Faith
I guess my greatest frustration is that I have found my body, but not many are willing to be the body part that God had intended for them to be. And so the body that I am in, remains crippled.
I even went to a different church hoping to find a complete body that was glorifying God and all I found was an evangelist that thought that he didn’t need the rest of his body. I found a ‘lone ranger’.
I was hoping to find a church filled with the Holy Spirit and glorifying God by putting to practice the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. I am not talking about talents or abilities or good works or showing Love to others, that even atheists have or perform. I am talking about Gifts that are not just God given but God driven.
God has given His Love to all and it is commanded that we show this Love to each other, but it is also commanded that we first Love God. We first Love God by Loving and Honoring His Son. We Love and Honor His Son by believing in Him. Whomever believes in Him, out of his/her heart will flow living waters (the Holy Spirit).
You don’t have to be born again to feed the poor, take dinners to the shut ins, put food out in your fellowship halls, run a VBS, visit the sick, have the patience of a saint, be humble and the list goes on forever. I know many people that do all those things and also show Charity to those in need and yet, Jesus Christ is not their Lord.
So I am wondering, what is the point of claiming to be a Christian? Are we glorifying God as we are supposed to, or are we just being good hearted Gentiles?
I am surrounded by people God is waiting to bestow His Gifts upon. I don’t know what is holding them back. These Gifts were handpicked by God and fit perfectly with the person He will bestow them upon. God has given me a great Gift, but I need the rest of my body, so that my Gift from God can become all that it was intended to be. God did not create us to be alone, but by distributing different Gifts to different people, we will see how we need each other and how God intended us to be united, before we can be complete. Once we are complete we can use our Gifts to show the world what an awesome and powerful God we have and worship. We do not have a small God, so why do we treat Him so? Why do so many insist on making God into something smaller than He is. He is a great God that does great things. He won’t be glorified unless we ask Him to show us His real power.
Doctors can surgically remove a cancerous tumor and fill our bodies with radiation or chemicals to rid us of our cancer, but only God can remove that cancer without surgery or radiation or chemicals. I have seen this done a few times, yet still so many have so little faith.
Christ died for us so that we could be forgiven and cleansed of our sins and so that we would be ready to receive the Holy Spirit of God and His Spiritual Gifts. Then the world could see the Power and the Glory of the truly Awesome and Almighty God that we have.
Please don’t let His death be for naught in your lives.
I pray that you are fortunate to be with a complete and fully functioning body. Please pray for me. Pray that the body I was put in, will be willing to accept their Gifts from the Holy Spirit and that they can be united and be put to the use that God had intended for them.
If you are with a God empowered body, please write to me. Is your body doing what Jesus describes in John 14:12-14 ?(see below) I could really use some encouragement in knowing that there are people out there, that are truly doing what Christ has commanded them to do. I do not want to hear about more ‘lone rangers’. I know about them, and that,that was not God’s plan and that just discourages me even more.
Acts 2
36"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."
37Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
38Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
John 7
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 14
The Answered Prayer
12"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Jesus Promises Another Helper
15"If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
Romans 8
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Sonship Through the Spirit
12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Romans 12
Serve God with Spiritual Gifts
3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
1 Corinthians 12
Unity and Diversity in One Body
12For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. 19And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you
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I like reading your article full of encouragement and exhortation. I was once a "lone ranger" Christian - but praise God, He leadeth in the company of godly people who are my role models in my walk with Him. One thing I learned was that there are no perfect people,no perfect church, only ONE Perfect God. Blessings, Gloria
I really like the article you wrote. I know what you mean, it's hard to find many CHristians who are operating in their part of the body CHrist gave them. God bless you for being willing to serve God!