1 Corinthians 12:4-9,11 ESV
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit...All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." So how does the gift of faith and the faith spoken of in Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" differ? The first is a gift given to individuals God wills to give to, to be used for the common good of all. The later is the faith we are all as Christian's called to in order to accept and believe in Christ's death, resurrection, and for our very own salvation. I was encouraged recently to see how some such as myself who have the gift of faith have encouraged others in the faith, and how they are not the same. My husband and I recently moved to Alaska to start Legacy Church. Before coming, God spoke to me that we were to sell our home in Missouri and use the money from it to help start Legacy Church, with a number of $80,000.00 to believe for specifically. We recently were able to deposit money from our home into Legacy Church and it reminded my husband and lead pastor of Legacy Church of the previous conversation we had had about the "$80,000.00" that God had laid on my heart to believe for. My husband wanted to know if we really had received the money in it's entirety as he himself had believed God had spoken to me about, but also had known he himself did not have the faith that I did. He explained that through this experience he could see that having faith such as himself, looked very different that having the gift of faith that he could see in me. I showed him in our personal budget how God had given us exactly $80,000.00 from the sale of our home and additional money we had not budgeted for that God had given to us before moving. My husband was encouraged in his own faith to see how God had miraculously provided the exact number God had spoken to me that day to believe for. My gift of faith had encouraged his faith to become stronger as my husband watched God fulfill it! You see when I heard God tell me we were to sell our home to be used to start the church, and to believe for it; I responded in joy and expectation to see God do what He had said He would! I had no doubt God would fulfill what he had spoken, I just knew I had to do my part by asking Gods will to be done. The selling of our home and the additional money he gave to us provided for $80,000.00 of the $434,500.00 budget needed to launch and operate the first five years of Legacy Church. Last thing, I learned through my husband's encouragement for me was to not be frustrated with him or others when they are not able to "see" things that I can because of my gift of faith. He challenged me as I challenge you today that if you too have the gift of faith, to remember that not everyone has the same gift of faith as you do. They have faith as Christians but it looks different than having the gift of faith does, and your gift of faith will encourage others in their faith as they see what you could see all along come to fruition!
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March 2023
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