2. The Gifts : A Word Of Wisdom

 As we take a look at the first gift, a word of wisdom, I remind you that the gifts of the Spirit must be kept in the context of a united Body. The gifts are for the enrichment of believers, the growth of the community, the maturing of the saints. I point out to you these simple words from Paul that he wrote to the Corinthians in his first letter, in what we call chapter 12, the third verse:

“except by the Holy Spirit.”

There is a huge difference between an ability or talent, and the Spirit enabled gifts. We thank the Lord for someone's musical ability that they offer to him in service, but it does not have the same life changing effect of a Spirit given gift.

We need to also remember that everything, whether gifts, ministry or activities all come from the same source : Yahweh. And they are produced by him in everyone:

“There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.”

And we need to keep emphasizing the “everyone” and the purpose is for the good of everyone:

“A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good.”

Now that all this is clear to us we can pursue the understanding of this first gift, always keeping it in the context of community.

“A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person.”

To put this as simplistically as possible, you have most likely experienced this gift in yourself. We all experience some aspect of the gifts from time to time without possessing the gift because all these things are at work in us. They are at work in us because Jesus is at work in us, perfecting us for our eternal home. A word of wisdom is experienced in that moment when you suddenly understand a portion of scripture, or perhaps a Kingdom principle that shifts you and you know how to apply it in your daily living. 

There are times when this happens to us as we meditate on the scripture or sit quietly in Father’s presence. But it can also happen as someone who operates in this gift is explaining Scripture to us. It isn’t the person’s ability to teach but instead the power in the gift that opens us to grasp this truth or perhaps a key of the Kingdom. But the gift also goes beyond simple teaching.

A word of wisdom is also demonstrated through someone who shows us how a truth gets applied to our daily living. It causes the Lord’s word to be a living word, affecting our daily life by becoming part of who we are and the decisions we make. Again, this is something you may experience directly from the Spirit but there are other times, perhaps when we are closed to him, that he will send someone operating in this gift, to move us to a new level.

It’s important to stress here that this wisdom is not as many people understand wisdom to be in this world. It is not based on human understanding or insight. It is not about how this world works but about how the Kingdom works and how we live the Kingdom in this world. A word of wisdom opens our minds to Father’s ways, how he wants us to live in relationship in this world, and how we can demonstrate the Kingdom to this world. It is a powerful gift that works in tandem with the rest of the gifts to move us into a Spirit empowered life.

This is fantastic because we need to learn to trust the Lord and to stop leaning on our own understanding. This gift will shift our perspective so that we see with the eyes of our King. Remember,  the gifts are for the enrichment of believers, the growth of the community, the maturing of the saints.

1. The Gifts : The Context

 To understand the importance and place of the gifts of the Spirit we must understand the context within the Body of Christ. In order for us to properly understand anything in the Kingdom it must always be seen through the heart of relationship with Father and relationship with each other. Outside of these references we can twist, distort and put the emphasis in the wrong place, causing much damage to ourselves and to others.

Let’s start with picturing what a community looks like. We can start a community with just a few families. If these families are all farmers there would be plenty of food but it would be a weak community. Let’s say a blacksmith decides to set up shop in the community. He would be a welcome asset because now the farmers have a place to go to for needed repairs. Then a doctor comes to town. The community has just grown in strength. There is now a place to bring the sick and injured. Then a merchant sets up a general store, a baker opens a bakery, then a restaurant, a bus terminal, a train station, a movie theater. Each person who joins the community with their specific skill set causes the community to grow in strength and richness.

The apostle Paul used a different metaphor. He referred to the body, the diversity of parts and the importance of those parts to the strength of the body. Where would we be without our left foot? Or where would we be without our right hand? Paul warned of the problem when everyone wants to be a hand, or in my metaphor, when everyone is a farmer. It’s important to understand that when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit none are less important than another and we need all the gifts to function in the richness of the Kingdom.

According to Paul, as he wrote to the Corinthians, every believer is a part of the body, as in everyone has a gift in this rich community. One is not more important than another as we need each one of them. And these gifts are not distributed by us but by the Spirit according to the Spirit not according to our determination. We don’t decide what gift we have received. That is important so we can simply accept who we are in the Spirit and get on with living the Kingdom life.

I can’t stress this enough : the gifts are not a reward for good behaviour. The gifts are Christ distributed among the believers. It is in unity that we find maturity and in maturity that we find Father’s glory. The gifts are the supernatural expression of the Kingdom in this world and are supposed to be as natural to us as walking, talking, breathing, and they give us a wonderful sense of belonging to each other. I need what you have and you need what I have. To live anything less is to live short of Father’s design for us in this world.

I discourage you from exploring the gifts outside of the relationship with Jesus. The most important thing is to be in this growing intimate relationship with Jesus that we have been called to and designed for. To try to operate in a gift outside of that relationship is an abuse and comes with terrible consequences in this world. The gifts are a beautiful thing that increase our service to the Lord, to each other and are a fantastic expression of surrendered worship. In these gifts we know it is nothing about us and everything about him, he determines them and he supplies them, we only walk in what he gives. And in doing so we make our community, tribe, body rich and strong.

So it is within this context that we will now begin to explore the gifts of the Spirit.

The Gifts Of The Spirit - An Introduction

 Unfortunately, sometimes we forget what we are part of. We get so focused on all the challenges of life in this place, all the difficulties, all the failures that we lose our ability to see Father’s glory in all the beauty in us and around us. We may say that we are not of this world but most days we live by “what you see is what you get”.

Over the next little while I want to write about the gifts we have been given that are part of the reason we know that we are not of this world. It is more than just the world changing Kingdom values we live by, it is also the supernatural things we have been equipped with to carry out our assignments. 

I am a bit different in my understanding of the gifts, some of which we find listed in 1 Corinthians 12. I believe these are not an exhaustive list but just some of the gifts Paul used as examples in his explanation of the Body of Christ. Some people will tell you that we are limited to twelve gifts and others will name nine. I believe that our Father is so creative that he gives us a wide variety of gifts to cause the Body to stand apart from everything in this world. 

We cannot afford to look at our Christian history and decide that certain things were only given at certain times. Like everything else in our Father’s creation, humanity got in the way and messed it up. The Church was never intended to have the history that we have. Men desiring power got in the way and corrupted what was intended to be beautiful. It didn’t mean the Spirit left but only that we lost certain knowledge of the “how”.  Father kept his agenda moving forward so that as believers came out from under the yoke of the corrupted they started to again walk with the Spirit and the gifts were seen again.

Of course we are going to see an ongoing dispute over this because our enemy never wants us to step into the reality of who we are in Christ. I am not here to convince anyone who is determined to limit the Spirit of anything. If you step out in the wonder of how Christ intended you to be you will get to encounter these dear people. Always treat them with love and respect, allowing the Spirit to do what he will with them. But as for you and me …

I want us to explore the wonder of what Jesus has made us to be as members fit together in this wonderful thing we call the Church, the Body of Christ. I hope that we will both receive much encouragement in this, not in seeking power, but in the fullness of a trusting relationship based on faith and love. So here we go …

What Are You Going To Do About Getting Old?

 For everything there is a season. If you are over forty years of age you know of which I speak. Growing older is all about letting go of one season and adjusting to a new one. There are things that you enjoyed doing in your 20’s and 30’s that are not as doable now, but that’s not a bad thing because there are things that you can really appreciate now that you just didn’t get when you were younger. It’s the adjusting that takes practice though.

When I was in my 40’s I realized I did not have the energy I had ten years ago. But then again, my lifestyle did not exactly promote a high energy life. I also took a better look around me and noticed how limited some of my older friends had become because of health issues brought on by poor lifestyle. I wanted something better and it wasn’t going to happen if I continued doing what I was doing.

I started developing an active lifestyle and changed my eating habits. I took time to understand how God had designed my body and what support it needed from me so it could support me. It didn’t take long for me to feel the difference and I haven’t looked back. But that was an adjustment I made in my 40’s which carried me into my 50’s. Now as I am approaching my 60’s I see further adjustments that need to be made.

I can’t afford to try to live off of five hours sleep any more. I need to adjust my idea of rest so that my body has the strength to fight off disease. No more late nights. My digestive system can’t handle me downing a bag of almonds in an hour so I need to adjust my balance. I need more protein and magnesium. I can’t get away with all my cardio activity any more, I need to add resistance training to maintain muscle. I can’t handle doing five things at a time any more, one or two is good. And it may take me a few days to do what I did in one, and that’s okay.

The biggest adjustment is to time and expectation. As I get older, supporting my body takes more time and greater intention. I try to build activity into everything I do; park five blocks away and walk, take the stairs, have walking meetings in the park, telephone calls are done while walking the neighbourhood. But on top of that is the 30 minutes of cardio workout five days a week, and 30 minutes of resistance training for those same five days. There is the 20 minutes of yoga style stretching every day and the 60 minutes of mindfulness to help my body shed the subconscious daily stress. There are also the two-3 km walks each day. And therein lies the problem.

If these are the things I need to do to support my body and mind in the aging process, I am going to have to make room for it. It’s great to talk about these things but something is going to have to shrink or go in order to fit it all in. That’s the kicker for most of us. We want to be healthy but we aren’t really prepared to lose anything to do it.

My time with God is a non-negotiable ; that’s number one priority. My time with my children and wife are also precious. My friends in my church are also important. My french studies are also a must. What does that leave me with? TV. Social media. Games. It’s amazing how much time we find when we shrink those down. But is it that important to you?

That’s the million dollar question. What you adjust to support your aging self is totally up to you but if you want to be healthy in your golden years something is going to have to change. You can’t and won’t stay the same, one way or another. Quick, take a look around. You don't have to be stuck with diabetes. You don’t have to become dependent on blood pressure medication. There are many things you can avoid if you just learn to listen to what your body needs, understand the season you are in, adjust, and make room for a healthy you.