Good Gifts

I was reading The Message this morning in 1 Corinthians 12 and I couldn’t help but think of how God knows exactly what we need and His gifts to us are always right on time. I thought I’d share…

“What I want to talk to you about now is the various ways God’s Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable. Remember how you were when you didn’t know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It is different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can. For instance, by using your heads, you know perfectly well that the Spirit of God would never prompt anyone to say “Jesus be damned!” Nor would anyone be inclined to say “Jesus is Master!” without the insight of the Holy Spirit.

God’s various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God’s Spirit. God’s various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful:

wise counsel
clear understanding
simple trust
healing the sick
miraculous acts
proclamation
distinguishing between spirits
tongues
interpretation of tongues

All these gifts have a common origin, but are handed out one by one by the one Spirit of God. He decides who gets what, and when.”

I am an Elephant

Do you ever see yourself and realize how much of a sinner you truly are? It happens to me all the time! Here is a current example:

There are elephants living above me, truly there are. They moved in sometime before Christmas and my head has not been the same since. My sister and I live on the second floor of a three floor building. It’s a great place, nice view, etc., then the elephants moved in. When they first got here… my sister and I would just look at each other and wonder what on earth they were doing that was so necessary to jump on our heads while doing so. Then we became annoyed and eventually upset. One day I took it upon myself to go and “speak” to the elephants. I had no idea what I was going to say, but something needed to be done about them pounding on our heads all the time. So I went.

One of my downfalls in life is speaking before thinking things through at times. Well, this was one of those instances. When I got to the door, I knew they were going to be huge people… their steps revealed to me that they were. In reality, they were really quite averagely sized. This puzzled me. So, when I began my conversation with the mother… I soon wished that I had never opened my mouth because what I was saying obviously made no sense to this kind woman and was beginning to make no sense to me. And… unfortunately, I was beginning to offend her. I really did not ever mean to offend her, but that is exactly what I was doing. I wanted to rewind and I knew that wasn’t possible.

Funny thing is this… As this was all playing out, it occurred to me that I am most likely an elephant to the people below me. I have always “walked with a purpose” (as my brother so kindly puts it). My parents used to constantly tell me not to walk so loudly, especially when we had wood floors. So, I guess what is really happening here is that I am being given what I have unconsciously given to others my whole life.

I am an elephant, and I see now that elephants can be annoying. So, what do you do with elephants pounding on your head?? I have seen the elephants since I spoke with them, and I just smile and wave, or greet them with a kind “good morning”. What I really want to do is sit down and figure out how we can all try harder not to pound on each other’s heads… but is this reality?? I am beginning to see that it’s not.

The sad part is that the elephants are probably really great people. I may actually love sitting down and having coffee with them. But now, the fact that I spoke too soon is looming in the way of a possible friendship. Basically put… I am a sinner and that makes it hard to have coffee with the elephants. But, it helps tremendously to know that I am an elephant as well.

I’m still working this one through, let me know if you have any suggestions as to how to make friends with elephants, after you have offended them, of course.

There, But for the Grace of God, Go I

I was inspired to write this post as a result of a comment to the “Thoughts on Forgiveness” post. Thank you, Questing Parson, for the inspiration.

Again, forgiveness is something we have much to learn about. Walking in forgiveness sets us free, really. Free from the fear to love unconditionally. If we forgive, we realize that we are just the same as the person who has hurt or offended us.

I mentioned in the comment section that we have the same foundation of original sin that the next guy has. Only by the Grace of God have we done or not done things that our neighbor has done or not done. Does that make sense? There are things that we do that glorify God and we have done those only by the Grace of God. On the flip side, there are things that we have not done… only by the Grace of God. In both instances, the focus is God and His Grace, not me and my anything. I need to remind myself of this on a regular basis. It is so easy for us to think of ourselves more highly than others. I know that when I get caught up in this, inevitably, I soon fall flat on my face, (sometimes literally!!).

I believe that walking in forgiveness will help us to remain in our place and keep the focus on God; and in essence, keep us mindful of God being the reason we do anything at all that gives Him glory. Basically, when we forgive, we let go of our pride that says “I am right, you are wrong”, and brings us back to neutral ground. Sometimes saying, “I forgive you” is harder than saying, “I’m sorry”. Both, however, are healing acts of obedience to the One who forgives us and wipes our slate clean… even when we do not deserve it. I need to hear that again… Even when I do not deserve it.

How many times can we convince ourselves that the other person does not deserve to be forgiven… Or for that matter, does not deserve OUR forgiveness; as if it were something we invented. I think we are silly, selfish sinners in need of Jesus more and more each moment. The more I see myself, the more I see my need for a forgiving Savior who loves me unconditionally.

I long for the Kingdom restored when forgiveness will be a no-brainer. But for now, Lord give me your heart for my neighbor. Give me your eyes, ears, wisdom and understanding for my co-workers. Lord, give me unconditional love for my family and those I easily take for granted. God, show me that I am nothing without you.

Forgive me, Lord, and teach me to forgive.

Quotes that have Spoken to me Recently

Louisa May Alcott… Little Women

“So they soon forgot their pride, and interchanged kindnesses without stopping to think which was the greater.”

Corrie Ten Boom…

“Look around and be distressed, look inside and be depressed, look at Jesus and be at rest.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky… The Whole World a Paradise

“Christ said, ‘Go and give all you have to the poor and become the servant of all,’ for if you do that, you’ll become a thousand times richer because your happiness won’t be made just of good food, rich clothes, satisfied vanity, and appeased envy. Instead it will be built on love, love multiplied by love without end. And then you will gain not just riches, but the whole world!

Today we amass material things without ever satisfying our greed, and then we madly squander all we have amassed. But a day will come when there will be no orphans, no beggars; everyone will be as one of my own family, everyone will be my brother or sister, and that is when I will have gained everything and everyone!”

Jon Courson…

“I think happy will be the one who realizes that wherever he is has been ordained by the Lord to bring about good things if he will have eyes to see and patience to wait.”

Thoughts on Forgiveness

Forgiveness really is an amazing concept. God does it so well, and we have much to learn. So many times, we hold on to unforgiveness only to find ourselves being eaten away by bitterness.

I have read all of John Eldredge’s books, my favorites being the first two: Sacred Romance, and The Journey of Desire. I highly recommend them; both were life changing for me, especially the Journey of Desire. I have recently been reading the book Captivating by John and his wife, Stasi. I just read a section on forgiveness that I thought would be worth sharing, as it is something we don’t do very well. They share…

“We must forgive those who hurt us. The reason is simple: Bitterness and unforgiveness set their hooks deep in our hearts; they are chains that hold us captive to the wounds and the messages of those wounds. Until you forgive, you remain their prisoner. Paul warns us that forgiveness and bitterness can wreck our lives and the lives of others (Eph. 4:31, Hep 12:15). We have to let it go. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col. 3:13)… Forgiveness is a choice. It is not a feeling — don’t try and feel forgiving. It is an act of the will. “Don’t wait to forgive until you feel like forgiving” wrote Neil Anderson. “You will never get there. Feelings take time to heal after the choice to forgive is made.”…

… It might help to remember that those who hurt you were also deeply wounded themselves.”

This last sentence jumped out at me. I think many times we think others are out to get us when they hurt us. However, it is so helpful to remind ourselves that we are all walking around deeply wounded by something or other as a result of sin. This makes us apt to hurt others as we try to protect our own wounds. I think of a wounded animal that growls at the hand that tries to offer healing. The growl comes as an act to protect the wound from further pain. Not quite aware of how to receive such healing, the animal growls and sometimes bites, for fear of the pain that may come in the process. We are the same at times. We don’t know how to receive help, so we growl and bite. We don’t mean to, it is just where we’re at and we don’t know any differently.

The other statement that really jumped out at me in this passage is “We have to let it go”. Even just saying this statement to myself… really helps sometimes. I have been watching the Olympics and my favorite event is the figure skating. It seems that when they “Let go” of their fear, the result is effortless, confident, creative beauty which brings an evident joy to themselves and to all beholding their moment.

I think life can be this way too, if we just “let go” of our fear and allow ourselves to forgive one another. I believe we will find deep joy and beauty in a life filled with forgiveness. We already have the ultimate example, why not give it a try??