The Devotional

Papa “J” Says

Nature abhors a vacuum! Ever heard that expression? When a nation turns it back to God, prostitution, homosexual and euthanasia activities find room to sit and be comfortable. Why, you ask? Because of the departure of the church of Christ! Acts 20:28-32

Does anyone know where you can find the “blow hole”? I know that as my wife reads this, she will immediately throw up her arms and bounce in her chair like a little girl. “I know, I know” she will say. “It's in Hawaii, on the Island of Oahu” It is a place locked in her heart of memories that make a temporal moment of peace in a physical and difficult world. Each of us have these places that bring pleasant memories of times past and from time to time it is necessary to reflect on these oasis of peaceful memories. However, there is another peace that fits us like a very comfortable pair of shoes. This peace is not a tangible place of the past, but a spiritual reality that is available all the time. Faith! Faith in God provides “peace with God” Romans 5:1, then in Philippians 4:7 we find that the LORD will provide the peace of God to us when we live by faith. So one shoe is peace with God and the other shoe is the peace of God. These shoes never wear out as many of us have found out. Each morning we should be putting on the clothing that Jesus lays out for us for the days battle. Ephesians 6:13-18. See verse 15.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 12:7 As we know and will see here in this chapter that the church is made up of many members, but I fear that somehow we tend to loss sight of this and think that God has singled us out and that it all is about us. Our performance, or gift, our talent and our way or the highway. This is wrong thinking and idolatry. Notice the last few words of this verse; “the profit of all.” NKJV, or; “for the common good” NIV, and NASV. So it is not about one or nine for the common good.

1 Corinthians 12:8-11 In these passages we see that there are nine spiritual necessities for the church of Christ to function as a local assembly that glorifies God. This is a supernatural ability, not a human work. These necessities are assigned to each local church as a permanent spiritual need of the universal church. As the members of the local church grow spiritually, God the Holy Spirit will assign to this one, or that one, the temporary use of those nine spiritual needs for the common good of the church.

When that spiritual need is not required, the spiritual ability is returned to the church inventory of nine available needs, to await the anointing of the Spirit at another moment. Even a different person may be filled by the Spirit of God to function spiritually that once was occupied by another. For example; you remember that the apostle Paul had the gift of healing. Acts 14:9-10, then in Philippians 2:25 and 2 Timothy 4:19-21, Paul could do no healing for these saints. And lastly, Luke the physician who we might think should have the gift of healing, does not record any events of healing in his books.