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1 Corinthians 12:4-7 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (KJV)
If you notice above, God, Lord, and Spirit are all mentioned as one. The differences or diversities we see being mentioned all refer to His people and how He is working through them. Psalm 78:40-42 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! 41 Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 42 They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. (KJV) The beginning of 1 Corinthians 12 talks about ignorance of things in the Spirit. As we see in Psalms the children of Israel operated in ignorance because they limited God from working on their behalf. My prayer for the Church today is that they don’t limit God, thinking that He only works through special people and not you. Acts 10:38-39 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: (KJV) You too were Spiritually anointed when you accepted Christ into your heart. Those same healings we see illustrated throughout the Bible are still in play today. The reason many are not healthy is because they have ignored the counsel of the Lord and are willing to settle for sickness and diseases. I John 2:26-28 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abides in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. 28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. (KJV) Do notice that this anointing is in you and able to teach you how to operate in the realm of the Spirit. The words that you speak should be Spirit and life, and when they are, then all those things we have been looking at in 1 Corinthians 12 will be working in you too. Your confidence is built on the fact that greater is He that is within you, than that old doubting person you used to be. 2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (KJV) The word of God is living and powerful and is inside of you! Are you letting it loose so that it can work on your behalf, or are you binding the Lord with words of doubt and fear? The Lord has given us access to all things, not just some of them. So please grab hold of what He died to give you. God bless dearly loved, and have a prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Corinthians 12:7-9 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; (KJV)
What Paul is describing above is not limitations on the people, rather he is giving a brief overview on how our Lord is working through different members of the body. Just like at the hospital when a patient is brought in, they attend to the area that is in need of immediate service. If the foot is broken you are not going to spend too much time examining the hands are you? 1 Corinthians 12:10-11 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these work that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (KJV) What you see illustrated above are people who are willing and obedient, who have learned to operate in the realm of the Spirit. You see what can manifest if you allow the Lord to have His way and not limit Him. It certainly doesn’t mean that one person only receives one gift; it just shows us how the Lord would like to operate through His people if they are willing. Romans 12:2-3 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith (KJV) God does not play favorites, what He gives to one He gives to all. The difference comes in those that don’t get misled by man, but find the change that comes from the Lord. You were given access to the same measure of faith as Jesus Christ, so whatever was manifest through Him should be in you as well. Romans 12:4-5 For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office: 5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one member’s one of another. (KJV) Maybe the reason you haven’t been seeing the Spirit manifest through you is because you have spent too much time conforming yourself to others instead of letting the Lord have His way through you. The Lord would definitely like to work in and through you; however, you need to find your place in His body of believers for that to happen. Romans 12:6-8 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7 Or ministry let us wait on our ministering: or he that teaches, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorted, on exhortation: he that gives, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (KJV) Not everyone is called to be an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, or teacher, but whomever these gifts manifest in, you will find that these are people who know who they are in Christ, those who have let Him build them up so that they can show us how we too can be mature Christians. God bless dearly loved, and have a prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: (KJV)
We have been talking about the term gift or gifts, what was given on our behalf. When you think of the term gifts you see it comes in the form of those that in verse 11 know who they are in Christ, and then in turn show others what was given. These are people that have chosen not to limit the Lord, but have learned what was provided to them when they accepted salvation. You will not grow and mature until you learn these things for yourself. 1 Corinthians12:4-6 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which works all in all. (KJV) Every person is unique and different in who they are and what they’re called to. The reason the church is so stale and lifeless at times is because many spend too much time emulating others rather than allowing their own personalities of who they really are to manifest. Many get a bit robotic and we see more assembly line Christians than those that truly find their calling in the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. (KJV) Please take note of verse 7 so that you don’t have to operate in the ignorance of many who think they only received some of the gift of the Spirit and not the whole package. Everything that is written in this chapter deals with Spiritual things, things that are yours for the taking. Ephesians 1:2-4 Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (KJV) Please take note of that big little word in verse 3, ‘all’; as well, ‘us’ is another big one because it doesn’t limit anyone access to what the Lord provided for His people and the reason God sent the Son. Anything less than all is unacceptable and not an area you should settle for. I John 2:20-21 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. (KJV) Every day that we are in this world should be a learning process, where we go from relying on our outward senses to the inward ones. Every day you should be growing and learning who you are in Christ and all that He has given you access to. Don’t ever limit the Lord and tell Him what He can’t do because He is willing and able to do above and beyond what you could have ever asked or thought of. God bless dearly loved, and have a prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God called Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (KJV)
In your past life before your conversion in Christ you were misguided, looking for answers, but then you found a whole new life in Christ. This week we are going to concentrate on Spiritual things given to us for our benefit. Verse one uses the term gifts which is actually an added word; what you will find is that you were given access to everything needed to walk a victorious life in the Spirit and no longer be held back by the limitations of the flesh. Ephesians 4:7-8 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Wherefore he says, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (KJV) God sent a gifted man our way in the form of His Son who allowed the Spirit to manifest through Him, a man who was not in bondage to the dictates of the flesh. The gift of Christ is yours too. Much of the ignorance we are surrounded with today is with those who have limited the Lord by their carnal interpretations of what they have heard through man and not personally though the Holy Spirit. If you are not hearing first hand from the Lord yourself then you too have allowed the thief to come into your house and rob you blind. I John 5:9-11 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (KJV) The greatest gift that was ever sent our way is one many don’t see, because they either settled for what man told them or they keep looking in the outward fallen realm thinking they will find fulfillment. When you realize personally who the Son is and why He was sent, as well as what was really given to us through Him, you will be amazed at how blind and ignorant you were living, even at times after your conversion in Christ. Acts 8:18-20 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power that on whomsoever I lay hands; he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. (KJV) An interesting question was asked a while back that has stuck with me for months, that being “how did we get to this point”? I say this because while working out the other day and turning on one of the prominent TV ministries I was bombarded with a telethon, basically following the same principals illustrated in the above verses. Acts 8:21-22 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. (KJV) Just exactly which chapter and verse was it that our Lord did a telethon? Dearly loved, have a blessed and prosperous day in Christ Jesus our Lord. |
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