Heart Meditations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scripture – Acts 4:32-37

Observation – What stood out to me this morning is the phrase ‘and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own’.  What must it have been like to be a part of this group of  believers who were so united that they had moved beyond the limiting categories of ‘yours’ and ‘mine’?  They had upgraded the idea of individual ownership to group ownership.  Ideas, resources, property didn’t belong to the individual but to the group.  Selfishness and fear had been banished by the Spirit.  It is interesting that in this environment there was great power attending the apostles, there was great grace upon them all and there were no needy among them.  This is potluck Christianity at its best, everyone brings what they have and everyone takes what they need and there is always more than enough for all.

Application – What if God has already given us everything we need to finish the work?  All the gifts, resources, opportunities, Spirit etc?  What if the latter rain looks less like individuals receiving more and becoming more powerful by themselves and more like us pooling the power we already have?  I’m not saying that I don’t believe we need more of the Spirit but what if God has already, in effect, given us the Spirit but the Spirit will only flow in power when we connect the pieces together?

Its like in all those fantasy movies where there is a legend of the 5______________ (insert random object here i.e coins, rings, swords, rubber duckies) of power. In the distant past when the 5 were brought together they were unstoppable.  Then some evil Warlock or Wise King (depending on the story line) separated these 5 swords or whatever in distant lands so that no one could wield the awesome power that they produced together.  And we all know how the story goes after that.  There’s the point in the story when the good guys are languishing under the control of the evil wizard and all the while the power is available if only they could unify the individuals or kingdoms who have the 5 swords.

What if my gift works more powerfully when I don’t see it as my gift at all?  What would happen if we really got serious about being united in the Spirit?  No more South England Conference North England Conference divide, no more West Indian/African schism, no more male/female issues , no more regional/state conference, no more liberal/conservative.  What if we pooled our faith, our prayer, our gifts, our ideas, our resources, our time? Would the result be greater power, greater grace and the eradication of need?  What if the latter rain isn’t meant to give you more power but to empower you to give away what you already have?

– Father I am so selfish and self centred and self focused that I am blocking the power you want to send through me.  Help me to give my ministry away, my gifts are not mine they belong to your church.  Help me to be less interested in promoting myself and more interested in promoting unity in your body.  Amen