Visions and Expendability

^{1 Corinthians 12:4-11}

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

 ⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

I just remembered these verses as I was prepping to write this. I think they are exactly what I and we need right now. I have been praying for a pouring out of spiritual gifts on our youth and myself. And, as my last blog suggested, the faith to use them. My prayer has been answered, in many ways. God has renewed a vision in my mind. I've seen this vision before, on two other occasions to be specific. It was of hands being raised and something resembling a bird or something flying (I can't truly describe it) coming out of people towards heaven. I have asked for discernment and I think it means that God is calling our spirits back to Him. That this year we are going to have a home-sickness for where we belong and it's not going to be able to be contained! We are a generation of world-changers, I can name ten billion from our youth and am so excited to see more rise up to Gods calling. Holy Spirit have your way with us, never let us give you boundaries. Overwhelm us with your calling!

The next thing I want to talk about is something that goes hand in hand with visions for me. Expendability. So what the heck is expendability? Well let's check the dictionary...

expendable |ikˈspendəbəl|

adjective

(of an object) designed to be used only once and then destroyed 

• of little significance when compared to an overall purpose, and therefore able to be destroyed 

Whoa, pretty intense right? In my devotional a quote from Nate Saint said:

During the last war we were taught that, in order to obtain our objective, we had to be willing to be expendable. . . . We know that there is only one answer when our country demands that we share in the price of freedom—yet when the Lord Jesus asks us to pay the price for world evangelization, we often answer without a word. We cannot go. We say it costs too much. . . . Missionaries constantly face expendability.

NATE SAINT, A MISSIONARY MARTYRED IN THE
ECUADORIAN JUNGLE IN 1956

This spoke to me with intensity. Are we willing to give it all for God and for others to reach eternity? It brought me back to Winter Retreat this year. God has laid upon my heart missions. Am I willing to die for this? Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!! In fact, that night I gave God person to do so. To make me a martyr if that would reach more people than me living. I am willing to die a thousand times to save one person from going to hell. I understand that is a dangerous thing to say, but it keeps me accountable. It shows me where my heart should be when ministering to others. I challenge you to challenge me and yourself; I challenge you to be a better missionary, a better friend, a better leader, and a better child of Christ. Be expendable, the cost has never mattered less than now. What matters is souls and eternity.

P.S. I also encourage you to listen to this. The first time I listened to it I cried and still do. Invite the Holy Spirit in, let Him change your wants to His.

"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" -- Jim Elliot, missionary martyr who lost his life in the late 1950's trying to reach the Auca Indians of Ecuador