Hi Church!
Are you a blood donor? If you can give blood, and you do, GOOD FOR YOU. Every day people rely upon people like you and me for life-saving blood. One Blood likes to compare blood donors to superheroes, and they encourage their donors to share their “superpower“. They even created superhero shirts that share that message.
However, I want to inform and challenge you to share your true spiritual superpower! Because, if you are a child of God, you have a true superpower! Believe me, it really is a superpower! It comes from God the Holy Spirit, and it is your “spiritual gifts”. You and I received gifts at our spiritual birth, when we were born again. I like to call our spiritual gifts, our birthday gifts! They are the best birthday gifts ever! God has given us divine enablement to do divine work. That is one of the primary reasons we are here on this earth.
This week we will begin looking at some of the different spiritual gifts mentioned in the NT. I am extremely excited about teaching you about these gifts! This week we will look at the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, and the discerning of spirits.
To begin with, let me wet your appetite:
The first one is wisdom. It is the first one listed in I Cor. 12:8, and it fits perfectly with our 2022 theme “With Wisdom, We take Steps of Faith”. I chose that theme because more than ever we need divine wisdom! Our world is filled with chaos, confusion, and deception. What is wisdom? Wisdom is knowing what the will of the Lord is and doing it for His glory. Many people often wonder what they should do when they face difficult decisions, or multiple options.
My definition is taken from Ephesians 5:15-17. “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
A great example of this gift at work is in the life of Daniel, who was described as a man with great wisdom. He was a wiseman. When he and his friends were being told by the king to eat food that would compromise their standards and defile them, God gave Daniel the wisdom to present a counter plan that reflected God’s will for them. His plan was accepted, tested, and blessed! Daniel showed amazing wisdom then and throughout his life! Even before the Day of Pentecost, He was a man filled with the Holy Spirit and endowed with great wisdom, as was Solomon.
When you are facing a difficult decision or a challenging situation, do you have the gift of wisdom or do you know who does? It is critical that you avail yourself of this superpower! Life choices become much clearer when someone with divine wisdom speaks. It is not human wisdom, which is often shared for humanistic purposes. Their wisdom seeks the wrong ends. God has placed people in the family of God who have the gift of wisdom! Their gift is divine, and it was meant to provide you with divine help. More on Sunday!
In God’s Gracious Grip,
Pastor Michael
PS – Please continue to pray for the land next to the church. This is a great example of a time and opportunity when we will need many of our spiritual gifts at work – the gift of wisdom, faith, giving, and leadership to name a few…to see them become a reality. I hope I have whetted your appetite for Sunday’s message!