1 Corinthians 12:3  “…no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”
Not just a point of confession of fact.  The Spirit must draw us to Himself in order for us to understand our need for Him and to accept Christ as Lord and savior.  Easiest way to think of the draw is to ask someone of their interest in spiritual things.  Once a person gets to a certain age, they begin to question their existence, why they’re here, what is their purpose, and is there anything beyond this existence.  The instigator of those questions is the Spirit.  He has begun to speak to them.  Without any knowledge of God, they consider them great philosophical questions and begin to look for answers in what the world offers.  However, someone who has been reared knowing something of God will recognize that their questions are pointing to Him.

4-6  “…diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit…the same Lord…the same God who works all in all”
God is one, but He has multiple facets.  He won’t fit into our box no matter how large we think we make it.  We must never get the idea that He will only relate to humans in certain ways such as types and styles of worship.  The fact that He gives varying gifts to people should remind us that He alone can see the whole, and He sets the parts together as He sees fit.  But He is still the focal point of all.

18  “…now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased”
God gives the gifts as He pleases, and He positions the members of His body the church as He pleases.  We don’t give as much thought to the importance of our gifts or our place in His body as we ought.  We think church membership should be about where we like to be, where we are most comfortable, and where we can get the most from the services.  But we should be asking what gifts have we been given, and where would God have us serve.

22  “…those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary”
Should go without saying, but all members are important.  The body will not function as it should without all members there.  Perhaps that is the biggest problem in our churches today.  We are trying to function without all of our members.

I hope you enjoy reading and studying His word.  May it accomplish what He desires.  Please feel free to comment or post questions.  Thanks for reading!

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.