unlike tongues or miracles, those could be called 'unimpressive'. They're not quite so supernatural. And yet they are gifts, and I'd say they're more along the lines of what most of us get. Check out some more, from Romans. "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 12:7-8 ESV Service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy. Those are a lot less fantastic than prophecy and healing. A bit more realistic. And yet they're gifts, and they're important. They're very important. Which again, we'll get to more in awhile. And even then, I think you could take it further. The lists given here aren't exclusive. Think of David's mighty men, in the Old Testament. "Might" and, say, "strategy" aren't mentioned by Paul. Yet wouldn't you agree that those are the gifts God gave to and used in those men? Or how about non-biblical examples. I could probably come up with quite a few famous Christians that were undeniably used by God, and yet none of them could prophesy or speak in tongues. Things like music, skills in public speaking, administration, hospitality, those can all be gifts too. Point 3. The importance of each gift. Something kind of confusing in the 1 Corinthians passages on this is 12:31, which says: "But earnestly desire the higher gifts." That makes you think that Paul is saying yeah, you should want the 'better gifts', like prophesy or healing. Turns out, that's not what he's saying. That's how we translate it. But in truth, the statement is indicative, more like an accusation. It should read as "But you earnestly desire the higher gifts". Taken like that, it makes a lot more sense. Instead of having Paul contradict himself as he first says repeatedly tells the Corinthians to stop being envious of flashier gifts, and then says that they should desire those gifts; it instead becomes him repeating that they have the wrong idea. Which leads us to the conclusion that we shouldn't be envious of those gifts that seem cooler and better! That in fact, every gift has its place. It is just as good and necessary as the next. That's where the analogy of the Church being one body with many members comes in. And I know you've probably heard that a lot, but take a moment to think about it. If you take it seriously, than that means we really are all vital to the body, even if our gift may seem subtle. Think about it. Imagine life without one, two, or even all four of your limbs. Or even just without a hand or foot. Without ears, maybe. Possible? Yes. As effective, enjoyable, efficient? No. And as Paul points out, it's often the 'lesser' parts that play some of the biggest roles. Think how often you use your hands and feet! And here's something else. If things like mercy, service, and leadership are gifts, then you can easily find their significance in different Bible verses. After all, the Bible tells us frequently to serve. It speaks of the importance of mercy. It tells of how we should lead. What are the qualities that we most often find listed as the things us Christians should strive for? Miracle-working, tongue-interpreting, mountain-moving? Nope. Righteousness, faith, peace, hope, steadfastness, so forth. Think about it. Think of someone you know that has one of those gifts- perhaps they have the gift of hospitality, or of encouragement, or kindness. Hasn't that impacted your life? I have a friend, who actually inspired this post, who is probably the sweetest person I know. And she's also a great model of godliness. And you know what? She's really been an example to me. God has definitely used her in my life! So yes, it's easy to admire those impressive, showy gifts. But if everyone in the church had only those, what would ever get done? If everyone could speak in tongues and work miracles, sure, there would be some perks. But what if there's no one with the knowledge and wisdom to explain Christianity to those outside the Church (or those inside)? Or if there was no one with the kindness and friendliness that makes outsiders feel welcome? Or nobody with the gift of serving the homeless and orphaned and hurting? The verdict, then? That you don't have to be able to speak in tongues. You don't even have to be a great worship-leader, or someone able to run an organization, to be used by God. He's given you the gifts He wants you to have. And as a bit of a side-note, I wouldn't necessarily say that you will get one gift, and that's it. God may give you a different/new gift at some point for a specific task. In any case, He'll equip you for His plans for you! Point 4. His greatness, not our own. That great friend of mine? She had a great way of wording this, so I'm going to quote her: "I'm not the one who needs to be great and talented. God's got that covered! It's through His greatness that anything good can come through me." I think she got it pretty well, so I don't even have to expound! Point 5. The last point I want to make: That we should use our gifts to serve others. Paul not only says that we shouldn't be envious of the gift of speaking in tongues. He actually implies that really, that gift isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It's good, of course. But he makes the point that the only thing tongues accomplishes is you communicating (without even necessarily understanding) with God. It doesn't involve helping others at all. "For the common good". Or, from 1 Peter 4:10, "As each as received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace;" Let's sum it all up. God has graciously given us different, varied gifts, which we should use to serve Him and others. Each gift is important. And it doesn't matter if we have talent or skill, God can use us. So just because you aren't running an orphanage, or prophesying, or playing in the worship team on Sunday, doesn't mean God isn't using you. He will put you just where He needs you, and give you just what you need, to help accomplish His perfect plan.
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Posted by: Anna What is faith? I've been reading through Hebrews, and I came to chapter 11 the other day. The entire chapter is about faith. Faith is a big part of Christianity, after all. It kind of is Christianity. And yet, it's not always so easy. So today, we're going to answer two primary questions: What is faith, and What can it do? What is faith? The very first verse of Hebrews 11 gives us the foundation of what faith is: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Let's break it down. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Take the two primary words in that: assurance, and hope. Those are both primary aspects of faith. The conviction of things not seen. Conviction. Another big part of faith. To make it easier, let's take the next part as "belief in things we can't see." With all those things in mind, what is faith? At its core, it is assurance, hope, conviction, and belief. With faith, we are assured--absolutely confident--in God. We're assured in the hope He has given us. We are convicted of His existence, even if we can't see Him. We're convicted--convinced--of Who He is. Notice that these are all 'strong' words being used. It's not the "consideration of things hoped for," it's the assurance. It's not the "acceptance of what we can't see," it's the conviction of things not seen. That's because faith is powerful. Our faith should be conviction and assurance, not timid aspiration. There you have the foundation of what faith is. Let's dive deeper. "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." -11:3 Faith wouldn't be faith if we could see God as clearly as we see each other. It wouldn't be faith if all of creation came with a stamp saying "MADE BY GOD" on it. Faith is what allows us to understand that God created the universe. It allows us to believe in what we can't see- God, His love and grace. After all, we can't really see His love and grace, can we? Nope. Truly believing in those require faith. After that, the rest of the chapter is examples of famous biblical characters and their faith. It goes from Abel to Abraham to Rahab. I won't go through those. Instead, I'm going to take bits and pieces from those examples, to look at more ways faith takes form. "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." -11:6 This brings it back to my last point- faith allows us to believe in God's grace, or that "He rewards those who seek Him". If we can't believe in that, we can't draw near to Him. That's why faith is so, so important. "And he went out, not knowing where he was going." -11:8 This is referring to Abraham, following God's calling to leave his home and just go. God didn't tell him where to go, just to go. What does it take to leave your home like that, and trust that God will take you somewhere better, without knowing where that is? That's exactly what it takes- trust. Trust and courage. To have faith is to be courageous, trusting in God. "But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one." -11:16 Out of all the people given as examples of faith here, what was their reason for the acts of faith they committed? Desire for the end goal- eternity in Paradise with God. Faith allows us to truly believe in that goal, and gives us the focus and drive to pursue it. ". . . choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward." -11:25-26 Again. It takes faith to have assurance in the greatness of our end reward in Heaven. That faith allowed Moses to consider that reward greater than the wealth and power he could have had. Faith allows us, even requires us, to find a relationship with Christ more fulfilling than any fleeting pleasures of sin. It gives us far greater joy than wealth or popularity or security. Along the same lines, faith is what gives us endurance, patience, and even joy in the midst of suffering. It's what strengthens and encourages us when we face persecution. With faith, we can consider the reproach of Christ far greater than the treasures of this world, for how great is the reward! Now. What can faith do? "By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days. By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets--who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight." -11:33-34 And what more shall I say? Because that is what faith can do. Faith is what makes this verse true: "I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13 "Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, an let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." -Hebrews 12:1-2 |
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