You are Good, Great things, One God, Holy Spirit, 10,000 REASONS

Have you ever made a “birthday resolution” similar to a “New Year’s resolution”? If you were to make one for your next birthday, what would it contain?

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.

We begin a new series, MAKE YOUR LIFE COUNT: LIVE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Paul’s focus will be on how to serve and putting faith in practice. People count money, achievements – but there are more worthy things to count. Do we focus on things that will be destroyed or gone sooner or later? Are we investing on something we think is precious, but doesn’t impact eternity? 1 Corinthians 12 teaches us 3 principles:

1. ABIDE (Be dependent on the Lord and the Spirit)

1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-3 begins with Paul bringing up spiritual gifts – he did not want them to be unaware (ignorant). Ignorance can be costly! Paul reminds the Corinthians that once upon a time, they, like all of us, did not worship God, but idols. Do you remember the time when you worshiped and committed to something you thought was more important than God? The Corinthians worshiped idols and led astray, but now they know the truth about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When we have the Holy Spirit, we recognize the lordship of Jesus over everything.

Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot recognize Jesus. Matthew 7:21 reminds us that “not everyone” who calls Him LORD will enter the kingdom of Heaven. If we abide in Jesus and let the Holy Spirit abide in us, we can see change in our hearts! The Christian life is not hard, it is impossible; it is not difficult, it is supernatural. Christianity is not what you do for God, but what He does in you and through you! If you want to make your life count, you must ABIDE, meaning submit to and be dependent on the Holy Spirit’s control. Acts 1:8 reminds us that we receive power when we have the Holy Spirit. The empowerment of the Spirit allows us to be effective WITNESSES for Jesus! Romans 8:9 tells us that the “Spirit of God dwells” in us. In John 15:4-5, Jesus gives the command for us to ABIDE in Him – to be fully dependent, and fully controlled by His Spirit. The Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) must be in us, and we must be able to display the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). There must be a new desire to submit to the LORD! We can make our lives count as He works in and through us, like Daniel (Daniel 5:11-12) was exceptional, wise, that even pagans knew it was because of God! In the NT, Acts 13:52 describes the disciples as “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit”. Is our life like that, even if we face tests and trials? Can people see Christ in us?

Ephesians 5:15-18 reminds us to make the most of our time, not wasting it on foolish and worldly things. Choose to be FILLED by the HOLY SPIRIT!

2. APPROPRIATE (What was given to us by the Lord)

When God comes into your life, He equips and empowers you. Many of the believers today have no joy because they are living the Christian life with no power. God saved you so that you will live a meaningful, purposeful, joyful life! But you must appropriate the gifts that God has given you.

There are varieties of gifts (Gk. Charismata), ministries, and effects – but it all comes from the SAME God (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). Spiritual gifts are special God-given abilities for service to build up the body of Christ. The source is the Holy Spirit, and the meaning is special abilities, and the purpose is for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 enumerates some gifts — wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, and even tongues. Later in verses 28-31, these gifts also become offices – apostles, prophets, and the like. Paul emphasizes that “one and the same Spirit works all these things” (v.11) – everybody has a gift!

In the NT, you have four passages that talk about spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8-10, Ephesians 4:11-13, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Peter 4:10-11). The Bible is not giving us a complete list – but one thing is very important – we are given abilities not for our glory, but for His purpose. The OT talks about the gifts also (Exodus 31:3-6). Even manual labor can come from the empowerment of the Spirit! God gave us special skills to serve. Some sincere believers say that gifts of tongues have ceased, and some require people to have the gift of tongues. The balance – we must not prohibit, we must do it orderly, not for show or impress people, but to build and help others! We must not put God in a box and limit His work.

3. ALIGN (To God’s purpose)

We must be aligned to “employ it” in serving one another and be “good stewards” of the grace of God (1 Peter 4:10-11) in a local body – the church. We have different roles, like our body parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). But it’s ONE SPIRIT that baptizes us into this one body, the universal church whose head is JESUS CHRIST. Wherever God has placed us, we function in that specific role. Each of us with different gifts, if we work together, will benefit the entire body! Learn to appreciate each member of the body of Christ, and contribute, in accordance with the gift entrusted to us. We align to one purpose alone – the purpose of GOD. We must not be divided especially on the essentials.

Even in diversity, we must have unity! That is only possible if we are aligned to one purpose! We are the body of Christ and His representatives on earth. It is about what we can do to help more people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The greatest impact we can make is to connect more people to Jesus. The greatest failure and tragedy happens when we live for ourselves and not for God. May we use our gifts to accomplish only the purpose of God in our lives – to point others to faith in JESUS CHRIST!

Why is God’s presence so important in making a difference?

How do you appropriate for God the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are in you?

What can we do to maintain “unity in diversity” and accomplish Christ’s mission for all of us?

Pray for people around you who can benefit from your spiritual gifts.

Through your spiritual gifts, let people know about Jesus and how His Spirit wants to indwell in them and accomplish His purpose for them and through them.

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• God’s help and comfort, salvation for Israel, wisdom for their leaders in government, military and their soldiers as they defend themselves against terrorists’ attacks.

• Rescue of the Israelites taken as hostages.

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented; conflict in African, East Asian and Middle East countries to stop.

• CCFers would honor and love God and make disciples.

• Elders, pastors, dleaders, and families (holy, humble, harmonious, happy, heart-working).

• Ministries and churches expansion worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.