1 Corinthians 12: Spiritual Gifts and One Body

Spiritual Gifts and One Body

There are various types of spiritual gifts. These are not just things that you are good at, but gifts given to you by God for the "manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (verse 7)." The gifts are listed in verses 8-11 and range from utterances of wisdom and knowledge in the same spirit, prophecy, miracles and tongues. All these gifts are of the same spirit and not different ones. Why would Paul be pointing this out? Because there needed to be an understanding that the spiritual gifts were under the same God and this could also help create more unity which the Corinthian church lacked. 

We see in regard to spiritual gifts (verse 13) a solid statement by Paul that whether Jew or Greek or slave or free, our source is under the same Jesus. He continues and tells us that the body does not consist of one member but many. If everyone had the same gift then there would be missing needs in the church. In verse 17 he explains that if a body was an eye then how would you hear or be able to smell. Each gift is important and special and needed for the church and God to be given glory.In summation, verse 27 tells us that we are all the body of Christ and individually members of it.

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Mark 5- The Healing Power of Jesus

The Healing Power of Jesus

The power of Jesus is amazing. That is an understatement, but still paints you a picture of what power Jesus has. In Mark 5:2-13, Jesus was met by a man with an unclean spirit, the man was demon possessed. The man could no longer be subdued by chains and restraints because he kept breaking them. Jesus asked the unclean spirit what its name was and it referred to it self as "Legion, for we are many" due to there being many unclean spirits in this man's body. Jesus healed the man by sending the demons into a heard of pigs that ended up drowning in the sea. News traveled of this healing and when people came to see they saw Jesus sitting there with the man and he was clothed and in his right mind.

In Mark 5:21-34, another healing took place because of the faith of the women in need. She had a discharge of blood for years. It would not stop. She had seen many doctors and had spent all she had to fix the problem, but it persisted. When Jesus was walking through a crowd of people she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well." She had faith that if she even just touched Jesus, he could heal her. When she did just touch a piece of his garment, he knew that someone had done it because her perceived that power had gone from him. He asked who touched him and she admitted it, with fear. He acknowledged her faith saying that it was that faith that made her well.

 Overall, the point of these instances of healing is to show that Jesus has the ability to make a bleak situation better. He has that power. in the woman's case it was her faith that made her well. Not her faith in herself, but her faith in Jesus. In the man's case it was Jesus coming in and seeing the need and meeting it. How does that relate to us? For those people that we encounter, we can be healing agents or we can be a hindrance. We can help unite them with Christ and aide in the healing. We can pray for people. We can do whatever we can that represents God's will for that person. What will you do with Jesus?

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Mark 1- Fulfilling the Prophecy

Fulfilling the Prophecy 

Mark 1 gives us a condensed version of several chapters in the book of Matthew and other gospels as well. While the Book of Mark is known to not give any credit to a specific author, it is credited to be written by Mark the Evangelist who was a close associate of the Apostle (disciple) Peter. You remember Peter? Peter was one of Jesus' disciples and is the same one that denied he knew Jesus (three time before the rooster crows).

In reading through this chapter a couple of things jumped out to me that I wanted to point out.

First, for some this is silly and not needed to be pointed out, but for others this is their first time seeing and understanding this. The arrival of Jesus and details of his life were written before he was ever born...like YEARS before he was ever born. In verses 2-3 it is pointed out that the prophecy of Jesus is unfolding. The words in Mark are quoted from Isaiah 40 to point out that the prophecy is being fulfilled. This was not some random guy who did cool stuff, but God in the flesh sent to unite us with God by being sacrificed for our sins (even the ones we don't think are a big deal)

In Mark 1:40-45 Jesus shows his heart to a leper and heals him. I saw in the NIV the word used to describe how Jesus saw the leper was indignant- NIV. Indignant means showing anger for perceived unfair treatment. Also, the NLT describes his heart as being full of compassion- NLT. A third version (English Standard Version) is Jesus having pity- ESV on the leper. The point is, how is your heart when you see injustices in the world? The sick? The poor? The wrongfully imprisoned? The homeless? Jesus did not look at the leper and tell him what he did wrong in life that led to leprosy, but he healed him. He saw the need and he met it.

It is time for us to see the needs and meet them. Orphans. Battered women. Children's Hospitals. Homeless. Convalescent homes. Can you pick something to meet a need? Now is the time.

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Matthew 12:31

Matthew 12:31 "Therefore I tell you, every sin & blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit  will not be forgiven." commentary- Quite simply if you disrespect God & speak ill of Him, that sin cannot be forgiven. This verse comes from a section that specifies how people thought Jesus's healings & good works on the sabbath were due to him being possessed by Satan. He replied to those critics letting them know Satan can't battle & defeat himself. People were looking at the law rather than the heart & the intent. Good is done & people focus on human perspective.