and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.
Jesus is God, teacher, Lord, King, Savior, friend, great physician and our big brother in the family of God. As humans it seems that we can only identify with one aspect of His character at a time. In human terms He is what we need at any particular moment, quite possibly Savior more than the others. In truth He never gives up being all that He is just because we need Him to be that identity in the moment.
We might pray to the great physician only to discover the teacher shows up. That is not a denial of our prayer but indicates what our Lord needs us to understand the deeper meaning of this life in Christ. He gives us what we need even if we do not know what it is we need at the moment.
The title of chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians is “Spiritual Gifts”. Since the same spirit abides in each of us, allow me to remind us all that the Holy Spirit is the power of God to act in any manner, with any spiritual gift, according to the will of the Father.
My youngest daughter was reluctant to go on a missionary trip to Jamaica and called me from the Miami airport begging to come home. I denied her and told her to follow through on her commitment. When I hung up I prayed to God, “Show yourself strong in her.” During that trip she laid hands on a cripple and the woman was healed. If God can do that with the reluctant, imagine what He can do with a faithful and obedient servant.
The larger picture here is not about how we see Jesus but rather how we see ourselves. How we feel about ourselves often limits our ability to live. Now it becomes what we can and cannot do and not so much about what God can do through us. For some of us we are having an identity crisis because we think we need to be something to be useful to God. Once again I am reminded of a blessed elder from my past that said, “Let go and let God.”
That sentiment was voiced by those who made excuses why they could not follow Jesus in the moment they were called. They had more pressing matters in their lives.
Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’
We owe Him our best.