Spiritual Training

Spiritual Training X2

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October 28 - Evening

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith"
- Romans 12:3-6

The Grace and Responsibility of a Spiritual Gift


When Paul says, “By the grace given me,” he is referring to the grace God showed him by calling him to be an apostle. Paul is referring to his spiritual gift, not the grace of salvation, in this case. As an apostle, Paul writes, “I say to every one of you,” to introduce an apostolic command or direction to every believer, since each believer has a spiritual gift and a responsibility to use that gift.
Paul says,
“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

Each believer (not merely the clergy or the professional minister) is gifted in order to advance the cause of the kingdom of God in time and to serve the body of Christ (the church). Each person should think soberly about their gift, which is a supernatural bestowment of ability. A casual, insensitive recognition of their gift could cause the thoughtless, self-centered believer to think of themselves in a prideful way. But, if they take a serious second look at themselves and their gift they would realize their gifting is a loan from God who is holding them accountable for a comparable amount of production. So, the serious believer will realize that the greater their gift, the greater the expected harvest. The immature believer will merely consider their gift as a source of pride and self-promotion.
Paul then encourages every believer to recognize their gift, to identify the purpose and to start exploiting the potential they have according to the measure of faith God gave them to use their gift. The gifts vary, but so does the faith given to operate the gift. The variables concerning how, when, where and the size, amount and effect of the gift will vary from person to person based on the faith and vision God has placed in that individual person’s heart. Some will minister their gift at work, some in church, some in foreign lands, some to a few people, some to entire countries.
Kopiao (Gr) - Labor (Eng) - the Greek word kopiao means "to grow weary" with toil, "exhausted" with burdens," or "exertion and toil." It is used 24 times in the Greek New Testament (GNT). Three examples are:
1 - Peter
kopiao all night fishing but caught nothing (Luke 5:5) 2 - Paul recognizes Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis for their kopiao in the church in Rome (Romans 16:6, 12) 3 - Leaders in the church are to kopiao in the preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17)
Do say that I don't know what my spiritual gift is?
Do I neglect the use and development of my gift?
I will boldly identify my spiritual gift from God and begin to use it so that I might develop my gift and be productive with it.



Bible Reading Descriptions Here

Narrative

(morning only)

Complete Text

General Text




Personal

To be a good friend

Church

Maturity in understanding and life
Minorities
Solomon Islands - training for pastors and leaders



The large ashlar stone which protrudes into the gutter under the road along the Western Wall must have fallen from the temple mount during construction of Robinson's Arch around 10 BC. 
(click on image for larger size)

In 1873 Charles Warren found this same hanging ashlar stone in this gutter over a century before it was rediscovered. Below, Charles Warren (left) in 1873 under the fallen ashlar stone, and Galyn Wiemers (right) in 2012 under the same ashlar
Details of Hezekiah's Tunnel, which was cut through the bedrock in 701 BC under the City of David. It curves and weaves for 1,750 feet to bring water from the Gihon Springs to the west side of the city. See 2 Chronicles 32:1-5, 30 and 2 Kings 20:20.
(click on image for larger size)




Someone to Quote

"Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church; it is a goodly Christian weapon." – Martin Luther

Something to Ponder

In Israel there is 100 miles between the arctic climate at the top of Mount Hermon in north Israel  (9,400 feet above sea level) to the tropical climate at the Dead Sea (1,388 feet below sea level; a two mile drop in elevation in 100 miles)

Here’s a Fact

There is a tomb in Cairo, Egypt on the east side of the Nile in a village called Beni-Hasan that has a wall mural in vivid colors with scenes from daily Egyptian life from 1890 BC. This particular mural is 8 feet long and 1 foot wide and shows a procession of 8 men, 4 women and three children with their animals being led by Egyptian officials into Egypt to trade.  The hieroglyphic text at the top of the mural says these people are part of a group of 37 people from Shut (southern Canaan) being led by Abishai, their chief, into Egypt to trade. From this mural we can see the physical features, clothing, weapons, musical instruments, hairstyles and means of transportation of the Canaan people around the time that Isaac was born. (images here and here.)

Proverb

"A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished."
- Proverbs 28:20

Coach’s Corner

Jesus knows our weakness. That is why he came to die for us. So, now bring him your sins, limitations, fears, confusion, questions, losses, desires, dreams, hopes…he has already paid the price and prepared your way for victory! 

2 Chronicles 32:1-5
New International Version (NIV)
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
32 After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. When Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib had come and that he intended to wage war against Jerusalem, he consulted with his officials and military staff about blocking off the water from the springs outside the city, and they helped him. They gathered a large group of people who blocked all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said. Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.
2 Kings 20:20
New International Version (NIV)
20 As for the other events of Hezekiah’s reign, all his achievements and how he made the pool and the tunnel by which he brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?
1 Corinthians 5
New International Version (NIV)
Dealing With a Case of Incest
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.
12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
Luke 17:1-10
New International Version (NIV)
Sin, Faith, Duty
17 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
“Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”


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