Gifts

“ Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. ”

The haves and the have-nots, them that's got and them that ain't, if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. The blues paint a picture of a world where some have everything, and others have the gum pealed off the bottom of a café table, if even that. It sounds like classes of human beings, it sounds like races , socio-economic strata , the in crowd and those who are out of it: it sounds like God favors some and neglects the rest. I reject such a picture.

Jesus came down the streets of a Galilean town and found just those creatures who were not in the in crowd , the lowest and meanest of them all, and gave them hope in believing that God had not forgotten them, but had sent His own Dear Son Himself to deliver the message that “God Loves You, in particular.” No wonder He won over the hearts of the people. No wonder He had no ins with the in crowd .

Jesus left a promise, that He was sending the Holy Spirit, the very Essence of God , to live not somewhere near His followers, but right inside of them. This would be a gift more valuable than anything ever found on earth. This makes the Hope Diamond a mere bauble, the Taj Mahal just another house, Bill Gates' wealth only numbers. The Holy Spirit, having by nature every attribute of the Living God: all power, all love, all knowledge, all wisdom, all faith, all understanding, all mercy —that nature dwelling in your breast and in total communion and communication with you at all times? Is there a better gift? Is there a more valuable treasure?

I have a problem with people seeking gifts from the Holy Spirit, as though they were not gifts, but presents . Presents are those colorful shining boxes festooned with ribbons and bows, tags and tinsel, resting under a Christmas tree until some happy child tears the paper off and cries in delight for his new toy. Even if it's a shirt or pajamas, it's a present. It's for you to use for yourself.

But a gift is different—if I may use the word ‘gift' in this special way. If you were given the gift of special genius in physics, you wouldn't keep it and play with it yourself. “I just love to go home and work out relativity, just for the fun of it!” No, you go to school, advance as far as you are able, and put your gift to work, advancing man's knowledge of the world and how it works. This brings glory to God, because He had the genius of making the physical universe, and now He's given you the brains to discover His handiwork. That's a gift. It's not for you, but it's for you to use for others.

So it is with the Holy Spirit. So it is with everything . We may sing the blues, the spiritual blues that say, “God never gave me nothin', nothin' at all. I can't hear Him, I can't feel anything in church, I don't understand the Bible, I don't know how to pray—I guess God just overlooked me.” Right. You're a child of Israel in Egypt and you've been left there to rot as a slave. Okay, here's Moses, telling you that you can be free, this night, just paint the door with lamb's blood and get dressed, get packed: this is it. We're leaving first thing. God has heard your cries and remembers the promise He made to your fathers.

“God never gave me nothin', nothin' at all. I can't hear Him, I can't feel anything...” Now stop that! He did so give you something. Can I tell you who you are? You were made from the ground of this planet, the very essence of which is light. He breathed His own life into you, making you a living soul, with an eternal spirit and the ability to live forever. He gave you life, man!

“I don't understand the Bible, I don't know how to pray...” Have you even tried? Nobody knows how to do any of those things until they step out in faith, get out of the boat and walk on that water. Didn't Jesus Himself promise: “Behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. John 3:34 “…whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:14 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Luke 11:13 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'” John 7:38-39 Those promises were for you; they are for everyone.

“…I guess God just overlooked me.” Nonsense. You offend the very character of Jesus Christ. He meant it for you , just as He did for every soul. No one is overlooked. That is His gift, and your life is evidence that He has not overlooked you. It's what you do with that life that tells if you received the gift or not. Have you received it? The prophet Joel spoke of our time when God spoke through him and said, “And it will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. And even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28-29 God even meant for you to have the gifts of the Messiah, He even meant that that power was for you: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:2 Ezekiel spoke for Him to you and he said, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:27 He meant you to walk in holiness, and He empowers you to do just that.

“God never gave me nothin'…” God breathed on you, gave you life. Do you know what a gift that is? Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” John 6:63 Life is a precious gift. A gift isn't for you to play with, to keep to yourself, but to spend lavishly on others, to give away just as you have been given it.

“I can't keep it, right? I knew it. I don't get anything I can keep…” Wait, Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to keep his life shall lose it, and whoever loses his life shall preserve it.” Luke 17:33 He doesn't mean for you to possess your own life like it belongs to you. What belongs to you is better than your life. What belongs to you, if you will receive it, is God Himself. He wants to live inside of you, and possess you, too.

“Sounds kinda like I lose any way ‘round.” It may sound like that, but that's because He doesn't want people to seek Him for the wrong reasons. If it were just for pleasure, just for reward, just for riches—the pay out would bring every selfish person into the kingdom, and what would the kingdom of God be like then? He seeks those who can pick up their crosses, but the secret is that true joy is to be found there.

“Do I get any spiritual gifts, like healing or preaching or speaking in tongues?” You might, but it isn't for you to say or to seek, as though the gifts were for your own to keep and to enjoy, the way a television is for you to watch for yourself. The spiritual gifts are given for the world, and if there is a gift He gives to you, it is given through you to others. It's not what you have that makes you valuable to God. It's what you give away that makes you of true value.

“I just knew there was a catch. If everything I get I've got to give away, then what do I want with it in the first place. I just got to give it away, or else I'm seen as selfish, and it'll be taken from me.” You got it. But there's more, much more. You don't seem to see—the Holy Spirit will never be taken from you if you welcome Him, make Him a home inside of you. The gifts He brings with Him He gives away, but there is never any less of them because He's God. He lives in you and the gift is still richly there, ready to give again, and again.

“I begin to see it… Do you mean I get to keep the Spirit?” And more. You get Jesus Christ, His divine and human natures, the salvation He bought with His own blood, a home in heaven forever, and the love of the Father. You'll have the love of the Church, the host of heaven, faith, hope and love. None of these belong to you, in the way you've tried to own things before. They are yours, like the beauty of a spring morning and bird song and a kiss are yours—if you have eyes to see and ears to hear and a cheek to be kissed. Aren't those the best things?

“Did Jesus promise that the Spirit would live in me ?” Yes, He said, “The Father… will give you another [Comforter], that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you. He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. He will guide you into all the truth; He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me.” John 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-14 That's Jesus' promise to you, and when was the last time that Jesus lied?

“But did He do it?” That very Sunday evening. The apostles in the room, Jesus coming in and greeting them, and then “He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” John 20:22

“I thought the gifts of the Spirit were miraculous. And I thought that because I couldn't do miracles, that the gifts were just given to others, not me.” In that you were wrong, twice, my friend. The gifts are indeed a miracle, but a quiet one much of the time. If you are faithful in the quieter, simpler, more common gifts, God will give you greater gifts, if you let Him. The gifts are for all, and for the good of all. In King James' version we might miss it, when we read, “ the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” That means, “ to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” 1 Cor. 12:7 So, because God loves you, and especially because He loves His Church, He is ready to pour out His Spirit, and every gift the Spirit has, into you. Are you ready to have that?

“Sure.” Then stop saying that God never gave you nothin' , okay.

“Okay.” PFH+