God loves you and me. The truth is hard to understand isn’t it? Why is that? Maybe because we know that we are unloving. God does not look upon our unloving nature as we do, so His plan is to give us a new nature, one that is loving, one that even you can love 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Romans 13:14.

As a senior enlisted man and stationed on a Naval Base one of my military duties was Command Duty Officer or CDO as it is more popularly known! In this position of duty which begins at 1600 (4 pm) each evening the individual has all of the power and authority of the Base Commander who is normally a Navy Captain, the duty ends at 0800 (8 am) the following morning.
One evening I was called to a disturbance at the Marine Barracks which also housed a small club, the band that the Marines had hired for the evening entertainment was extremely loud and the music sounded anything but entertaining.

There I was inside this establishment, I did have a couple of sailors with me but I felt alone and a bit unsteady. There were several Marines, some women and the band; at first I was ignored so I took the night stick from the sailor standing beside me and slammed it on a table, a loud noise followed by breaking drinking glasses and grumbling people, then silence.

Now I had their attention the thought of what was I going to do next ran through my mind since the loud bang of hitting the table even startled me! I grabbed my composure and said directly to the band; “the noise you people are making is disturbing the whole surrounding area, you need to turn the volume down on those instruments if you plan on continuing to play music this evening. If you fail to do that I will shut the building down and throw you off the base… forever!”

Someone said, “you can’t do that, you are only the CDO” this was all I needed to hear. I ordered the base police (Marines on duty) to shut the building down and escorted the band off the base. While this was going on I was reminded of another day when as a young petty officer I had Shore Patrol duty and was called to the dance floor to face someone with a knife. I was scared, really scared but somehow I managed to face the man and take the knife from him without incident.

Why am I telling you of these events? As that young Shore Patrol Petty Officer I was an unbeliever of the gospel of the LORD Jesus, but I was very conscious of my need for God’s help; as the CDO I was a believer in the LORD Jesus and I knew that God would help. A small seed of faith is all that is needed for Biblical Faith to be the building blocks to form your every step in life. Thank God for the authority He appoints in our life, it may be that one day soon He will place you in a position of authority. Even if it is temporary it will be yours to glorify Him. How will you fare? Romans 13:1-7

It does not matter your age. Moses was commissioned to deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt. He was eight years old and. His brother Aaron was eighty-three. Moses was successful. Yes we need a strong inventory of young people, but who will lead them. God will lead and move the seniors of a land; they need only to be faithful and willing, even if there is but a mustard seed of faith.

I was stationed in Nebraska in the 1980’s and I briefly went to a church where the pastor was very conscious of money. Each Sunday he would spend at least a half hour beating up the congregation over the lack of giving in the church to keep things going. There was a building fund and a meeting every Tuesday evening and he would send out people into the local community asking them to pledge a sum of money to the church for the building fund. It did not matter if the people came to church or not, but he did encourage the people who were asking to invite people if they gave.

When the ushers collected the tithes and offering, he would tell the congregation to give money rather than checks and as he put it, God was interested in seeing the cash. Large bills would be held up and waved over the heads of the ushers and with words like; “Brother Sonso or sister Didso just gave a twenty dollar bill and the congregation responded with Praise the Lord. If the bills were larger than a twenty, the ushers would dance in the isles. Within a short time I left the church because of the way giving was handled, but there was a large congregation.

Jesus Christ is the pattern for spiritual godliness and grace giving. Notice how the apostle Paul helps us to understand the principle of giving in 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our LORD Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

We need to look to Jesus for everything that pertains to life and godliness and giving is no exception. He who knew no sin (rich in sinless life) became sin for us (poor as in 2 Corinthians 8:2) deep poverty. We will start with that verse because the Greek word for deep is bathos, meaning a depth so deep that it is mysterious. Jesus took upon Himself a deep poverty in order that we might be made rich in His Righteousness.

Jesus had readiness of mind to give of Himself and this is a key of understanding to all of us when it comes to the giving of our self or the resources of our self, surely we will labor over this but so did our LORD. Matthew 26:36-46, Romans 5:8, yet He reaped for you and me the road to Emmaus in that when we learn of Him our hearts will burn with excitement Allow Jesus through the scripture to talk with you about giving a watch what happens next as it is as exciting to the soul as being saved. Luke 24:28-35 a blessing of joy.

If you are above the age of fifty then you are noticing a few things about your body that can be downright alarming. The apostle Paul uses this thought to look past the temporal state of physical life to our eternal state of everlasting life. For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ; this is a great comfort and confidence, but if you do not believe in Him whatever is seen is temporary and incurable. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

No doubt, I can spend a lot of time in these three chapters; on and off I have studied the subject of “Spiritual gifts” for over thirty years, but I do not want to lose sight of my original intent. Is it coincidence or is it God who guides the hearts of men to teach the subjects that pertain to the current events of our personal and national life in time.

For Bible believing people the answer is simple. One look at His Story or biblical history will explain that God is intimately at work in our personal and national life. The entire Bible is my reference and here is one verse of scripture that proves this since I know many unbelievers who can quote it. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son; that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.

Well, let me get back to 1 Corinthians 12; 13 and 14 to finish up. I think (a personal observation) but I think it would be better if our view of these chapters was focused on life in the Spirit rather than the gifts of the Spirit. Believers individually make up the body of Christ, or easier said – the church of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:27. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 the apostle states that our body is not our own and that the Holy Spirit abides in our temple. One God, but many members; also said in Ephesians 4, One God, One Faith and One Baptism, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace.

So I believe that when churches apply human viewpoint to the subject of the gifts of the Spirit, these leaders destroy the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit seeks to keep the church on the same page of our personal and national life. He does this with the Spiritual Life within the church. He accomplishes this task as outlined by the apostle Paul in Romans 12 wherein the entire chapter focuses on the church; in that each is given a measure of faith; some with permanent gifts of the Spirit and some with temporal.

So yes I believe that God is heartily at work allowing His saints to share scripture, thoughts and all things that pertain to our moment in life to further the gospel of His Son to those who are without hope. God does not use coincidence. He who knows the end from the beginning and does not need that word, nor does He ever use it. Isaiah 46:10. When we speak in likeminded language we then are doing things decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:37-40.

If you are above the age of fifty then you are noticing a few things about your body that can be downright alarming. The apostle Paul uses this thought to look past the temporal state of physical life to our eternal state of everlasting life. For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ; this is a great comfort and confidence, but if you do not believe in Him whatever is seen is temporary and incurable. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

No doubt, I can spend a lot of time in these three chapters; on and off I have studied the subject of “Spiritual gifts” for over thirty years, but I do not want to lose sight of my original intent. Is it coincidence or is it God who guides the hearts of men to teach the subjects that pertain to the current events of our personal and national life in time.

For Bible believing people the answer is simple. One look at His Story or biblical history will explain that God is intimately at work in our personal and national life. The entire Bible is my reference and here is one verse of scripture that proves this since I know many unbelievers who can quote it. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son; that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” John 3:16.

Well, let me get back to 1 Corinthians 12; 13 and 14 to finish up. I think (a personal observation) but I think it would be better if our view of these chapters was focused on life in the Spirit rather than the gifts of the Spirit. Believers individually make up the body of Christ, or easier said – the church of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:27. In 1 Corinthians 6:19 the apostle states that our body is not our own and that the Holy Spirit abides in our temple. One God, but many members; also said in Ephesians 4, One God, One Faith and One Baptism, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace.

So I believe that when churches apply human viewpoint to the subject of the gifts of the Spirit, these leaders destroy the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit seeks to keep the church on the same page of our personal and national life. He does this with the Spiritual Life within the church. He accomplishes this task as outlined by the apostle Paul in Romans 12 wherein the entire chapter focuses on the church; in that each is given a measure of faith; some with permanent gifts of the Spirit and some with temporal.

So yes I believe that God is heartily at work allowing His saints to share scripture, thoughts and all things that pertain to our moment in life to further the gospel of His Son to those who are without hope. God does not use coincidence. He who knows the end from the beginning and does not need that word, nor does He ever use it. Isaiah 46:10. When we speak in likeminded language we then are doing things decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:37-40.

The Devotional – A Look at the Book 713

Many elderly people use a life-line system, a pendant or wristband that can be worn anywhere even in the bath. The intent is to gain immediate help in a time of need. For all of us, including those who need this physical medical device; God has always had a life-line system. For over six thousand years it has been available… yet it does not show wear and tear and it has never been repaired. Jeremiah 33:3

1 Corinthians 12:2-3 – The church is made of believers of all nations and all cultures but this does not give the universal church a free reign. Notice what the apostle says. “You know this, that when you were Gentiles (unbelievers) you were carried away to mute or dumb idols, however you were led. These are key words for the whole thought of how the Spirit of God controls the Church of God in time.

Notice verse 3; since you were led by these traditional false idols and other vain religious beliefs, be careful how you handle the things that pertain to life and godliness within the church of God in Christ. If you are using or mixing false worship and talking, singing or preaching Christ you are involved in cursing God; the Greek word is “anathema” again this is not decent, nor does it provide for the orderly works of God as we will see in later verses.

1 Corinthians 12:4 – I know you are waiting for this verse because we find the word gifts; which can be translated; “allotment of various kinds”. We are taught that all of us have a spiritual gift and it is true we do utilize the gifts of the Spirit. However, the allotment of “Spirituals” is given to the “universal church” and each local church has its own allotment. Revelation 2 and 3 describe the use of these gifts within the seven churches. As you study these seven churches you will see something interesting at the conclusion of each evaluation. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.

So the allotment of “Spirituals” is given to the church and as the needs arise it is the Holy Spirit’s decision to disburse the gifts of the Spirit. You say “aha” well go ahead, but think about this. Over time we have been taught that there are temporal and permanent gifts. I believe this is true in this way; I believe that the section we are dealing with are all permanent to the church and temporal to the individuals within the local body.

Notice the following verses; 1 Corinthians 12:5-6. But first let’s be back up a bit and say just a bit more about the Spirit of God. Is the Spirit of God just a spirit without discretion like some humans; absolutely not therefore the allotment of gifts given to the church needs a biblical foundational and not one of a human viewpoint. Isaiah 11:1-2 , all of the nine allotted ministries assigned to the church are within the control of the Seven Attributes of God the Holy Spirit and He distributes these temporary gifts to members of the local assembly according to His will and not according to man’s will.

Verse 5 – The church of Jesus Christ; that is the title of all local assemblies no matter what name appears on the sign outside. It is simple really; if the church belongs to Him and it does, then the ministries therein belong to Him as well and this brings up that the gifts that are permanent are given to the men that He assigns within the church. Ephesians 4:1-16, please note verse 7 of Ephesians 4.

Verse 6 – The Head of the Church is God who governs the activities. The activity of God is the gospel, which is the death and resurrection of His Son the LORD Jesus, when churches (and they do) move away from the gospel, they move away from the activity that glorifies God which includes the Spiritual wisdom that exalts the LORD Jesus as described in Ephesians 1:15-23. More tomorrow if the LORD tarries.