Do We Have The Gift of Leadership?

And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness. Romans 12:6-8 NET

God has given us all specific gifts and with the empowerment of Holy Spirit, we should be able to function in our gifts--with a goal of excellence--to His glory!

There's a reason why all of us do not have the same gifts. Within a specific body, there is no need for duplication of effort with too many chiefs in one place. Having too many leaders in one environment could be as hazardous as too many cooks in the kitchen--at the same time. The end result is chaos and confusion and eventually angst that sometimes spills over into other venues.

In order to see the gifts given function at maximum potential, we must know what our gifting is and fine-tune it so God will not regret what He's given. Though this passage of scripture is primarily about the spiritual gifts needed for any local church to thrive, it can also be applied to other areas of our lives--in the workplace or with other social groups or organizations. The thing is we must know the gift in order for it to benefit the masses.

How do we know what gift resides within us? We seek God for revelation and understanding and then allow Holy Spirit to guide us in all we do. In the natural, what we have been gifted to do shows in our lives by what we're drawn to do and have a unique proclivity to do and do it well.

When it comes to operating in positions of leadership, we really need to know that God has placed that gift in us and that we are listening to Him. If we don't understand that being a leader--does not equate to being a dictator--we'll mess up what could have been a good thing for ourselves and others. Not everyone is equipped--spiritually or naturally to be in a leadership position and only those God intends to lead--should ever attempt to do the job.  Do you have the gift of leadership? Know what it entails before making a mockery of the position.

Enriched and Waiting!

For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge—God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you.  Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. I Corinthians 1:5-7 NIV

What does it mean to be enriched in Him? When we are filled with Holy Spirit and He takes up permanent residence in us, we are enriched with knowledge and wisdom from on high and this is God's confirmation--His continual presence with us.

Since Holy Spirit directs our spirit (when we allow Him to do so), we have access to all spiritual gifts--gift of healing, miracles, tongues and interpretation, wisdom, knowledge, discernment, and prophecy, all working according to the dictates of Holy Spirit's directions.

When Paul wrote this letter to those at the church at Corinth, he acknowledged the gifts that worked within them and within the body of Christ, but he also admonished them for abusing and misusing their gifts--some for profit and others to make them superior to the masses. And while they had access to the gifts of the Spirit, they continued in sin, influenced by the idolatry that reigned and held them in bondage.

While some of us have been gifted to do great things for The Lord, can we say that we are using our gifts to His glory or our profit? This is not to say that some natural gifts--gifts that are honed by experience and practice cannot be used for profit--but the spiritual gifts are for the benefit of the Body and if we are misusing those gifts--and some are--we bring no honor and glory to God, but instead condemnation from others when truth is revealed.

The most misused gift--is the gift of prophecy--and we know because we have so many prophelying to the masses in an attempt to bring glory to themselves. How is this manifested? In the horoscopes, astrological chartings, the psychics and seers who lie to people all the time and many believe them. Then we have the "Christian Prophets" who are some of the worst liars on the planets. They don't speak as God speaks to them, but they speak in attempt to appease people and make themselves to be more than they are. They know who they are--and they perpetrate the lie by wearing the title "prophet." A "true prophet" speaks what God says and they have no need to bring attention to themselves. The false prophet exercises no discernment at all because they're too busy trying to make a name for themselves and what they say, seldom manifests.

Although there are those who move ahead of God, there are also those of us who simply wait--and while we wait--we seek God's direction for our lives--exercising the gifts He has given to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ and not ourselves. When Jesus returns and we are standing before the Judgment Throne, how will we defend ourselves and the use of the gifts He gave us to use?

I've often heard people say, they don't know what gifts they have. I would suggest that all Believers spend time in The Word, understanding how all the spiritual gifts operate and then seeking God for understanding of the gifts He has given to all. When we ask of Him, believing all that He is, He will respond and keep our focus on Him and not fame and fortune. Serving Him with sincerity is all He requires of us--having faith in Him alone. Knowing we shall reap the reward of our faith in Him, makes waiting for Him, worthwhile.

Why Jesus Said, "If You Were Blind, You Wouldn't Be Guilty."

Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains." (John 9:41 NIV)

Once again, because of a miracle on the Sabbath, Jesus healing a man who had been born blind, the religious group in their self-righteousness threw the man out the temple, because he dared to challenge them about who Jesus was. To keep this in context, we must understand the back-story (John 9:1-34). Whenever a person was healed, they were to go to the priests (the Pharisees in this case) to confirm their healing. In this particular miracle, when the Pharisees started questioning the blind man's healing, they accused Jesus of being a sinner and certainly not from God. The man dared to refute what they said and he was prohibited from attending the temple. Now, let's eavesdrop on the conversation between the healed man, some Pharisees and Jesus.

John 9:35-41

v. 35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out and when He found him, He said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"

v. 36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in Him."

v. 37 Jesus said, "You have now seen Him in fact, He is the one speaking with you."

v. 38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped Him.

v. 39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

v. 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind, too?"

The entire point of this conversation was to let the Pharisees know, they were spiritually blinded--they claimed a belief in God, yet refused to accept what was right in front of them--God in the flesh--working miracles for the benefit of those who would believe.
The world hasn't changed much in the last 2000 + years. There are still some--both religious leaders and carnal Christians--who are spiritually blind. They claim to know God, yet they refuse to obey God and have in essence, created even more religions that have no basis or foundation in Him who created all things and without Him, nothing was ever created. The religious group would rather adhere to their traditions than to allow Holy Spirit to lead and guide them--in all things. And since they are the leaders in the churches today, not many in their congregations ever witness miracles because their unbelief inhibits the movement of Holy Spirit.

If every church, in every city, all over the world, would allow Holy Spirit His rightful place in any service--people would be healed of cancer, blind eyes would be opened, the lame would walk, and all manner of diseases would dissipate for those who believe. For The Word says, "These signs shall accompany those who believe: In my name: they will drive out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands (to discard them) and when they drink deadly poison (not intentionally), it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." (Mark 16:17,18 NIV)  Now, once again to keep this in context, Jesus said this-after He rose from the grave and was included in the instructions given to those who followed Him to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. And as in so many other places, we see the conditions or qualifiers if you will, under which the signs shall follow. "Whoever believes and is baptized and for those who don't believe, they will be condemned." (v.15, 16)

So, now the question for all to consider is, "Are we yet blind even though we say we Believe?" If we are spiritually blinded by the traditions of the world and political correctness and fleshly desires, will we ever truly Believe God and obey? If we remain spiritually blind, will we ever be able to accomplish all that Jesus said we would, for those who Believe?

Spiritual blindness opens the door for Satan and all the demonic forces he employs to deceive and manipulate. For this reason, sin abound in the earth and all manner of sickness and disease run rampant because those who say they believe, don't practice obedience and in operating in the Spiritual Gifts Holy Spirit has for each of us, to lay hands on the sick and watch them get well.

More about what Jesus said and why, next time.

Good Gifts!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17 NIV).

How often have people received gifts from others they really did not want, but accepted because they didn't want to appear to be rude? They would accept the gift, smile, say "thank you" and do one of two things when out of the sight of the giver. The gift would find itself in the back of the closet, the basement or a drawer and not see the light of day or was given to someone else at a later time--re-gifted. Usually, this works into a cycle and sometimes--the original gift-giver was often given the gift they had given.

Fortunately, we cannot give the gifts that God gives us to anyone else--no re-gifting here. For the gifts He gives are not physical, but they are spiritual and the Holy Spirit anoints every person whom God has determined to receive a gift (I Corinthians 12:1-11). Each spiritual gift given is for the common good of the whole. Though there may be people who are envious of another's gifts, they should earnestly seek God about their own gift and work on developing that gift. 

Unlike the scarf or tie or sweater that is sent through an evolution of hands, God's gifts cannot be re-gifted by us nor can we return them or exchange them. And why should we? If we believe that "every gift from God is a perfect gift" we should be overjoyed with what we receive. And then, get this--God knows exactly what gift we will function in to develop the Body of Christ into wholeness where every need is met.  

When we either refuse to hone the gifts given, or reject the gifts out-of-hand, we are telling God He doesn't know what He's doing. Then, there are some who are so envious of the gifts God has given others that they practice to deceive and then declare they have a gift that they manufactured, but Holy Spirit did not give. We can tell who is operating in their own "manufactured gifts" because that person has attached a dollar sign to perform it. That gift--is manufactured for their benefit, not for the perfecting and development of the Body of Christ.

The beauty of God's gift-giving is in the fact that no matter how we act--"His gifts and callings are without repentance"--He won't take them back. What happens when we don't use the gifts He has given is that we truly miss the blessings that come with "obedience" to God and the Body of Christ has a void that can only be filled with the gift we are not using. We all have a role to play in promoting the Gospel, developing unity, and perfection within the Body of Christ--all of the born-again believers--especially within the local Body. Churches that do not have spiritual gifts operating are usually dull and boring and no one is exalted other than the preacher. They are dry and stagnant, critical and judgmental because they chose not to exercise the gifts given or they manufactured a gift that does not glorify God.

I pray today that all will earnestly seek God for understanding of the Gift they have been given and then will exercise that gift to reach the perfection needed to operate in the Body of Christ to bring wholeness. Our spiritual gifts are like our bodies--if we do not exercise the body, muscles become atrophied and lax and we become weak and lazy. The same thing happens when we do not exercise our good and perfect spiritual gift from God--the Body of Christ becomes weak and lazy.

Father, in the name of Jesus, speak to our hearts and help us to understand the gifts given to us and wisdom in using them. Show us how we are to function in the Body of Christ and ignite desire in us to exercise the gift to the development of perfection to fill the void in the Body of Christ.

No Division In The Body!

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought" (I Corinthians 1:10 NIV).

While reading the beginning of this letter that Paul sent to the church at Corinth, I was inspired to address "the division" in the Body of Christ that is revealed through all the "disagreement" about what God says and means.

Brothers and Sisters-in-Christ,

If we all serve the same God--who loved us enough to come down from Glory to hang on a cross for our benefit so that we might one day reign with Him, why is it that we are all not saying what He says?

Have we allowed religiosity and denominational banners to interfere with or dominate our thoughts over what God has said? Are we not able to "rightly divide the Word of Truth" so we are all preaching the same Word of Truth? Do we not all have access to Truth by the same Holy Spirit who imparts all spiritual gifts to all who are willing to receive? Is our belief divided by specific segments of the Bible so that some actually think "that is all" they should believe or that the entire Bible is not meant for all of us to understand? Do we not know how to pray to the Father and receive an answer from Him? Are we so hung-up on glorifying men and women in ministry that we have missed God completely?

No where in the Bible will anyone find that heaven is reserved for those of a specific denomination; especially since the denominations or divisions of the Body were formed by mortal man. No where in the Bible will anyone find that only those who "belong to a mega-church" are going to enter into heaven. No where in the Bible will anyone find that only those who are in places where they are few in number will be the only ones entering into heaven.

No where in the Bible will anyone find that God changes His mind about what He says--from the beginning to the end--about sin or what is sinful.

If we all serve the same God--The God of Heaven, the One who created all things and without Him nothing was created--we would all have the same understanding about who He is and how He wants us live.

My prayer, brothers and sisters-in-Christ is that we will all become one as they are One in unity and in the preaching of the Gospel so all will be saved--not to our glory, but to His. Until we who know The Truth are able to promote The Truth as one Truth, we will be bombarded by the half-truths that are perpetuated by the enemy's influence and many will believe the whole lie (a half-truth is a whole lie).  We who have a relationship with God, must function in the earth realm as God directs, not men (mankind)--who have demonstrated they do not know God.

Promote and assist those who are promoting the Truth of God's Word, knowing this--God knows those who are His and He also knows those who are counterfeits--seeking only what they can get. Let us get on one accord, teaching only those things that we have been taught--through study of the Word and relationship with God.

God give you strength and courage to stand firm in the face of adversity and continue to fill you with His joy and wisdom.

With all the joy and love that abides within me, I declare unity will abide in the Body of Christ-worldwide! I also declare that the Truth will destroy the works of the enemy and we shall be at peace--one with the other.

Love to love you!

God's Humble Servant,
Evangelist Mary M. Hall-Rayford

Without Love!

"Though we speak with the tongues of men or angels, and do not have love in our hearts, all we're doing is making noise" (I Corinthians 13:1 paraphrased)

Wow!  Paul reminds us in this passage of scripture that we may operate with the gifts of the Holy Spirit discussed in 1 Corinthians 12, but without love--we have nothing.  Even if we function in all nine gifts (and most don't), if we do not have love--unconditional love--to show towards one another, we are just making a lot of noise that makes no sense.

So, if we speak with knowledge or with charisma, we may be wise and know how to charm others with a glib tongue, but the true test of being one of God's own is the demonstration of love we have in our hearts.  How is our love demonstrated outwardly?  We show compassion for others, we are ready to help those in need, we encourage one another (not condemn), we lift others up in prayer--asking God not only to help us get through a struggle but to help others in their struggles in life.  In other words, we are not selfish Christians, we are selfless Christians and we have no problem doing what must be done, loving one another.

Help us O God to see beyond our own needs and to help one another.  Help us to see the need for prayer and then pray, immediately.  Help us to see the need for appropriate direction for those in need of resources, we may not have.  Help us to encourage those who are sinking under the stress of every day living by reminding them--they can do all things through Christ Jesus.  Remind us O God, on a continual basis, that without love, we are nothing but noise-makers!  In Jesus' name we pray and thank You, Amen!