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Oh I like this verse......

I used to travel in a gospel singing group.

Many times...people would comment "Oh how they wished that they were blessed with the gift of Music" (which technically, it is a talent not a spiritual gift)...but non-the-less, I was active in our church ministry, worked in the youth and music programs, as well as taught Sunday School, etc.

When illness set-in and changed my life-style from active to Homebound...I was so saddened, as I felt that I could no longer contribute to the ministry of the Lord.

I cried and prayed some nights all night, because I could no-longer travel and sing, and do the programs at our church.
I had defined myself as to how much I could do.

One day while communing with the Lord, Our Almighty Father reminded me that He holds us in His hands...not the other way around.
In other words...no-matter how much I did in the church...works was not enough and could never be enough to achieve eternal life.
Salvation was free for the asking, and no-matter what I did to try to earn my way...it did not define who I am, and it could never be enough.
There are various ministries....including the ministry of being. This means that the Lord can use every circumstance in our lives, no-matter what it is...for His glory if we turn ALL of it over to HIM.
I soon discovered that the Lord needed me to use my words to encourage others who are hurting.
I was still working in a ministry..but a completely different one now.
The Lord is so good dear sisters and He can use you as an instrument to further His kingdom....even when we feel we have nothing to offer.
I am so blessed today with a happy heart even in the pain.
I know that the Lord can use me as a "listener" for someone who is hurting, or an "encourager"...as all of you ladies here on this forum are......an "Interceder" who can pray for someone else or even a "survivor".....one who can recognize that the Lord God has it in his control....even when I feel as though my life is out-of-control.

HUGS to all of you!
Debbi

Trish ask:

As our scripture says:
And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.

Do you think the church in general tends to defines us by how much we can do? Or by the kinds of activities we do (big and visible vs. little things)? Do you think this contributes to our feelings of worthlessness? If so, how do we work to change this?
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My answer in my experience is definitely YES.
This has happened to us ( my husband and I) several times in the past few years.
A few years ago we moved to an area where we had to look for a new church and leave our former one.
When the new church contacted our former church for our church-letter..(Membership)...and they read all of the different positions we held..(my husband and I)...we were immediately offered all of these jobs and positions...and we were hounded and even begged to except them all.
I know this sounds like bragging...and that is not my intention.... but this has happened a lot to us....as my husband and I have several different "diplomas" and "degrees" in "biblical theology" in the denomination we ministered in.
I felt as though we alone were responsible for every aspect of the church's ministry that was not covered by other workers at the time.
At one time this over-whelmed me so much that I experienced this type of "Burn-out" so to speak.
It was with much prayer and searching that the Lord spoke to me to remind me that "He held me up...not the other-way around. So trying to do it all...was not healthy or what the Lord had planned for me to do.
You see...if you do one thing for the Lord..and you do it with the right heart...you are doing the ministry He has called you into.
I used this example in one of the ladies groups...as I was reminding them that if all Mothers accepted the calling of "raising" their children in the Lord's word there would today be no need for missionaries... You see our children are our future. and if they were all raised in a loving ministering Home, they would carry out into this world that love of the Lord, (and knowledge of His word) that they were raised in.

When illness became such a factor in my everyday life...I felt as though ministering effectively in any capacity was over.
I was always a doer...and now I am disabled and could do as I had before.
I felt pressured by my church-family to do more and more...and felt as though I was sinning if I let sickness stop my church-work.
The point I am getting at is that we often let the influence of the world determine our activities...and forget that the Lord knows our hearts and bodies...and has a plan for us no-matter what the circumstances.
We need to "listen" for His command...and ignore the world's request.
The Lord will empower you to do that which He has called you to do...whatever that may be. He may have called you now to just "show the world that one can live in pain...and still love the Lord'......

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Artisty ask:
I wonder what is meant by the gift of the word of wisdom?

In the old testiment....we see that Solomon ask the Lord for the gift of Wisdom.
This pleased the Lord and He granted this request along with many earthly treasures.
Wisdom is not knowledge learned from books and studies.....it is a sincere heart that is filled from the Holy Spirit with the qualities to minster and in turn direct others in their minstry.
Spiritual Wisdom can only come from the GOD.
Wisdom is the insite into certain situations that effect the "body of Christ" and it's ability to minster effectively.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 desribes wisdom as a divine knowledge...not of this world...but a humble experience that the Lord has bestowed on His people who boast not of themselves...but boast of the Lord.

We can see that in 1 Corinthians 2: 6-16
that Wisdom cames from having the Mind of Christ.
These are good verses to describe the gift of Wisdom.........
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HUGS!
Debbi

I will share some thoughts on the gift of Prophecy....but please know that these thoughts are not to discourage or claim to be the only thoughts on this controversial subject.

The verb prophesies" means "to speak before" (from Greek pro, before, and phemi, to speak).
The gift includes both the idea of foretelling and forth-telling, predicting the future and preaching.
A prophet was God's mouthpiece: he spoke for God and gave His message.
Sometimes that message was regarding the future.
Other times it concerned the present, even the past, or simply doctrinal truth, but it was always God's message spoken forth.

There is much controversy today over this Spiritual Gift.

Some say that the gift of prophecy means only the ability to speak forth for God, to preach; it is not necessarily, they say, a revelatory gift, but the ability to preach the truth of God's Word with great power and insight.
Some claim that Prophesy means receiving messages from God and for-telling revelations not yet revealed.
We know that one who teaches is a teacher and one who preaches is a preacher and one who prophesies is a prophet.

There is simply no evidence of any distinction between a prophet and one with the gift of prophecy.
The question remainsis the gift of Prophecy given to Gods people today? Many say no...while others disagree.

There is no question or debate at all, among Bible believers, that the Old Testament prophets received direct revelation and were able to foretell the future.
Their function, in part, was to reveal what God would do in the days or years that lay ahead.
Their prophecies also dealt with matters of present concern --what God willed for His people at that time.
Their prophecies further concerned matters of doctrine: God revealed truth to them so that they, in turn, would "prophesy" it to the people.
There were also times when God would give revelation concerning the past, telling them about some event otherwise unknowable to them.

Neither is there any indication of change in the character of New Testament prophecy, but rather its revelatory nature is clearly assumed.
Ephesians 2:20 and 3:5 clearly associate the New Testament Prophets with receiving revelation directly from God, and that revelation is not necessarily regarding the future but rather doctrine.

I Corinthians 12-14
Furthermore, it must be recognized that the only passage in the New Testament, which treats the subject of prophets, and prophecy in an exhaustive manner is I Corinthians 14
(in its context, beginning with I Corinthians 12).
In I Corinthians 13:2 the gift of prophecy is explained as "understanding all mysteries and all knowledge." A "mystery," in New Testament terminology, is a secret, something unknowable apart from direct revelation.
The underlying assumption is that the gift involved special revelation.

It is clear enough that the gift of prophecy is not to be confused with the gift of preaching or teaching.
That there is overlap between prophesying and preaching is obvious, but the difference is important:

A preacher must take a text of previously revealed truth and seek to expound it, and his authority extends only so far as the correctness of his interpretation of that text.
But one exercising the gift of prophecy takes no such text but rather delivers a new text, as it were.
He delivers truth revealed by God.
His authority, then, rests in the message itself: it is the very word of God.

Accordingly, prophecy is ranked above teaching
(I Corinthians 12:28 )
Some feel that the closest anyone could come, today, to prophesying is not preaching, but simply reading Scripture and interrupting its meaning.

The gift of prophecy was the ability to declare truth received directly from God, truth obtained by special revelation.
The prophets were mouthpieces of God, speaking His word, to their world, regarding either past, present or future truth. They were men of inspired utterance.

The gift of prophecy was very important in that it met a real and unique need of the early church.
They were at a loss without any of this new revelation yet recorded and available, so God gave His word "part by part" (I Corinthians 13:9) through these gifted men until that written Word was complete.

The prophets' importance also is seen in that, along with the apostles, they were the foundation of the church.
Upon the truth revealed through them, Christ's church is built (Ephesians 2:20).
Accordingly, they are listed second in importance in
I Corinthians 12:28.

I Thessalonians 5:19-20 commands the Christian to prove, or test, all prophesies.
How? The apostles were able by their miraculous gifts to vindicate their own message, but no such provision was given the prophets.
To serve as a check against men who would claim the prophetic gift falsely, others were given the gift of discerning of spirits (see chapter 16).

This gifted person would stand up and pronounce judgment on a given prophecy, declaring whether it was of God or not.
An example of this is given in I Corinthians 14:29 where Paul commands that after the prophets speak, "let the other judge." The message of the true prophet was absolute, but it had to be established that it was in fact from God.
This was the function of the discerner of spirits.

There was still another check given to validate the prophecy: complete agreement with the apostles was mandatory.
"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual," writes the apostle Paul, "let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord"
(I Corinthians 14:37).
This is the standard by which to "test the spirits"
(I John 4:1).
This test was final.
If any man claimed to prophesy but was not in agreement with the apostles' teaching, that "prophecy" was not of God, no matter what else may have seemed to validate his claim. Agreement with the apostles was mandatory.

Several factors suggest that the gift of prophecy is no longer given to the church today. This is were some of the controversey starts.

Some of these factrs are:
1) God has given a complete revelation, which is altogether sufficient in all matters of faith and practice.
The prophets met a unique need of that first century church, before this revelation was available.
The church today does not need any prophets to give new revelation, only teachers and preachers to expose it to the Revelation already given.

2) No one today can add a verse to Scripture; no one today is receiving new truth.

3) The prophets were the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20), which is now complete.

4) I Corinthians 13:8-13 specifically predicts their demise with the completed canon of Scripture.
With a complete Scripture, the other future prophecies are questioned.

This is where the "discerner" has to come in.
When listening to anyone claiming to have a prophetic vision today.... you must weigh it accordingly to God's word.

Is this revelation Biblical and true?
Much prayer and Bible study is needed before one can assume that any new doctrine is from God.
We are reminded that many have a form of godliness, yet add and take away from the scriptures.
Satan knows the scriptures well and can easily fool the seeker if that seeker is not knowledgeable in scripture.

example:
There are those who claim to know the exact date of the return of Jesus to this earth....yet the Bible clearly says
no-one but the Father knows this time.

There are also those who can compare the end time events predicted in the scriptures with the events of today.
It is always wise to study the scripture yourself, and pray for the revelation to be revealed to you by God and not man.
Remember, there are tons of "denominational point-of-views" as well as "occultic practices" today that claim to have "Devine Intervention" and a unique new revelation from God.
Always check the scriptures for yourself.

I pray that some of these thoughts today help you in your pursuit of examining your spiritual gifts.
HUGS to you all!
Debbi