9 + 9 for 2009

“What is priority for 2009, Lord?” He led me to 1 Corinthians 12: 4-6, where Paul mentions the different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit, the different kinds of service, but the same Lord, the different kinds of workings, but the same God who works all of them in all people. “To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

Different kinds of gifts: Let us be grateful that we have various gifts, that none of us has all that is needed, that we therefore need each other to augment our own gifting.

Different kinds of service: Let us thank God for the variety of ways in which we serve the Lord, not jealous of another’s position or calling, fully embracing our own role in God’s plan.

Different kinds of workings: Let us thank the Lord for our individual God-given wiring that is unchangeable. Let us also learn to appreciate both the strengths and weaknesses of our own divine make-up and calling so that we avoid the negative potentials of our wiring, while maximizing the strengths that have been given to us.

Following my excursion into those three verses, I proceeded to look at the 9 manifestations (gifts) of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and the 9 aspects of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, and felt the Lord pressing that we all enter into a greater fullness of these gifts and of this fruit during 2009.

I want to turn first to the 9 listed aspects of the fruit. I say “aspects” because the fruit is singular, “The fruit of the Spirit is…” The fruit is love, a love that is manifested in joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Look over those and be grateful for your own growth, express that gratitude to the Lord, but then ask for greater measures of love to be released so that His love becomes apparent in places where you have been weak. How are you doing in self-control? Don’t weasel out here. Be honest.) What about joy? In the middle of everything? Would others agree with your assessment? Gentleness? Would your spouse, your children, or perhaps your co-worker agree? Kindness? In public okay? How about home? Patience? Lord, help all of us here. We are such an instant gratification civilization! Peace? If love abounds, peace will be there! As world turmoil increases, there will be an even greater need for His peace. Remember that all of these are aspects of love, and that true love comes only from God Faithfulness? Let us be faithful to our words, not only in the big vows and contracts, but in carelessly promising something that we do not deliver, in saying that we will be somewhere at a certain time, but carelessly showing up late without any explanation. This is especially important as we men relate to our wives, and Martha would be the first to tell you that I still have improvement needed here. Let us be careful promising what we do not deliver. Goodness. To me this is almost the apex of all facets of love, since God alone is good. Yet we were “created to be like God,” predestined to be like Jesus. So we never give up! This is our destiny!

If you need a little help with all this, ask your spouse, or one of your children, or a close friend. Insist that they walk honestly with you. In fact, this might be a nice little exercise for us to do in families as we begin the year together.

Turn now with me to the 9 manifestations of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12. John Wimber used to say that these are like the dancing hand of God. He dances around over us and lands where He desires at any time He wishes. Each of us has the potential for any of these gifts at any time.

“To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom (Expect this in yourself and others as the Lord give), to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit (Yes! We receive this), to another faith by the same Spirit (Let gifts of faith be released in us, Lord), to another gifts of healing by that same Spirit (Let us be alert to His prompting, His inner voice, ready to respond), to another miraculous powers (this is right here in the book. Come on, Lord!), to another prophecy (We may not all be prophets, but we can all prophecy as He leads. Remember that Paul later says that we are to desire earnestly the spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. This means speaking life into others), to another distinguishing between spirits (listen to those inner checks and share them appropriately, but without a dogmatism that is inappropriate, so that we do not become unnecessarily judgmental), to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues (we seem to have moved away from this in many of our groups. Let’s ask the Lord about this. Let’s ask Him for more. If this is His gift, we need it.). All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one just as He determines.” How do we do this? By always receiving more of Him