“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Rom. 11:29 ESV)

Irrevocable: that which is unalterable or irreversible, beyond recall, binding, changeless, definite, final, firm, fixed.

When God gives his children spiritual gifts and callings, they are permanent!

God doesn’t remove or take them back! If, for instance, you have received the gift of teaching and have been called to teach, you will continue to have that gift and calling all your life. God expects you to use your gifts and calling responsibly and in a worthy manner.

There are a variety of gifts from God

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12:4-7 ESV)

Walk in a manner worthy of your gift and calling

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Eph. 4:1-3 ESV)

You are expected to “stir up” your gift

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you…” (1 Tim. 1:6a KJV)

Therefore

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11-12 ESV)

“For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.” (Prov. 24:16 NASB)

The Lord upholds the hand of the righteous man

“Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.” (Psalm 37:24 ESV)

He is able to keep the righteous man from stumbling

“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy.” (Jude 1:24 ESV)

Therefore…

“Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.” (Eph. 6:13 NLT)

Quote:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Sir Winston Churchill

“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.” (Prov. 4:20-22 NIV)

A doctor’s report

·      Sometimes a doctor will give a negative report, but that does not mean it has to be the definitive answer! God's Word is immensely powerful, and He sent it to heal and rescue! I recently heard the testimony of a woman who had been diagnosed with fast-acting, incurable cancer and was sent home to die. She decided, however, not to accept the doctor’s death prognosis but rather to believe God’s promises in His Word. So, she did four important things.

·      First, she looked up every verse in the Bible she could find about healing.

·      Secondly, she wrote them down.

·      Thirdly, she posted them all around her house, on the bathroom mirror, on the fridge, and on her walls, so the verses were constantly before her eyes.

·      Fourthly, whenever she was near a verse, she quoted it out loud, personalizing it. For instance, she said, “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.” (Psalm 118:17). And “With long life you will satisfy me and show me your salvation.” (Psalm 91:16), and “Behold, you bring to me health and healing in abundance.” (Jer. 33:6). At first, she didn’t feel any better, but she did not get any worse as the days went by. She continued her new routine everyday, and after some time, she noticed she was feeling better. She continued to grow stronger and healthier day by day, until finally, her doctor could no longer find any trace of the cancer in her body. She had gotten completely well!

The scripture passage at top says to do four things...

1)    Pay attention to what God’s Word says

2)    Listen to the Word of God

3)    Keep God’s Word before your eyes

4)    Keep God’s Word in your heart

And, the following two things will result…

5)    God’s Word gives life to you

6)    God’s Word gives health to your whole body

God’s Word heals and rescues

“He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.” (Psalm 107:20 NIV)

“…but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.” (Jer. 9:24 NIV)

God delights in those who are blameless in their walk

“The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight.” (Prov. 11:20 NIV)

God delights in those who deal faithfully

“Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.” (Prov. 12:22 NIV)

Therefore

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” (2 Sam. 22:20 NIV)

“Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Gen. 2:7 ESV) 

I had a cat scan, and I was looking over the images with the physician in his office. Then he said, “You are about to die! In fact, I do not know how you have continued to stay alive this long!” I thought he was joking! Who would genuinely say such a thing to a patient without first instructing them to sit down? But he was serious! And he went ahead to show me the “problem area” from multiple cat-scan angles, from the top and from all sides! My breathing passage is so narrow that the scan says I cannot breathe through it. Then he continued to explain all the negative effects of this condition, as though the prognosis of “death” was not awful enough. After the appointment, I told my wife what the doctor had said. As we began to process the information, I was in a bit of shock. However, I quickly recovered, and during the drive home, we decided to get into agreement with Scripture (Matt. 18:19) instead of accepting the doctor's "proclamation of death" over me. In fact, the scripture makes many promises about breath. Here are a few. 

God’s breath gives me life

“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4 ESV)

Say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord God!”

“Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God…” (Ez. 37:9a ESV)

“Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.” (Ez. 37:5 NASB)

Choose life!

"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deut. 30:19 NLT) 

Therefore…

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 159:6 ESV)

“I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the LORD has done.” (Psalm 118:17 NIV

“Having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” (Eph. 1:18 ESV)

Having an epiphany from God

Have you ever had an epiphany, a sudden realization about something's nature or meaning? Perhaps you were struggling to find an important answer, and suddenly you got a flash of understanding that seemed to come out of nowhere. Sometimes God opens hearts' eyes, as he did for Elisha's servant, enabling him to see the invisible chariots of fire that were all around him. 

“Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:17 ESV)

Are you blind to things of God?

“Do you have eyes but fail to see!” (Mark 8:18a NIV)

“They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” (Eph. 4:18 ESV)

Ask God to open your eyes of understanding to behold wondrous things in His Word

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18 ESV)

God opens eyes to turn from darkness to light

“To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’” (Acts 26:18 ESV)

Therefore…

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6 ESV)

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” (Isa. 58:10 ESV)

The cure for gloom and depression

Sometimes I feel gloomy, and it can simply be the result of not getting enough sunlight. This condition was especially true when I lived in Alaska, where we experienced long winter nights with very short days and little sunlight. However, there are times when other factors trigger gloominess, which we can label as depression. When that happens to me, it usually helps to get some fresh air, some exercise, and apply positive input, such as reaching out with help of some kind towards somebody else with problems. This shifts my focus from my own depression to the needs of others. That’s what our promise verse at the top says we should do about gloominess. “If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” Wow! What a wonderful promise!

Therefore

Helping others will return to you in good measure!

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6:38 ESV)

“And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” (1 Cor. 12:28 KJV)

The powerful spiritual gift which is often overlooked

Chapter 12 of 1st Corinthians contains a list of spiritual gifts. As you read through them, you find big things like “miracles” and “healings”. Those are the demonstrative gifts you notice when people have them. But you see one gift on the list called “helps.” This gift is often overlooked, yet nothing in the church would get done without people having this gift! The person with the spiritual gift of helps is someone who tends to work behind the scenes to get things done. They will often do their jobs joyfully and take the responsibilities from others’ shoulders. They are the ones who come in early to set up chairs, prepare meals, clean floors, mow lawns, pull weeds, clean gutters, and do anything else that needs to get done. Without them doing the necessary background things, the pastor could not use his spiritual gift of preaching! In my opinion, helps is the most powerful spiritual gift of all!

Helper defined

“To give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist.” 

A helper bears the burdens of others 

“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

A helper does acts of mercy cheerfully

“The one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Rom. 12:8 ESV)

A helper will be enriched

“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” (Prov. 11:25 ESV)

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130 ESV) 

Incline your heart to understanding

“Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Prov. 2:2-5 ESV)

Great understanding controls anger

“Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.” (Prov. 14:29 ESV)

Understanding gives a cool spirit

“Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.” (Prov. 17:27 ESV)

Don’t lean on your own understanding but trust in the Lord

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” (Prov. 3:5 ESV)

Understanding draws out purpose

“The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Prov. 20:5 ESV)

Therefore

“Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.” (119:34 ESV)