Are you an Opportunity or a Resource for the Holy Spirit?,Ep 2-45
Welcome back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are going to talk about how we are preparing ourselves to be used by the Holy Spirit. This is part of our discussion on the Spiritual Gifts, how you wonder? Well, specifically, we are going to talk about whether we are an opportunity or a resource the Holy Spirit can use. You might think they both sound good but as we dig in deeper you will see that they are nothing alike and we should be striving to be one much more than the other. So let’s dig in.
We will start off first with just simple definitions.
Opportunity: a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something
Resource: a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively.
Now let’s go back to scripture and see what it is that we are talking about being an opportunity or a resource for in the first place. 1 Corinthians 12:4, “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,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”
This discussion relates to all of the gifts.
Develop our gifts so that these gifts are a part of who we are and we can use any and all of them as needed, as directed. In doing this, we become a resource, more than just an opportunity. God can use anyone, anything, at anytime, doesn’t even need to be a believer. We are going to look at one example in the Bible of something miraculous occurring. For that we are going to Numbers 22:21. I’m going to read to you what happened. “Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. 22 But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.
24 Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. 25 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.
26 Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.
31 Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.
32 The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.[a] 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”
In this case, Balaam did actually do as God had directed, but unfortunately, he did share with the King that the way to bring down the Israelites was to get them to worship other Gods and that is exactly what happened. The fallout is what the book of Hosea is about.
In our example here, the donkey was used in a miraculous way but as an object of opportunity. We are not desiring to be the donkey, we are desiring to be like Jesus, where we move and do as the Holy spirit directs us and nothing limits us.
Let’s look at another example but this time of someone who was used as a resource. For that we are going to Acts 10:9, “About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three[a] men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?””
If you are not familiar with this story, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, so a leader in the Roman army was seeking the Lord and an angel appeared to him and told him his prayers would be answered and to send some men to Joppa to bring back Peter. When Peter does go, he understands that the message of salvation is not only for the Jews, but for Gentiles also. Peter then shared the gospel message and all of Cornelius’ family were saved, so many that Peter was there a few days. The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius’ family the same as it did at Pentecost with them speaking in tongues and praising God.
The difference here is Peter developed his relationship with the Holy Spirit, he took time out of his day to pray and in this case we see that we received a vision, there are different levels of vision, this one was a trance. He also received the interpretation of the vision and was obedient to the Holy Spirit in going with the roman soldiers when they came to bring him back to Caesarea where Cornelius lived. Once in Caesarea, Peter shared the message he was called to share and then proceeded to baptize and grow the Kingdom.
That, my friends, is being a resource for the Holy Spirit, not an opportunity. God could have made a tree talk at Cornelius’ house if he wanted to, but how much better to have a resource such as Peter he could rely on to come and share and be an example of obedience. At that time, roman soldiers appearing at your door asking you to come with them somewhere you did not know and in this case, to the leader’s house, that could be a bit unsettling. Your first reaction would be self-preservation, but Peter knew the Holy Spirit wanted his obedience and he did it. This is the life we want to be living. When we are living in this way, the enemy cannot move in our lives. He can attack, but when we are that in tune with the Holy Spirit in our lives, the enemy will not be able to gain traction. We want to be a resource, not an opportunity. We don’t want to be the donkey here.
Let’s look at another example of being a resource. This happened in Alexandria Troas, in modern day Turkiye. It used to be Turkey but they changed their named to Turkiye a few years ago. Alexandria Troas is… well now it is just ruins, but back in the first century it was a happening metropolis because the port was pretty important to the area for trade and passage through the Marman Sea onward to the Black Sea. It is southeast of the ancient city of Troy. Alexandria Troas is where you would go to travel across the Aegean Sea to Macedonia or other areas of Greece. Paul on his way back from Macedonia headed to Jerusalem but stopped for 7 days in Alexandria Troas. The road that he, Luke, Silas, Timothy all would have used to come into the city from the port is still there, parts of it is in ruins, but I walked up it just as they would trying to imagine what it would have been like. I love finding roads that our biblical ancestors used, it is one of the most fun things I do in my life. Anyhow, on the occasion I am referring to Paul was on a tight schedule. He wanted to use every minute teaching and building the new Christians in that area. We walked all over the ruins there. We were able to find a fountain, much of the area is farmland now so the stone that was used for buildings has been relocated to make fencing. You can see broken pieces of pottery, artifacts laying around, there is remnants of a church but terribly overgrown. Of course, I was wanting to find the remains of the house for the story I am about to share, but that’s wishful hunting. There would be no way to really know unless the Holy Spirit told me. There is some excavation there, but you can tell it is grossly underfunded. If you want to see what we found, check out our YouTube channel, Life Journey with Dawn Simmons this week and you can visit there through our eyes.
Back to the story, we find it in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.”
That is being a resource. When Paul was speaking, the Holy Spirit would have been present as Paul worked with the Holy Spirit performing many miracles. Here we see Paul doing what he does, talking about Jesus things and time didn’t seem to be important to him. I understand Eutychus, I probably would have done the same thing sitting in the window. All those people crammed together in a room. It was probably hot, so he was probably sitting by the window for a cool breeze. The time of year was just after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, so it was probably in April. That time of year in Turkiye can be warm. They would have had a coastal breeze being a port city, so Eutychus had a good seat in the room, except that, windows weren’t what they are today and out he goes. Third story, hitting either cobblestone which how their roads were or dirt if it wasn’t by a walkway. Paul was able to be a resource and bring him back to life. That is a miraculous event. They saw it more frequently in the first century than we do now, but it could still be done, it requires a supernatural level of faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is in operation in your life at this level, the enemy cannot move in your life. Paul brought Eutychus back to life and then went back to preaching. He was not so in awe with what just happened because to Paul it was expected, it was part of who He was in Christ.
We need to strive to be a resource not an opportunity. I know we would all be thrilled to be used as an opportunity, but how much richer would our lives be if we were actually used as a resource for whatever the Holy Spirit needed us to do.
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I hope this has been time that inspires you to want to learn to grow in your relationship with the Lord and become a resource to the Holy Spirit in your daily life. We want to grow in Him and learn how to work with Him to build the Kingdom and Conquer Our Unseen Enemies. The more we grow the more our life will change, and you can help change the lives of anyone around you who is willing.
If you know anyone who might benefit from this, please share.
As always, let’s discuss our Top Show points:
· Discussed how we are preparing ourselves to be used by the Holy Spirit.
· This is part of our discussion on the Spiritual Gifts, as we discussed whether we are an opportunity or a resource the Holy Spirit can use.
· Opportunity: a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something
· Resource: a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively.
· 1 Corinthians 12:4, Lists the gifts of the Spirit
· Develop our gifts so that these gifts are a part of who we are and we can use any and all of them as needed, as directed. In doing this, we become a resource, more than just an opportunity.
· God can use anyone, anything, at anytime, doesn’t even need to be a believer.
· Numbers 22:21. Story of Balaam and his donkey and how God used the donkey as an opportunity to get Balaam’s attention and direct him what He wanted him to do and not do
· The donkey was used in a miraculous way. We are not desiring to be the donkey, we are desiring to be like Jesus, where we move and do as the Holy spirit directs us and nothing limits us.
· Acts 10:9, Story of Peter receiving a vision on a rooftop and being directed to go with the men who were coming for him.
· Peter then shared the gospel message and all of Cornelius’ family were saved, so many that Peter was there a few days. The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius’ family the same as it did at Pentecost with them speaking in tongues and praising God.
· The difference here is Peter developed his relationship with the Holy Spirit, he took time out of his day to pray. He also received the interpretation of the vision and was obedient to the Holy Spirit.
· Peter gives us an example of obedience.
· This is the life we want to be living. When we are living in this way, the enemy cannot move in our lives. He can attack, but when we are that in tune with the Holy Spirit in our lives, the enemy will not be able to gain traction.
· Alexandria Troas, in modern day Turkiye. Paul on his way back from Macedonia headed to Jerusalem but stopped for 7 days in Alexandria Troas. If you want to what this city looks like today, check out our YouTube channel, Life Journey with Dawn Simmons this week.
· Acts 20:7, Story of Eutychus falling out the window, dying and Paul raised him from the dead.
· Paul was able to be a resource and bring him back to life. That is a miraculous event. They saw it more frequently in the first century than we do now, but it could still be done, it requires a supernatural level of faith and the presence of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is in operation in your life at this level, the enemy cannot move in your life.
· Paul brought Eutychus back to life and then went back to preaching. He was not so in awe with what just happened because to Paul it was expected, it was part of who He was in Christ.
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
· If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, visit our website, lovingconversationssalo.com. My book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice has helped so many people in their relationship with the Lord, check out the testimonials. There is also a companion Study Guide and two devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book. Those are available on the website www.lovingconversationssalo.com.
· Follow us in Instagram, @conqueringourunseenenemies
I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!