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Seven Gifts To Change Your
Life and Renew Your World |
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Article by Tom Gilbert
— © June, 2009
Everyone is looking for ways to change
their life for the better. Motivational speakers and self-help
gurus promote their latest systems with action steps to
a new you. We’ve all heard, maybe even tried, to
follow some of these good orderly directions. And there
is nothing wrong with many of them.
One Key Point
Except for one essential and key point that any system
or set of principles designed to change you for the better
must be grounded in spiritual power to have any real and
lasting effect.
For Christians that power is God. And it is expressed
in, and through us, by the Holy Spirit. The Feast of
Pentecost is the celebration of the Holy Spirit descending
upon the apostles in a mighty way as described in Acts
2.
The Counselor Comes
Jesus spoke of this special Helper,
the Counselor, the Spirit of truth, in the Gospel of John
16:13 - But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will
guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own;
he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you
what is yet to come.
In verses 15 and 16 Jesus goes on to say: He will bring
glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it
known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine.
That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine
and make it known to you.
The belief of God in three persons, equal and yet separate,
is called the Holy Trinity. It demonstrates that God is
relational and interdependent. The Father loves the Son
who loves the Father and the Spirit who loves them both.
They all love each other completely and infinitely. And
the Holy Spirit is given to us – God dwelling in
and among us – so that we may have life to the fullest.
The Seven Gifts
The seven gifts which will change your life and renew
your world are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These gifts
are mentioned in Isaiah 11:2-3 as wisdom, understanding,
counsel, fortitude (some would describe as power or courage),
piety and fear of the Lord (best interpreted as respect
and awe of God because of God’s complete righteousness
and truth). The teaching about the seven gifts is part
of the belief of Catholicism, but is also embraced by
some Christians in other denominations. I trust it because
I see it in the Scripture writings (not just Isaiah and
John’s Gospel, but also in Paul’s many letters)
and I sense it confirmed in my heart.
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Some people speak of more than these
seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps there are many
more gifts than those I mention in this article. But I
am convinced these seven are important. Furthermore, they
are available to any of us. They are present in their
fullness in Jesus Christ. They are not simply motivational
secrets or special tips to wealth and health. They are
much greater. If we pray for the Holy Spirit to come into
our hearts and renew us these gifts will be manifest in
us, just as they were in the early Church believers, and
have been ever since.
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| Tom Gilbert is
a writer and spiritual seeker who edits and maintains
the Living the Solution web site. You may reprint this
article as long as you give credit and a link back to
www.livingthesolution.com |
Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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PSALM
16:7-9
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"I will praise the
LORD , who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs
me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he
is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore
my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also
will rest secure."
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