The Gifts of the Spirit, part 1

Just about every little boy has dreams about being a super-hero. The truth is, so do grown men, we just don’t talk about it – out-loud! In my conversations with people, I love to listen for dreams, for clues about a person’s passion. In the fresh years of our youth, we are full of dreams and passion. In our youth, we are open about how much we want to live in a way that makes real difference in our world.

As we experience more of life, many of us allow our dreams die. We pack up our youthful idealism and settle into life’s routines, grinding away at life and often, in the process, we start to die by inches. Changing the world seems to fade in importance, when there is a mortgage to pay, braces that need to be put on crooked teeth, and deadlines imposed on us by a boss who isn’t too interested in what really makes us tick. By the time we’re 35 or 40, most of don’t talk about dreams anymore. We have been laughed at too many times, told that we were too old, too young, too dumb, too smart, too ‘something,’ to think that way. Our passion dies and we stop dancing, becoming plodders, increasingly bent, and sometimes embittered, by life as the years pass.
 

This week, I want us to look at a dreaming kind of message, but it is not about living in fantasy land. It’s about possibilities, but not about the power of positive thinking. I want to take us beyond childish longing, for super-hero status, and point us toward an empowered life!
 

One of the things about success that has become so much clearer to me with maturity, is the importance of those who lend me their influence, gift me with their resources, and guide me with their wisdom. I think of Pastors Ed Hollen, Dave Torgerson and Clarence St John. Those men, that type of person EMPOWER(ed) me. 

I know that is a bit of a buzz word, but anyone who desires to make a difference, who wants to experience real joy and effectiveness, must understand the significance of networking, of linking up with others, in interdependent relationships.
 

Here’s my premise for this week’s study. Spirit-filled people live in the power of the Almighty, and they are empowered though ordinary people, just like you and me. Friends, God in, and through you, can do amazing things!
 

This week, we are going to look at God’s Plan and Power to make our lives count for something. I want to help us to capture the dream of being a Christian, who breathes the Presence of the Spirit, and does “signs and wonders,” in the service of the King of heaven.
 

So, if you haven’t already figured it out, this week we are going be looking at the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let’s begin with a definition of a Spiritual Gift: A Spiritual Gift is a divine enablement; an ability given by the Holy Spirit, to a Believer, so that he or she can make their unique contribution to the work of God, contributing his/her unique work to the Body of Christ, the Church. These Gifts of the Spirit are not the same as our natural talents and abilities, or learned skills.

Continued tomorrow