“There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”  (1 Corinthians 12:5-7)

  Typically, I draft my Monday morning posts several days in advance. I like to have several looks at them prior to publishing them.  I usually let what I write sit for a day or two before a second look, and invariably I will edit some portion of what I had written once I take that second, and sometimes third, look.  Because of my attendance at district assembly this past week, I’m just getting around to writing this.  I thought I might have some quiet writing time while I was away, but it just wasn’t there.  It’s now less than 24 hours before it will be posted; so I won’t have the space I normally give myself.

Although I didn’t get any writing done while I was gone, I did have a topic selected: Why Just One Voice? I initially was going to write about something else, but midweek I felt an inner tug to make this change.  And I’m approaching the one year mark so maybe it’s a timely revisit.

So, Why Just One Voice? The answer is because it’s the only voice I have…and I choose to use it.  My desire is to glorify GOD who is worthy of all human superlatives (plus)  and all effort to know Him.  I believe He wants to be known (James 4:8).  I also believe I need to do this as my part, and writing is a chosen vehicle.  Writing about Him gives me an opportunity to edify (instruct, strengthen, encourage) anyone choosing to read this stuff.  Giving in this way is a lion share of my purpose for being.  As I have done this or tried (edifying others), over the years, I have been edified by GOD’s Spirit, and my own joy has been made full.

In last week’s post, I mentioned that I was actually looking forward to attending district assembly, something those who know me well would probably scoff at. Now having attended, I can look back and say that my expectations were well met in several ways.  Here are two.  On day one, a Scottish millennial missionary, living in El Paso, TX and ministering to asylum seekers through a church-run border project, spoke.  His comments were heavily laced with the importance of fulfilling our GOD-given purpose.  On day two, the thirty-something year old chaplain to an NFL team shared the amazing story of his own redemption, transformation, call to ministry and finding his way in that call, and challenged everyone listening to “be in the game and not sideline watchers” using whatever GOD has given us to be a blessing to others, for the sake of the One who loves the world.

Both of these speakers, though stylistically different, were very effective in focusing our attention on the fact that the relationship between GOD and us means that we have a very important role to play in the redemption story. We are not called to be beneficiaries of grace alone; each of us is also called to be givers and extenders of that very grace.  We can do that in our day-to-day interactions with people as we go about our day, and we can do that by developing and using those gifts of the Spirit that GOD has sent to us special delivery.  In them, we find the route to action that testifies to our faith; we find much of our purpose.  Our giftedness is the way our faith works.

Perhaps that tug at my heart last week to change what I planned to write about for this week was so that I would join my two brothers who repeated that which those of us who have long tenures in the church have heard so many times before. Perhaps I needed to hear it again.  Each person in the kingdom of GOD must use whatever voice GOD has given us for the sake of the kingdom and His great name.  Repetition is not necessarily a bad thing.

How are you using your voice?  No, really!  What are you doing with it?

 “It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” (Paul in Philippians 3:1)

“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.  I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body…” (Peter in 2 Peter 1:12-13)

© Byron L. Hannon, 2019. All rights reserved for original text content.