What Does it Matter ~ If Mine are Better?

Greetings Dear Reader, 

The pastor at the church I attend is currently my favorite working pastor.  No one but Jesus eclipses my Grandfather.  I was privileged to sit with this pastor at a small group dinner.  He asked me a question that ties directly to this topic. 

I am not sure what he expected but he asked me about my exposure to Pentecostal churches and their practices.  My answer was that the most extreme I have seen is a church that a friend of mine used to attend where they practice snake handling.  For those of you who do not know what Snake Handling is, there is the link.  The validity or invalidity of this practice is not my point here.  My pastor friend was genuinely surprised that I had experienced this.  By experience, I mean witnessed and not participated.  

I point out this extreme because it is a form of faith and worship causing most people to balk.  I refuse to judge the practice.  It is just not my place.  There is the opposite extreme where people believe that real faith and practice is silent meditation with rote repetition of proscribed words, phrases, and songs.  In between are all the varied ways in which people express what they believe to be the fullness of or gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Please note that some would criticize me here for saying Holy Spirit instead of Holy Ghost.  

What I am pondering is how we engage with the Holy Spirit.  He is to be a comforter, convict us of sin, and lead us in following Christ.  His voice is there for us if we listen in faith.  What troubles me is that we get caught up in choosing what he does and does not do instead of loving and respecting him through simple obedience.  

I am not going to lay out what I believe about the gifts the Holy Spirit gives for us to do our work.  What I wish to improve is my heart for obedience to His leading and instruction.  I never want to push my thoughts into His realm.  Rather, I want Him to inhabit and control all that I am because of faith and following.  It does not matter what you can do if it is not done out of love for the Father, following the Son, and yielding to the Spirit.  

If we obey what the Scriptures say regarding the gifts He gives without adjusting them for culture or comfort, then we can make a difference in the world.  What does matter is believing God, the Spirit can and will do whatever He needs to do through humans yielded to Him.  I do not pursue any gift.  I even dislike it sometimes when the Spirit uses me to do things I do not understand.  I refuse, however, to not obey and that is sometimes frightening.  What we must become, Dear Reader, is humble obedient servants that follow in faith.  Then what we do will always matter. 

Wishing you joy in the journey, 

Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 

Every human story is part of the great story that leads to the Father getting everything back to Good. 

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What does it matter if I have not love?