Spiritual Gifts: An Implication for Unanswered Prayer
John Piper
John Piper
First, let's just remind ourselves of some truths about spiritual gifts from 1 Corinthians 12. Then we will notice a simple implication for unanswered prayer.
1. God wants us to know about spiritual gifts.
"Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed" (1 Corinthians 12:1).
2. Objective truths about Jesus govern subjective spiritual experiences.
"No one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3).
3. Different Christians have different spiritual powers given to them by the Holy Spirit.
"There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:4).
4. For example, these different spiritual powers include the following:
"Wisdom . . . knowledge . . . faith . . . healing . . . miracles . . . prophecy . . . ability to distinguish between spirits . . . tongues . . . interpretation of tongues"(1 Corinthians 12:8-10).
5. The Spirit of God is sovereign over when and to whom he gives such powers.
"All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills" (1 Corinthians 12:11).
6. The aim of all the gifts is the common good of the church.
"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good"(1 Corinthians 12:7).
7. The variety of gifts is like the variety of our body parts, such as eye and ear, hand and foot.
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many" (1 Corinthians 12:14).
8. Therefore, if a spiritual power is not used, it's like the human body not hearing.
"If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing?(1 Corinthians 12:17).
9. Therefore, we should avail ourselves of the spiritual powers God gives us through others.
"The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'" (1 Corinthians 12:21).
Now consider the implications of this for unanswered prayer. There is more than one reason why we may pray for things and yet not receive them. Reasons may include 1) because we don't trust God (James 1:6); 2) because the answer would not glorify Christ and sanctify us as much as something else (2 Corinthians 12:8-10); 3) because the answer is coming later than we think (Joseph waited 13 years before he saw the reason for his afflictions, Genesis 37-50).
But here is a reason we may not think of very often. God may intend to give us the blessing we long for not directly in answer to prayer, but indirectly in answer to prayer-through the spiritual gifting of another believer. And the reason we don't receive the blessing is that we don't avail ourselves of the power God intends to channel through the gifts of his people.
For example, the gifts Paul mentions include wisdom and healings and miracles. This implies that God intends that sometimes wisdom and healing and other sorts of miracles come into our lives through other believers ministering to us. If this were not true, there would be no point in spiritual gifts. They are one way God brings about the "common good" of the church.
If we pray and pray for some change we want to see, but we never consider seeking the ministry of a fellow believer, we are like the eye that says to the hand, "I have no need of you" (1 Corinthians 12:21).
So in your small groups (which is the most natural place for such ministry to happen), seek the fullness of God's "good" (1 Corinthians 12:7), and minister to each other-and seek to be ministered to-in this way.
Seeking all his fullness with you,
Pastor John
"But Martha was distracted with much serving ... But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.'" Luke 10:40a, 41-42, ESV
"I feel like I'm losing you ..."
I glanced up from the super-hero briefs I was folding and gave my husband a glazed stare.
The clock was pushing midnight, and he was slumped silent on the couch. His blue scrubs were wrinkled from a long day's work at the hospital, his green eyes glassy with tears.
"Losing me?" I gaped, an unexpected lump of anger rising in my throat.
"I'm right here taking care of your five children. And cooking your meals. And washing your dishes. And folding your clothes ..." I pounded my fist on the upturned laundry basket beside me and let weary frustration seep like a slow leak from my lips "How can you lose me when I never go anywhere? The only place I've been all week is the grocery store."
My husband slid from the couch onto the floor beside me and took a deep, wobbly breath. My sarcastic outburst hadn't dispelled the anguish in his gaze. "I'm not talking about what you do for me," he murmured sadly. "I'm talking about you."
He reached his hand across the mountain of laundry between us and curled his fingers around mine. "I miss you," he whispered. "I'm losing you."
My stomach lurched and my aggravation morphed into melancholy.
We slept in the same bed and poured coffee from the same carafe; we shared meals at the same table and drove the same dented mini-van with the same five kids. We worshiped at the same church and sat on the sidelines of the same little league games. We both worked hard for our family - I tended to the kids; he went to work and paid the bills. Our to-do lists were long, but our together-time was short.
We'd become so busy doing life that we weren't truly sharing life.
I could blame our floundering relationship on the press of parenthood or on the drain of the daily mundane, but in the depths of my soul, I knew the truth - our love wasn't dying; it was distracted.
Industry is no substitute for intimacy.
The tale that precedes our key verses today reminds me that I'm not the first woman to "get lost" in the daily grind.
In four short verses, we read the story of two women who love Jesus (Luke 10:38-42).
One chooses to savor Him. The other chooses to serve Him.
One makes time for connection. The other falls prey to distraction.
One winds up being blessed. The other ends up feeling bitter.
Sadly, I recognize myself in this story, and I'm not the sister slowing to relish the one she loves. If I'm honest, I'm more prone to have a Martha-heart than a Mary-spirit.
I can get so caught up in my self-imposed check-lists and daily to-dos that I miss the "better part" of marriage - the joy of friendship and the depths of connection my husband and I were created to share.
Lately, I've been asking God to help me become a woman who works just as hard on flourishing her marriage as she does on finishing her to-do list. I haven't discovered a secret formula, but l am learning that making small changes in my day can make a big difference in the health of our relationship.
I can't always ignore the dirty dinner dishes piled high, but sometimes I can choose to leave them in the sink and join my husband for some cuddling on the couch.
I can't always disregard deadlines or dust-bunnies, but sometimes I can choose to get up early and tackle my responsibilities right away, so I'm free to linger with my man when the kids go to bed.
And no matter what my to-do list contains, I can always pray for wisdom to choose the "better portion," and for an ever-increasing passion for my "better half."
After all, if a woman's going to be lost, she might as well be lost in love.
Dear Jesus, my husband doesn't just want my hands, he wants my heart, too. Help me to prioritize intimacy over industry, and make my marriage a reflection of Your measureless love. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 (NIV)
Tears. Wailing. Screaming. A full-blown meltdown.
When my youngest daughter, Brooke, was a baby this was often my reality when I tried to run errands with her. I can remember just trying to get to one more place, knowing we should have been home an hour earlier for her nap. But also knowing there were things that had to get done, I pressed on, hoping for the best.
Brooke, on the other hand, wanted to get out of that car, and she made sure everybody knew it. Whines quickly turned to screams.
My touch has always comforted Brooke. And while I couldn't do much to comfort her while driving, I would often reach my arm into the backseat and gently pat her leg. It took a few minutes, but eventually she'd settle down and reach her tiny hand out to hold mine.
When Brooke was older but still a young girl, she had a performance with her praise dance team from school. I couldn't wait to see Brooke perform these dances she'd been working on and talking about for weeks. But just a few minutes before the performance was about to begin, a very distraught Brooke made her way to the audience to find me.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she explained that the teacher had moved her from the front row to the back row, and she didn't know the back row's part. I whispered, "Honey, just watch the other girls for cues and follow in step. You know this dance, Brooke. You'll be fine."
She sobbed back, "I won't be fine if I mess up. And I know I'm going to mess up."
That's when it occurred to me. She would need my touch to get through this fear.
But we both knew it wouldn't be possible for my arm to reach all the way up to the stage.
So I quickly whispered, "Brooke, lock your eyes with mine, and I'll touch you with my smile. Don't look at anyone or anything else. It doesn't matter if you mess up. What matters is that you keep your eyes on me the whole time. We'll do this together."
Quietly she asked, "The whole time, Mommy?"
"The whole time, Brooke," I replied as I watched my brave girl walk away to take her place in line.
Several times during the dance, Brooke fell out of step. She knew her steps weren't perfect, so her eyes brimmed with tears. But the tears never fell. With her eyes perfectly locked on my smiling face, she danced.
I smiled when her steps were right on track. I smiled when they weren't.
My smile was not based on her performance. My smile was born out of an incredible love for this precious, courageous little girl.
As she kept her attention focused solely on my smile and the touch of my gaze, it was as if the world slowly faded away and we were the only ones in the room.
This is the way God wants me to dance through life.
Though I can't physically see Him, my soul pictures Him so clearly. In my mind's eye He is there. The touch of His gaze wraps about me, comforts me, assures me, and makes the world seem strangely dim.
As long as my gaze is locked on His, I dance and He smiles.
The fear and anxiety go away. The snickers and jeers of others fade into the distance. And even my own stumbling doesn't cause the same feelings of defeat.
My steps so often betray the desire of my heart, but it is not my perfect performance that captures His attention. Rather, it is my complete dependence on Him that He notices.
He then whispers, "Hold on to Me and what I say about you. For My words are the truth of who you are and the essence of what you were created to be."
I imagine Him pausing and, with tears in His eyes and a crack in His voice, He adds, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).
His truth frees you from the chains of fear, doubt and despair. His truth frees me from feeling unable and inadequate. His truth washes over me as I whisper, "I want to be a woman who says yes to God."
And in that moment, with my eyes locked on His, I am.
Dear Lord, I want to hold onto You and what You say about me. Continue to show me Your truth today as I pursue You above all else. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Out of the Ivory Palaces
"All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." (Psalm 45:8)
"All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad." (Psalm 45:8)
Psalm 45 is one of the Messianic psalms, quoted as such in Hebrews 1:8-9. The section so quoted (vv. 6-7), which immediately precedes our text, begins with one Person of the Godhead addressing the Messiah also as "God," whose throne is eternal. Then, He says, "Oh God, . . . thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." The "oil of gladness" was the holy oil used for the anointing of priests and kings and was compounded of a mixture of spices which included myrrh and cassia (Exodus 30:22-25). Since the Messiah had been anointed to be "above his fellows" (first as High Priest, then as King of kings), "all his garments" would bear the sweet aroma of the holy ointment.
At the birth of Christ, His garments were "swaddling clothes," and the gifts of the eastern wise men included a supply of myrrh and frankincense (Luke 2:7; Matthew 2:11). At His death, they gave Him to drink "wine mingled with myrrh [and] . . . parted his garments" (Mark 15:23-24). Then once again His body was wrapped in linen clothes and anointed with myrrh and aloes (John 19:39-40) for His burial.
The psalmist sees Christ (i.e., "Messiah," both Greek and Hebrew titles meaning "the Anointed One") emerging triumphantly from the "ivory palaces." These mansions with their ivory walls and pearly gates are of shimmering white beauty in the distant heavenly city which will someday descend to Earth (Revelation 21:2, 10-21).
The Lord descended once from these ivory palaces to take on human flesh in Mary's womb, thence to a burial in Joseph's tomb. But someday He will again come forth, anointed as eternal King, and then "shall the people praise thee for ever and ever" (Psalm 45:17). HMM
A Truly New Thing
"How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man." (Jeremiah 31:22)
"How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man." (Jeremiah 31:22)
Long ago, the wise man concluded: "There is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). That nothing is now being created is even recognized as a scientific law.
But God reminds us as He reminded His backsliding people of Israel that He has, indeed, created one new thing in the earth. Since only God can "create," a really new thing would have to be produced directly by the Lord Himself. Of course, God had completed His original work of creating all things long ago (Genesis 2:1-3), including a marvelous mechanism for human reproduction. Nevertheless, because of man's sin, He very soon had to begin a work of reconciliation, and this included a primeval promise that "the seed of the woman" (Genesis 3:15) would come someday to accomplish this great work. Since all normal reproduction requires male seed, such a miracle would mean God would have to create a new thing when the appropriate time would come. At that time, as Isaiah prophesied many years later, "a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son," and that Son would be "the mighty God," who would establish His kingdom "with justice from henceforth even for ever" (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7).
Then, still later, Jeremiah reminded his forgetful people of this same great promise: God would create, by His mighty power, a new thing, a perfect human body, without inherited sin or physical blemish, and with no contribution from either male or female, in the womb of a specially called virgin. She would compass that "holy thing" (Luke 1:35) with warmth and love for nine long months as it grew in her womb. Then, in the fullness of time, "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman" (Galatians 4:4), to "save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). HMM
Walking in the Spirit
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)
This promise in our text is followed in a later Pauline epistle by two nuanced commands in the letter to the church at Galatia.
"This I say then," Paul says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Then again, "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25).
Although they appear to be the same command in English, there is a significant distinction in the original Greek language in which Paul penned the letters.
Both the Romans 8:1 and the Galatians 5:16 passages use the word perepeto, which carries the connotation to "walk around" and to "be at liberty."
The second iteration in Galatians 5:25 uses stoicheo, which means to "step precisely," to "march," or to "go in procession." Same command but different emphasis.
The context of Galatians 5 stresses the difference between a lifestyle of fleshly behavior and a life controlled by the Holy Spirit. The "fruits" of the flesh and the "fruit" of the Spirit are diametrically opposed. They cannot exist together; they are not harmonious (Romans 8:5-8). We either "mind" the things of the flesh or the "things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:5).
The Christian walk has great liberty (Romans 8:21), but that liberty must "step precisely" in honesty (Romans 13:13), good works (Ephesians 2:10), and in truth (2 John 4-6). Our walk is expected to be by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), and we are to conduct a spiritual warfare in the Holy Spirit's power (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) protected by the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). HMM III
The Circle of the Earth
"It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." (Isaiah 40:22)
"It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in." (Isaiah 40:22)
The discovery that the world is round is considered one of man's greatest scientific achievements, often wrongly attributed to Christopher Columbus. Columbus was, indeed, a courageous thinker and explorer, as well as a Bible-believing Christian, but many scholars had long before so concluded, and many people had already migrated to the New World.
As far as the sphericity of the earth is concerned, the "flat-earth" myth of the Middle Ages was not the belief of many scholars of antiquity. The Bible, in particular, never hints of a drop-off point at the earth's edge or any such notion as that. Its few references to "the four corners" of the earth (e.g., Isaiah 11:12) literally mean "the four quarters of the earth"-that is, the four quadrants of the compass.
In our text for the day, the word for "circle" is translated "compass" in Proverbs 8:27: "[God] set a compass upon the face of the depth" (same as "deep," referring to the ocean). Other occurrences are in Job 26:10: "He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end," and Job 22:14: "[God] walketh in the circuit of heaven." All of these passages are best understood in terms of a spherical earth, with its basic shape at sea level determined by its ocean surface as controlled by gravity. The Hebrew word itself (khug) basically means a circle. Any vertical cross-section through the earth's center is a "great circle," of course, with any "straight" line on the ocean surface actually representing an arc of such a circle.
This is only one of many "pre-scientific" insights of the Bible written by divine inspiration long before the rise of modern science. HMM
The Wisdom of God
"And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment." (1 Kings 3:28)
"And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment." (1 Kings 3:28)
Although God's wisdom is expounded in depth in the Scriptures, there are only seven times that the specific phrase "the wisdom of God" is used as such. The above text is indicating that God's wisdom can actually be manifested in men through divine inspiration. The Persian king recognized this also in Ezra. "And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges . . . all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not" (Ezra 7:25). The wisdom of God thus is always consistent with the laws of God-that is, with the Scriptures.
The first New Testament reference is from Christ. "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles" (Luke 11:49). Here the Lord is applying a scriptural principle from 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, in effect calling the Scriptures themselves "the wisdom of God."
Then Paul three times uses the same phrase: "In the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God." Human wisdom can never, by itself, discover God, but this very fact is bound up in the divine wisdom, revealed only through the Word of God. "We preach . . . Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." That is, through both the written word and the living Word, we can proclaim true wisdom. "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery . . . which God ordained before the world unto our glory" (1 Corinthians 1:21, 23-24; 2:7).
Finally, with God's wisdom manifested through chosen men of God, we also can preach true wisdom in Christ, "to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10). HMM
The Man Born Blind
"And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." (John 9:2-3)
Mankind has always found it easy to fall into the trap of thinking that suffering of any sort is due to sin. To be sure, much suffering is due to sin, and even after repentance and forgiveness, scars may remain. Furthermore, evil and its attendant grief surround us. Our civilization is plagued by sin and its evil fruits-some of which reach even the most godly Christian. Indeed, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain" (Romans 8:22) as a result of the curse brought about by sin. If there had been no sin, there would have been no suffering.
But this does not imply that all personal suffering stems from personal sin. The blind man was the way he was to bring glory to God, we are told. Although many at the time failed to recognize "the works of God" when this man was healed, countless millions have glorified God throughout the centuries for this act of creation.
Now some may ask, how could God have been glorified in this grown man's life of blindness up until his healing? Actually, all life is a miracle, even the single-cell amoeba. Nothing living could possibly have arisen by accident, and as such testifies to the marvelous "works of God." In this case, the item of interest was a human being, complete with fully functioning organs and systems. Even though he could not see, he could smell, taste, hear, speak, touch, move, walk, eat, breathe, digest, think, etc. This could not be the result of time and chance acting on "primeval slime," as the evolutionist would claim. Any living system points to a loving Designer. Those who "willingly are ignorant" (2 Peter 3:5) of such facts are more blind than the Pharisees. JDM
"And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." (John 9:2-3)
The Man Child
"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." (Revelation 12:5)
"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne." (Revelation 12:5)
This remarkable scene was part of a great vision given to the apostle John as the Lord was revealing to him "the things which shall be hereafter" (Revelation 1:19). He had seen an amazing "sign" in heaven-a woman "clothed with the sun . . . travailing in birth," with "a great red dragon" awaiting the delivery and ready "to devour her child as soon as it was born" (Revelation 12:1-4).
Although the whole vision is richly symbolic, the figure of the man child clearly refers to Jesus Christ, because it is He alone who must eventually rule all nations "with a rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15). Thus, the symbolic "woman" must suggest His human mother, Mary, but also Eve, the "mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20), for in His human birth, the Son of God became also "the Son of man" (Acts 7:56; Revelation 1:13). The vision, in fact, dramatizes the long warfare between the great dragon (i.e., Satan-Revelation 12:9) and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15).
In the vision, the "man child" will have been "caught up" (i.e., "raptured") to heaven, and the dragon and his angels "cast out" to earth (Revelation 12:5-9). But when Christ returns from heaven, all believers, living and dead, will also be "caught up" to meet Him in the air, and thus may well be included in the man child of the great "sign."
There has been continuous warfare between the seed of the Serpent and the spiritual seed of the woman. The Dragon is forever "wroth with the woman" and with "the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17). But Christ will finally prevail and cast Satan into the eternal lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). HMM
Why God Speaks James 1:23-25
God is not one to speak in generalities. When He whispers from the pages of Scripture or confronts through a friend's words, the Father directly addresses issues in His children's lives. With that in mind, let's look at His three goals for communicating with believers-namely, for us to:
1. Comprehend the truth. God wants us to learn His ways and principles, to recognize our own frailty, and to identify the needs of others. He does more than offer this as head knowledge-He makes truth applicable to our lives. For example, the Lord assured Paul that His strength was sufficient to carry the apostle through anything (2 Cor. 12:9). Circumstances taught the apostle that God's Word was true.
2. Conform to the truth. Our lives are shaped by our belief system. What we hold as true influences our thinking. In turn, how we think affects our character, conduct, and conversation. God is determined to mold His children into Christlikeness so that they reflect His gospel to the world.
3. Communicate the truth. Every child of God is called to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). Believers can know the Lord and walk in His light but still fall short of this expectation. We must share the gospel by sharing God's truth with others and explaining how His words played out in our lives.
Notice that each goal builds on the one preceding it. Christians are a light reflecting God's glory to this world. We shine brightly by being attentive to God's voice and following His will. And when someone takes an interest in the source of our light, we are prepared to share the good news of Christ.
Our Divine Teacher
1 Corinthians 2:9-16
One of the reasons that many people-including believers-don't read the Bible is because they can't understand it. We would expect that to be the case for those who don't know Christ, but why do so many believers fail to comprehend the truths of Scripture? Maybe it's because they haven't asked for help from their divine Teacher. One of the Holy Spirit's chief responsibilities is to enable Christians to understand the things of God.
When looking at believers who know more than we do, we'll sometimes think, I will never be able to reach that level. The issue, however, isn't how much knowledge you have right now, but whether you are growing in your understanding. The Spirit will teach you what you need to know, not necessarily what others know. Because He wants to make us godly people, He'll give us enough truth each day to change our lives. He will interpret the meaning and give an application designed specifically for each person.
The Spirit's goal is not to fill your mind with information but to bring you to a deeper level in your relationship with the Lord. He wants you to understand the truth so you will fall in love with Jesus. Then you'll long to spend time in the Word, thereby getting to know Him even better.
But all these treasures of God's Word could remain out of reach if you never ask the Teacher to unlock them. Each time you read your Bible, ask the Lord for understanding. A wonderfully intimate love relationship with Christ awaits those who let the Spirit reveal to them the thoughts of God.
Our Incomparable Companion
John 14:16-18
Most of us don't like being alone for extended periods of time. In fact, we are not designed to live in isolation. Even at the very beginning, God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Gen. 2:18). But sometimes situations in life leave us separated from others. Or perhaps we simply feel lonely, even though we live with our mate or family. But whatever your situation may be, if you are a believer, you're never alone.
Knowing His followers could feel abandoned after His crucifixion and ascension, Jesus promised to send them a Helper who would never leave them-the Spirit of truth. The same One who came to them at Pentecost still abides within every believer. He has been sent to walk alongside us as our comforter, enabler, and guide.
The Holy Spirit, unlike human companions, is perfectly adequate to meet our every need. Since He knows us intimately, He can comfort us in pain and loss when no one else can. Anytime we find ourselves in a quandary, He knows exactly what we ought to do. Since the future is laid bare before His eyes, He's aware of all the details that concern us. What's more, He promises to guide us each step of the way, calming our fears and overcoming our inadequacies.
Because we were created for God, only through His Spirit are we made complete. He is the ultimate solution to man's aloneness: He's always available and will never forsake or forget you. When others let you down, the Comforter is present to lift you up with the reminder that you're not alone.
God is not one to speak in generalities. When He whispers from the pages of Scripture or confronts through a friend's words, the Father directly addresses issues in His children's lives. With that in mind, let's look at His three goals for communicating with believers-namely, for us to:
1. Comprehend the truth. God wants us to learn His ways and principles, to recognize our own frailty, and to identify the needs of others. He does more than offer this as head knowledge-He makes truth applicable to our lives. For example, the Lord assured Paul that His strength was sufficient to carry the apostle through anything (2 Cor. 12:9). Circumstances taught the apostle that God's Word was true.
2. Conform to the truth. Our lives are shaped by our belief system. What we hold as true influences our thinking. In turn, how we think affects our character, conduct, and conversation. God is determined to mold His children into Christlikeness so that they reflect His gospel to the world.
3. Communicate the truth. Every child of God is called to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). Believers can know the Lord and walk in His light but still fall short of this expectation. We must share the gospel by sharing God's truth with others and explaining how His words played out in our lives.
Notice that each goal builds on the one preceding it. Christians are a light reflecting God's glory to this world. We shine brightly by being attentive to God's voice and following His will. And when someone takes an interest in the source of our light, we are prepared to share the good news of Christ.
Our Divine Teacher
1 Corinthians 2:9-16
One of the reasons that many people-including believers-don't read the Bible is because they can't understand it. We would expect that to be the case for those who don't know Christ, but why do so many believers fail to comprehend the truths of Scripture? Maybe it's because they haven't asked for help from their divine Teacher. One of the Holy Spirit's chief responsibilities is to enable Christians to understand the things of God.
When looking at believers who know more than we do, we'll sometimes think, I will never be able to reach that level. The issue, however, isn't how much knowledge you have right now, but whether you are growing in your understanding. The Spirit will teach you what you need to know, not necessarily what others know. Because He wants to make us godly people, He'll give us enough truth each day to change our lives. He will interpret the meaning and give an application designed specifically for each person.
The Spirit's goal is not to fill your mind with information but to bring you to a deeper level in your relationship with the Lord. He wants you to understand the truth so you will fall in love with Jesus. Then you'll long to spend time in the Word, thereby getting to know Him even better.
But all these treasures of God's Word could remain out of reach if you never ask the Teacher to unlock them. Each time you read your Bible, ask the Lord for understanding. A wonderfully intimate love relationship with Christ awaits those who let the Spirit reveal to them the thoughts of God.
Our Incomparable Companion
John 14:16-18
Most of us don't like being alone for extended periods of time. In fact, we are not designed to live in isolation. Even at the very beginning, God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone" (Gen. 2:18). But sometimes situations in life leave us separated from others. Or perhaps we simply feel lonely, even though we live with our mate or family. But whatever your situation may be, if you are a believer, you're never alone.
Knowing His followers could feel abandoned after His crucifixion and ascension, Jesus promised to send them a Helper who would never leave them-the Spirit of truth. The same One who came to them at Pentecost still abides within every believer. He has been sent to walk alongside us as our comforter, enabler, and guide.
The Holy Spirit, unlike human companions, is perfectly adequate to meet our every need. Since He knows us intimately, He can comfort us in pain and loss when no one else can. Anytime we find ourselves in a quandary, He knows exactly what we ought to do. Since the future is laid bare before His eyes, He's aware of all the details that concern us. What's more, He promises to guide us each step of the way, calming our fears and overcoming our inadequacies.
Because we were created for God, only through His Spirit are we made complete. He is the ultimate solution to man's aloneness: He's always available and will never forsake or forget you. When others let you down, the Comforter is present to lift you up with the reminder that you're not alone.
The Nearness of God is My Good
KARA TIPPETTS
KARA TIPPETTS
"But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the LORD God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." Psalm 73:28 (ESV)
We spend our little years dreaming, hoping, wishing - imagining what our lives will one day become. We set the stage for what our living will be like in our tall years. I grew up in a home of anger, and I imagined a gentle life, a life without fear. I did not know Jesus, but I longed for Him. I looked for love, and filled that love space in my heart with pleasures unending as I was on the hunt for Jesus. Something to fill that place appointed for Jesus.
Then one glorious day, Jesus found me. Lost and wandering in the dark mire of drugs and bad relationships. Struggling for peace, kindness and love. He saw me dead in my sin and plucked me from the life I never imagined myself living. Over time, He grew a new beauty in me of a life redeemed, restored, met by grace and abounding in His love. I began to dream once again of the life I envisioned as a little girl. A life filled with love, and gentle kindness and the overflowing grace of Jesus.
But somewhere in the growing of beauty, I learned this imagined life would not be simple. My expectations would not be easily met. I grew to trust Jesus in such a way that I knew my job was to receive the story He was growing within my hurting heart.
He brought me a marriage to my best friend - a gentle, patient, godly man who looked past all my hard edges and taught me the strength of constant faith. Marriage revealed the depths of my selfishness, and my need to lean deeply on Jesus to learn kindness and selfless love.
Jesus brought me baby after precious baby: a girl, a girl, a boy and a girl. Teaching me the limits of my kindness, and desperate need to press deeply into Jesus. To love well and beyond the boundaries of my weariness and exhaustion.
Jesus brought us ministry - hard and messy. He taught us the depths of hard, behind the pretty veneer of church. We saw the broken, the beautifully unkept lives of our community, and learned we needed the strength of Jesus to meet each hard moment, each broken heart.
Then we were called to the Rocky Mountains to plant a church. We had big plans, great ideas and willing hearts to grow a community from the hard lessons we'd learned, but never expected to meet the bottom of ourselves. We thought we were called to tenderly love the broken. But Jesus planned for us to lead from our own brokenness.
After a wildfire threatened our new home, we met fear, stress and neediness in a new way. Two short weeks later, I found a lump in my breast. The bottom continued to get lower and lower. Diagnosed, labeled, placed into rigorous treatment - I met my greatest need. Jesus.
His nearness was all I had, and it was enough. As today's key verse explains, it is good for us to draw near to God, for then we may tell of His great works. In my brokenness, I met grace anew. My dreams of love with my husband were known as I watched him tenderly love his bald, emaciated wife. Gentle love for my children came as I whispered my love for them through pain.
I did the treatments, took the pills, radiated my body and dreamed of moving into strength. The strength never came, and yet Jesus never left. He was always near.
More cancer has since been found, more grace has been appointed to our story. We have planted a church of brokenness that knows all the striving, pretending and false strength will not bring the nearness to Jesus we all desperately crave.
So maybe the triumph in our stories is the broken places where Jesus meets us tenderly and pours Himself out with love. Maybe winning should not be our greatest desire, but the nearness of Jesus. Nearness that is willing to receive the beauty in our brokenness.
We all experience hardness and suffering; we all wake up selfish and needy. Will you let Jesus and His nearness be your strength today? Can you open your hands to what you think your life should look like and begin to let Jesus be the Author of your days? His nearness is your good. It is enough. Even in the midst of your desperate hard, He is Emmanuel - God with us!
Dear God, help us have humble strength to draw near to You today, Help us in our pain and struggle to trust You with the brokenness in our lives. Show us Your love today. Thank You for Your enormous love that we could never earn, but get to receive today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Genuine Repentance
Because we desire to be more like Jesus, we make resolutions, ask Him to help us, and try to behave differently. Yet despite our best efforts to do things God's way, we slide back into old habits. Frustrated, we may ask Him, "Why can't I change?" The reason is, overcoming sinful attitudes and behaviors starts with genuine repentance, which has three aspects.
Conviction. The Holy Spirit will reveal the areas in which we've sinned and convict us of wrongdoing. Through Scripture, the Spirit shows us God's standard and what needs to change. Repentance begins with understanding where we have gone astray.
Contrition. The next step--grieving over our iniquity--is followed by confession to the Lord. Genuine sorrow arises from the knowledge that we've sinned against Him. In contrast, human unhappiness often comes from being caught misbehaving. Other times we are miserable because of where our choices led us, or feel shame that people know about our sin. True contrition is followed by humble confession.
Commitment to act. Real repentance is complete when we wholeheartedly pledge to turn from our old behavior and move toward righteous ways. God knows we won't live perfectly, but He looks for a surrendered heart that diligently seeks to obey Him.
Paul used strong language when telling us to turn from iniquity: "Put to death... whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col. 3:5 niv). What sin are you struggling to overcome? Have you genuinely repented, committing to turn from it permanently? Let the Holy Spirit empower you to change.
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