January 7 – Various Workings

       1 Corinthians 12:4-6 – "There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Master. There are varieties of working, but the same God works all of them in all people."

       I recently discovered (2026) among a pile of old books that belonged to my parents, an updated version of an old compilation by L.B. Cowman, called Streams in the Desert. It was first published in 1924 as a collection of short daily encouraging messages for Christians. Mrs. Lettie Cowman took some of her own writings and compiled them with various other writers' experiences in the Christian faith. I had never heard of this book, even though I have been a Christian for several decades. Apparently, it ranked in popularity among Christians with Oswald Chambers' famous book My Utmost for His Highest. (I had actually run across the latter and obtained a copy of it in the 1990s. I eventually read through the entire book and was inspired by Chambers' passion for living for Christ. Many years later I started to re-read My Utmost but found it uninspiring. What had changed? Well, I had changed in various ways.) I found the layout of Streams to be confusing, even after reading the explanatory introduction. Sometimes I could not tell which portions of the daily readings belonged to the compiler, which means that some of the daily readings had creations from more than one author. Sometimes the poems at the end of the readings had names attributed to them, and sometimes not. (Were the poem-writers the same as the prose-writers?) What I found in both books, however, were often short snippets of Bible verses, that were then expanded in explanations and in ways that sometimes didn't even point back to the verse itself.

       My reason for change in outlook and attitude toward these books is not the point, even though that would account for the way that I viewed these books (one the second time around). My point is that any accounting of one's experience in God, or explanation of his Word, or attempt at encouraging someone else to personally know and experience this living God, can be worthless to one and a boon to another, and even both at various times.

       It is God's Spirit who works his will and ways into our very being. God can and does use human activities, experiences, and writing for the benefit of others. That is the lesson in 1 Corinthians 12, as mentioned above. Romans 12 also explains this same topic, with an important caveat. Verse 6 states "We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us..." God's grace is exhibited among us believers in various ways and depths of comprehension. His body consists in many parts, each performing various tasks that support its entire health and usefulness. Just because I can't feel what my pancreas is doing, doesn't mean that is useless. It is quite vital to my overall health, as are many other organs. (You'd be surprised to know how important your small toe is.)

       Furthermore, Paul explains this measure of grace in Romans 12:3f – "By the grace given to me, I say to you all: do not think of yourself more highly than you should, but with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith that God has given to you." So, when you read the writings of people, from the early church "fathers" to "nobodys" like me, remember that nothing is worthless if offered in service to our Master Jesus Christ (see 2 Thessalonians 1:11). While chewing on someone's grace, swallow what you find palatable, and spit out what you find disagreeable, knowing that someone's gruel is another's ice cream sundae.