The concept of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, as outlined in the New Testament, is a profound testament to the intricate and transcendent relationship between humanity and the divine. These gifts are not merely symbolic tokens; they are transformative powers that enable individuals to transcend their ordinary limitations and align themselves with a higher purpose. To truly grasp the magnitude of these gifts, one must delve into their biblical foundations and understand their psychological and spiritual implications. In 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, the Apostle Paul provides a detailed enumeration of these gifts: “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish betwee...
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
--Psalm 23
I just recently finished watching this mini-series called Stand in Prime Movies. Prime Movies is free if you subscribe to Amazon Prime.
The Stand is based on a book by Stephen King and I just learned recently that it was a remake or a reboot of an earlier movie.
Before you continue to read further, I would like to raise a spoiler alert if you haven't seen it already.
It started out as a post-apocalyptic story where a significant number of humanity was initially wiped out by a virus leaving a few survivors who were inexplicably immune to it. Some of these survivors dreamed of an old lady named Mother Abigail and she asked them to find her in a home in Boulder, Colorado. While some of the survivors were drawn to Las Vegas by a man named Randall Flagg.
This is about Mother Abigail and her people representing the good side versus Randall Flagg and his cohorts as the opposition. Mother Abigail was a 100 year old black woman and was a prophet of God whilst Randall Flagg (aka the Dark Man) had demon-like strength and power.
What caught my attention here was at the last episodes. At Mother Abigail's bedside was five of her surviving and trusted allies and she gave final instructions to them directly from God. The four of them were to walk towards Randall Flagg's stronghold on foot and without bringing any weapons and that one of the four will not make it but God didn't reveal to her who that one was. After this Mother Abigail gave out her last breath.
Though it sounded very odd that only the four of them were to march into the heart of the enemy's nest and without any weapons at all and they were to face a very powerful demon in Randall Flagg and not to mention he has thousands of followers, they followed the instructions to detail.
On their journey, Stu had a very bad fall and broke his legs disabling him to continue. He convinced the rest that he was the one that Mother Abigail mentioned that won't make it. In spite of the reluctance of the remaining three to leave him behind, Stu convinces them that he accepts his fate and repeatedly recites a verse of Psalm 23, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, in effect convincing specially Larry to continue.
To make the story short, the 3 went on and confronted Flagg's hordes and all three of them died but they brought down Flagg and his hordes with them after an unexpected divine intervention at the end. The one who didn't make the journey, Stu was the one who survived among the four.
From this, I can conclude that the simple message here is to trust God fully, do our absolute best and God will do the rest. Another message here is that while we are alive, evil will continually challenge us and our faith in God and here's how Mother Abigail put it when she told Fran in a dream:
The wheel keeps turning, the struggle continues but the command remains the same. Be true. Stand.