Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Brothers and sisters, I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding concerning spiritual gifts. ² You know that when you were unbelievers, every time you were led to worship false gods you were worshiping gods who couldn’t even speak. ³ So I want you to know that no one speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is cursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. ⁴ There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. ⁵ There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served. ⁶ There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person.

⁷ The evidence of the Spirit’s presence is given to each person for the common good of everyone. ⁸ The Spirit gives one person the ability to speak with wisdom. The same Spirit gives another person the ability to speak with knowledge. ⁹ To another person the same Spirit gives ⌞courageous⌟ faith. To another person the same Spirit gives the ability to heal. ¹⁰ Another can work miracles. Another can speak what God has revealed. Another can tell the difference between spirits. Another can speak in different kinds of languages. Another can interpret languages. ¹¹ There is only one Spirit who does all these things by giving what God wants to give to each person. ¹² For example, the body is one unit and yet has many parts. As all the parts form one body, so it is with Christ.

Light is light!  In seeking to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, John Wesley used the illustration of three lit candles in a room.  The room is filled with light in every corner, but which candle did the light come from that lit a specific corner?  That would be impossible to determine.  Thus, light is light and so, God is God, “Three Candles” – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – shining forth into our darkened world.  The same, yet different, yet with indistinguishable brilliance.  

I have never really focused on the doctrine of the Trinity.  I merely accepted it as reality.  It has never taken up a huge amount of my time; it just is!  Kinda like God just is.  I could never be an apologist for monotheism the way I am an apologist of the Christian faith.  From the earliest days of my life I have believed in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, perhaps from hearing and saying and memorizing the Apostle’s Creed in Methodist Worship.  O God of Three Candles, shine upon Your creation today so that we might know You in all Your brilliance, illumining our darkness, without and within.  Amen!