Morning by Morning, September 28 - Faithfulness rather than Foolishness in Spiritual Gifts Good morning, Lord Jesus. Make me more like You today (Romans 8:29). ... “Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The gifts are Your Spirit are not “foolishness.” And they are not for those filled with faithlessness. They are not for the “unspiritual” but for the spiritual, according to the Word of God and activated by the Spirit of God. “All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses” (1 Corinthians 12:11). Your gifts are not foolish, but powerful to help people know You and experience You and Your Presence and power in our lives. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7). And “the common good” we need to know and experience is the goodness of God. You are a good God -- all the time. And one of the ways You express Your goodness is through the gifts of Your Spirit -- gifts like words of wisdom, words of knowledge, gifts of faith, gifts of healing, gifts of miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues, and interpretation of tongues, according to Your Word and revealed by Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8-11). Your Word calls us not to be “ignorant” and uninformed “concerning spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:1). Rather, we are called and even commanded, “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1 NKJV). So any way that I’ve seen any of Your spiritual gifts as “foolishness,” I repent of that sin and I renounce that wrong attitude. Change my heart; change my mind. Change me and make me more like You (Romans 8:29). As You are, so am I called to be in my world (1 John 4:17). As the Father sent You, in the power and gifts and Presence of the Holy Spirit, so You send me and every one of Your disciples (John 20:21). You walked this earth as the Son of Man, “coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7 NKJV), both laying down Your life for us as our Savior, but also living Your life for us as our “Example,” so that we are to “follow in (Your) steps” (1 Peter 2:21). You walked in the power and Presence of the Holy Spirit, fully anointed with all the gifts of the Spirit, revealing the heart and words and will of our Father everywhere You went (John 10:30). This is the apostolic message, declared by Your first disciples and set forth to be embraced and lived out by all Your disciples who follow in Your steps: “Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every people anyone who fears Him and practices righteousness is acceptable to Him. You know the message He sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses to all that He did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, but God raised Him on the third day and allowed Him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that He is the One ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name” (Acts 10:34-43). “Forgiveness of sins” in Your name is not foolishness. Neither is discerning, receiving, and expressing “the gifts of God’s Spirit” in Your name. It’s part of our calling to faithfulness. It’s part of our true identity as children of God, filled with the Spirit of God, to be living expression of the heart and words and will of God our Father in our world, as we follow in Your steps. Come, Holy Spirit. By the power of Your grace, may I be one of Your “good stewards” of Your gifts, as Your Word commands: “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received” (1 Peter 4:10). May I be one of Your disciples “found faithful” to You, rather than one stuck in the “foolishness” of resisting You and Your gifts of Your Spirit and Your calling for my life (1 Corinthians 4:2 NKJV). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
My friend, may you desire and pursue our God and the gifts of His Spirit that He desires to express through life for His glory as a good steward and faithful disciple of Jesus, in Jesus' name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you!
Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministries Mailing Address: 412 S. Adams Street #148 Fredericksburg, Texas 78624 Please share this word to encourage a friends! Anyone can sign up for free to receive them at: https://messiah-ministries.org | 
