Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts....The Apostle Paul
USE YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT
The most loving and powerful thing you can do for your fellow believers in Christ is you use your spiritual gift, and to ONLY use your spiritual gift. Nothing else you do is helpful or beneficial, because only what the Spirit empowers you to do will cause them to grow in faith in Christ.
Hear that again.
The only help you can give your fellow believer is your spiritual gift.
Or even an unbeliever for that matter.
How do I know?
Because Jesus told His very own followers to wait in Jerusalem to be clothed with power from on high. These men had been with Jesus for 3 years and only had to go and tell what they had seen and heard. How hard was that? They learned from God Incarnate for three years. They saw Him risen from the dead. They saw him ascend into heaven. And they were commissioned to simply go into all the world and tell everyone the good news:
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for your sins. He rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven. He is Lord, and He's coming again. We are eyewitnesses of this.
They were to preach this gospel and make disciples, simply teaching those who believe to do what Jesus taught them to do for three years.
Yet they were commanded by Jesus to stay in Jerusalem and NOT fulfill the great commission until they had power from the Spirit. For 10 days the world waited for the believers in Christ to be clothed with power and to hear the message, a message that they were commanded NOT to preach until they received power from the Spirit.
In the same way, you dare not attempt to glorify God and help people without God's power in you, without your spiritual gift.
Now that you know what your spiritual gift is, make it your first and foremost priority to use it in everyway, to shape your life so that your job, your friendships, and every relationship and thing you do involves the use of your gift.
If your spiritual gift is the ability to give "messages of wisdom" according to 1 Corinthians 12, then take every opportunity on your job, at home, or in your relationships to in fact give messages of wisdom to those who lack it, or those who want to increase their wisdom. There is no where you can go, and no relationship you can be in, where someone doesn't need wisdom. Because the Spirit has gifted you with wisdom, it stands to reason that He has placed people in your life, or placed you in someone's life, who desperately needs your spiritual gift. Find them and help them. If you agree, pray this prayer with me:
"My God and Father, show me the people in my life who need my spiritual gift. In Jesus name, amen."
Now actively look for the people in your life who need your spiritual gift. Then by faith, follow the Spirit in using your spiritual gift in his or her life. God is with you. I'm with you. Jesus is Lord.
Showing posts with label Spiritual Gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spiritual Gifts. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Your Truest Ministry (Part 2)
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.. in accordance with your faith...Romans 12:6
Before we move on...
Now that you know how to follow the Spirit, you also know how to discover and use your gift:
The Spirit knows what your spiritual gift is and how to instruct you in using it. He's the one who gave you your spiritual gift in the first place. And He gives you guidance through the verse at the top of this post. I'll break the verse down in three steps for you. Read the verse again, then read the three steps.
1. Know that you do have a spiritual gift, at least one. (We have different gifts)
2. Know that your gift has a limited authority or ability. (according to the grace given to each of us)
3 Know that your gift is based on what you can imagine can happen. (in accordance with your faith)
Start from the assumption that you have a supernatural spiritual ability to bring God glory by helping those in The Body. You have a spiritual gift. The Apostle Paul said it. The Spirit inspired him to say it. Because you believe what the Spirit inspired Paul to write, say this quick prayer:
"My Father in heaven, thank you for my spiritual gift. By Your spirit reveal it to me so that I may use it today. In Jesus name, amen."
Now skip step two and go to step three.
Do you want people to be close to God? Do you want prayers to be answered? This is what Paul means when he says "in accordance with your faith." Remember how Jesus would often say to people, "Let it be so according to your faith?" Or Jesus would say something like, "Your faith has healed you." Jesus also said, "All things are possible for those who believe." So imagine what you want to happen in the lives of believers, how you want to help them to know and be like God. How you do you want to encourage them or comfort them.
If you want to encourage believers, your gift is encouragement, so encourage them. If you want to speak words from God to people, your gift is prophecy, so prophecy to God's people. If you want to pray for people, then that is your gift. Pray. Do this according to what you can imagine can happen. And accept the limitation of your imagination right now. That limitation is the "measure of grace" in step two. Now go to step two.
You aren't God, so you aren't all powerful. In other words, your spiritual gift is limited in power, authority, and territory. You can't help everybody with everything. A 6th grade math teacher has the ability to teach math to 6th graders. Not college students. Not science. In the same way, your gift is for a specific purpose and people, according to what you can imagine can happen. Stay in your zone of authority for God's glory, and you will see God's glory in your life today.
You have a spiritual gift.
Your imagination is the limitation of how you use it.
Right now,
If you have any questions, write me those as well.
- I'm writing to you if you are believer in Christ who wants to follow the Spirit and use your spiritual gifts, but you feel you don't know how to do it practically. You are my focus if this is your focus.
- If you know how to follow the Spirit, you know everything you need to know for the effective Christian life.
- If you know how to use your spiritual gift, you know everything you need to do to be an effective Christian.
- In reviewing what I said in the last post, when you think of "the peace of God," think of His peace as being the same as His agreement with you, and thus your agreement with Him. In other words, when you sense God's peace, which is perfect and incomprehensible, you are sensing His agreement with your decision, which means you are in agreement with His will for you at that moment.
Now that you know how to follow the Spirit, you also know how to discover and use your gift:
Follow the Spirit.
2. Know that your gift has a limited authority or ability. (according to the grace given to each of us)
3 Know that your gift is based on what you can imagine can happen. (in accordance with your faith)
- What can you imagine yourself doing for God's glory?
- What do you want to do for members of the Lord's Body, the church, those who believe in God?
- What is your passion as a Christian?
What you want to do for those who believe in Jesus,
and what you can imagine doing for them,
is your spiritual gift.
If you want to encourage believers, your gift is encouragement, so encourage them. If you want to speak words from God to people, your gift is prophecy, so prophecy to God's people. If you want to pray for people, then that is your gift. Pray. Do this according to what you can imagine can happen. And accept the limitation of your imagination right now. That limitation is the "measure of grace" in step two. Now go to step two.
Your imagination is the limitation of how you use it.
- Imagine how you want to help people know and be like God.
- Realize that this is your spiritual gift.
- Find two opportunities with two people who need you to use your spiritual gift.
If you have any questions, write me those as well.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Your Truest Ministry (Part 1)
As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the children on of God. The Apostle Paul
What do you as a follower of Christ need to be doing, all day, everyday?
The answer to this question determines your effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, in God's purposes.
Look at the question again.
What key words do you see?
There should be two:
They do what their leaders command and empower them to do.
1. Know how the Spirit leads you.
2. Know how to use your spiritual gift.
3. Follow the Spirit's leading.
4. Use your spiritual gift.
Let's focus on number one.
KNOW HOW THE SPIRIT LEADS YOU.
The first level of the Spirit's leading is Spirit led conscience, or a sense of the peace of God as you are about to make a decision. It's like a "red, yellow, or green light" that you sense when you think through what to do. For example, you pray and ask God if you should or should not take a job offer. You express your thoughts, feelings, and desires about the job offer. You then wait to sense the Spirit's leading. You feel a "red light," a sense that you should not take the job, even though it "makes sense for you to do so." Or you sense a "green light" to take the job, even though it does not make sense to do so. Or maybe you feel a "yellow light" to wait and pray more.
In the beginning of following the Spirit, He will lead you with the peace of God, which is incomprehensible and perfect. It "surpasses all understanding," and it is a complete deep down sense of peace. This is how the Spirit leads you in the beginning, and is a basic way to sense and know His direction in your life. As you mature, the red/yellow/green lights will become more specific--you'll receive more specific intuitive revelations. You won't simply present things to the Spirit for Him to approve or disapprove through peace, or a lack of peace. As you grow in your faithfulness in following your Spirit led conscience, He will initiate revelations and directions through your Spirit led intuition. And the more faithful you are to Spirit lead intuition, the more specific the revelation, until it become a conversation--spiritual communion. In other words, you will come to know the very voice of God.
Know how the Spirit leads you by being faithful to your Spirit led conscience, to peace of God, to the red light/yellow light/green light.
(To be continued.)
What do you as a follower of Christ need to be doing, all day, everyday?
The answer to this question determines your effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, in God's purposes.
Look at the question again.
What key words do you see?
There should be two:
- Follower
- Doing
They do what their leaders command and empower them to do.
As a follower of Christ Jesus, you should follow the His Spirit
in using the spiritual gift He's given you.
This is your truest ministry.
These are the steps in fulfilling your ministry:
1. Know how the Spirit leads you.
2. Know how to use your spiritual gift.
3. Follow the Spirit's leading.
4. Use your spiritual gift.
Let's focus on number one.
KNOW HOW THE SPIRIT LEADS YOU.
The first level of the Spirit's leading is Spirit led conscience, or a sense of the peace of God as you are about to make a decision. It's like a "red, yellow, or green light" that you sense when you think through what to do. For example, you pray and ask God if you should or should not take a job offer. You express your thoughts, feelings, and desires about the job offer. You then wait to sense the Spirit's leading. You feel a "red light," a sense that you should not take the job, even though it "makes sense for you to do so." Or you sense a "green light" to take the job, even though it does not make sense to do so. Or maybe you feel a "yellow light" to wait and pray more.
In the beginning of following the Spirit, He will lead you with the peace of God, which is incomprehensible and perfect. It "surpasses all understanding," and it is a complete deep down sense of peace. This is how the Spirit leads you in the beginning, and is a basic way to sense and know His direction in your life. As you mature, the red/yellow/green lights will become more specific--you'll receive more specific intuitive revelations. You won't simply present things to the Spirit for Him to approve or disapprove through peace, or a lack of peace. As you grow in your faithfulness in following your Spirit led conscience, He will initiate revelations and directions through your Spirit led intuition. And the more faithful you are to Spirit lead intuition, the more specific the revelation, until it become a conversation--spiritual communion. In other words, you will come to know the very voice of God.
Know how the Spirit leads you by being faithful to your Spirit led conscience, to peace of God, to the red light/yellow light/green light.
(To be continued.)
Friday, March 28, 2014
How To Discover and Use Your Supernatural Power Today (Part 1)
You have supernatural power if you believe in the Lord Jesus. He said it. "You will receive (supernatural/miraculous) power when the Spirit comes upon you." Now the question is, how do you discover and use your supernatural power? By learning from Moses, Gideon, and David.
MOSES' STAFF
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Exodus 4:1-3
When God called Moses as the deliverer of Israel, Moses was a shepherd. A shepherd uses a staff to lead his sheep and protect them from predators. There is nothing supernatural about a staff. Every shepherd had and used them. It was no different for Moses. When Moses wanted assurance of God's presence and power with him, what did God say? God focused Moses on what he already had and what he already knew: his shepherd's staff. He focused Moses on an ability that Moses already had: the ability to simply throw his staff on the ground. Moses knew his staff, and he knew how to throw it down. That was it. That was all it took to see a miracle, the supernatural connected to the natural, the spiritual united the physical--a staff becoming a snake.
The question I ask you with God's Spirit is this: What is that in YOUR hand?
What is your job right now, and what instrument do you use to do your job?
A pencil or pen?
A hammer or wrench?
Right now a keyboard is under my finger tips as I type words from the Spirit of God. But I learned how to type in high school. Typing is natural. But the words from the Spirit that I type are supernatural. What is in my hand is a keyboard. Typing is easy. Using the keyboard is something I know how to do.
Throwing down a staff was easy for Moses. He'd been using his shepherd's staff for 40 years. In the same way, whatever your job is right now, as you read, and whatever instrument you use to do your job, the job you know how to do, that is the very instrument of supernatural power that God has given you.
Learn from Moses to use what is in your hand right now. And learn from Gideon to use the strength that you have.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2.
MOSES' STAFF
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Exodus 4:1-3
When God called Moses as the deliverer of Israel, Moses was a shepherd. A shepherd uses a staff to lead his sheep and protect them from predators. There is nothing supernatural about a staff. Every shepherd had and used them. It was no different for Moses. When Moses wanted assurance of God's presence and power with him, what did God say? God focused Moses on what he already had and what he already knew: his shepherd's staff. He focused Moses on an ability that Moses already had: the ability to simply throw his staff on the ground. Moses knew his staff, and he knew how to throw it down. That was it. That was all it took to see a miracle, the supernatural connected to the natural, the spiritual united the physical--a staff becoming a snake.
The question I ask you with God's Spirit is this: What is that in YOUR hand?
What is your job right now, and what instrument do you use to do your job?
A pencil or pen?
A hammer or wrench?
Right now a keyboard is under my finger tips as I type words from the Spirit of God. But I learned how to type in high school. Typing is natural. But the words from the Spirit that I type are supernatural. What is in my hand is a keyboard. Typing is easy. Using the keyboard is something I know how to do.
Throwing down a staff was easy for Moses. He'd been using his shepherd's staff for 40 years. In the same way, whatever your job is right now, as you read, and whatever instrument you use to do your job, the job you know how to do, that is the very instrument of supernatural power that God has given you.
Learn from Moses to use what is in your hand right now. And learn from Gideon to use the strength that you have.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 2.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
What You and Every Believer Should Be Doing
We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8
Do you go to a car mechanic when you have a toothache?
Do you go to a dentist when your car won't start?
Then why do we go to those in the body of Christ who are not spiritually gifted in an area of our spiritual need?
Every member of the Body of Christ has at least one spiritual gift, at least one ability to supernaturally meet each other's need to grow in the knowledge and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You do this in two ways:
1. According to the grace given to you.
2. In accordance with your faith.
The grace given to you means the limitations of the gift God gave you. You are not all powerful, so you can't do everything. Even in the context of your spiritual gift, you have certain God given limitations. For example, if God gave you the gift of teaching, you won't be able to teach everything and everybody, no matter the subject or context. You will have a specific subject or topic, and a specific type of students that you are gifted and called to teach. So the first thing is to know the limit of your gift.
Next, know the limit of your ability to use your gift, what is "in accordance with your faith." Go back to the teacher. Say a teacher knows he is gifted in teaching science, and he knows he's gifted in teaching high school students. He's not gifted in teaching English at all. He's not gifted in teaching kindergarten students at all. This is "according to the grace given him." This is the limit of his teaching gift.
Now what is "accordance with his faith" is his knowledge of how he approaches teaching, his own unique abilities and capabilities. He's gifted in visual presentations of science, very good at painting mental images of his lessons. His students, and fellow teachers recognize how gifted he is in putting scientific pictures in his students head that are unforgettable.
Apply this to spiritual gifts.
-You know that your gift is limited to a specific area because you're not God, you can't do everything.
-You know that your gift is connected to your faith, what you believe or what you can imagine according to your God given burden.
Do you know what your spiritual gift is? Let's help you find out right now. click HERE
Do you go to a dentist when your car won't start?
What you and every believer in Christ should be doing is this:
Only use your spiritual gift.
Only do what you are spiritually gifted to do.
You do this in two ways:
1. According to the grace given to you.
2. In accordance with your faith.
- You have a spiritual or supernatural ability from God, a spiritual gift.
- This gift will have a limited jurisdiction or authority,
- It will fit your passion and imagination.
-You know that your gift is limited to a specific area because you're not God, you can't do everything.
-You know that your gift is connected to your faith, what you believe or what you can imagine according to your God given burden.
Do you know what your spiritual gift is? Let's help you find out right now. click HERE
Friday, February 21, 2014
Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift (Part 2)
- We took a detour from part 1 of "Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift." click here to read it.
- We took this detour to examine one spiritual gift in particular: The Gift of healing. click here to read it, and to connect what was said about healing to the three ways to see your spiritual gift.
IMPERMANENT SITUATIONAL GIFTS
I do not have the gifts of healing, or miracles. I very much want the gift of healing because it seems to be the gift I have least experienced or seen, and one I strongly believe in. Yet I don't have it. But this is what I do have: an obligation to seek supernatural healing according to the book of James, and the command given for when believers are sick. Now when I pray the prayer of faith for supernatural healing, I an obeying God, whether healing happens or not. Just as I'm obeying God when I share the gospel, whether the person gets saved or not.
In a sense, we have an obligation to do what all of the gifts do. Let's use the 9 spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 as examples.
Though we don't all pray in tongues, we can and should all pray "in the Spirit." We don't all prophecy, but we do all share what God has told us. We don't all have the words of wisdom or words of knowledge as spiritual gifts, but we can and should all receive wisdom and knowledge directly from the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge. We don't all have the gift of discernment, but we are commanded to be watchful and test the spirits. We are not all healers, but we can all pray for people to be healed in Jesus' name, and people get healed when needed. Every prayer is asking for a miracle, even though we don't all have miracles as a spiritual gift. And all of us live by mountain moving faith, even though we may not have the gift of faith.
Having considered the three ways to see your spiritual gift or gifts, I come to this conclusion:
The Spirit gives us gifts according to His will, which will also encompass our passions and desires, so that you already have all the gifts the Spirit wills to give you, but you may not be experiencing all of them. When you have the desire for a "new gift," it's really a gift you already had that you are discovering through a desire. I believe we all have permanent gifts, and that we all have the ability to pray in every situation according whatever need is before us.
I see this as the balance of the three views, and I also wrote a book that you can read as a spiritual gifts manual.
Go to the site below and get it for yourself. May God bless you in all that you've read, and in reading my book if the Spirit leads you to.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Three Ways to See Your Spiritual Gift (Part 1)
As a Christian you have supernatural power. Every one of you who believes in Jesus. This is by the will of the Holy Spirit, as it is written,
It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
1 Corinthians 12:11
Yet some believe that the Spirit gives believers gifts in one of three ways:
1. You receive only the spiritual gift, or gifts, the Spirit wants you to have, and no more.
2. You may receive new gifts over time, based on maturity or your own desire.
3. You receive gifts on a situational basis, according to whatever is useful at the moment.
PERMANENT GIFTS
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Paul compares the spiritual gifts to body parts. And of course body parts are permanent. So from this perspective, when God gives us gifts by His Spirit, they are just as set in place as your eyes and ears. Paul encourages believers to value the uniqueness of their gifts, and the value of gifts they don't have. Yet he also encourages something else.
NEW GIFTS
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31
Though the Spirit gives the spiritual gifts according to His will, and though the gifts are compared to permanent body parts, Paul says we can desire greater gifts. He says those with tongues can pray for the gift of interpretation. He urges believers to not only pursue love, but to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
So it is possible to receive new gifts...according to the Spirit's will. Which suggests to me that if you desire a new gift, what you are really desiring is a gift you already have, but that the Spirit hasn't yet revealed. But does he do this on the basis of need, so that none of us really have any set gifts, but can be given a needed gift at a needed moment? (To be continued...)
It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
1 Corinthians 12:11
Yet some believe that the Spirit gives believers gifts in one of three ways:
1. You receive only the spiritual gift, or gifts, the Spirit wants you to have, and no more.
2. You may receive new gifts over time, based on maturity or your own desire.
3. You receive gifts on a situational basis, according to whatever is useful at the moment.
PERMANENT GIFTS
Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? 1 Corinthians 12:29-30
Paul compares the spiritual gifts to body parts. And of course body parts are permanent. So from this perspective, when God gives us gifts by His Spirit, they are just as set in place as your eyes and ears. Paul encourages believers to value the uniqueness of their gifts, and the value of gifts they don't have. Yet he also encourages something else.
NEW GIFTS
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31
Though the Spirit gives the spiritual gifts according to His will, and though the gifts are compared to permanent body parts, Paul says we can desire greater gifts. He says those with tongues can pray for the gift of interpretation. He urges believers to not only pursue love, but to desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.
So it is possible to receive new gifts...according to the Spirit's will. Which suggests to me that if you desire a new gift, what you are really desiring is a gift you already have, but that the Spirit hasn't yet revealed. But does he do this on the basis of need, so that none of us really have any set gifts, but can be given a needed gift at a needed moment? (To be continued...)
Sunday, November 17, 2013
How to TEST SPIRITS Without FEAR (PART 2)
God’s children fear God. We know that deception is possible, but not necessarily probable. We are watchful for Satan’s deceptions, but without fear of our communion with God by His Spirit. It is our birthright to understand and know God through faith in Christ Jesus, as He is revealed in the Holy Scriptures. Submit to God. Resist the Devil. Depend on God’s power. Test those who say they have a message from God to you, and test yourself before you give messages from God to others. But refuse to live in fear of being deceived. Refuse to believe the Spirit of God is less real than you are.
How to Test SPIRITS Without FEAR (Part 1)
Perfect love casts out fear. God is love. The Spirit is God. Therefore, the Spirit casts out fear. Testing the spirits in scripture refers to our own spirit and the spirits of false teachers and prophets. We test our character and the character of others, whether we are in total submission to the Spirit of Christ. We test our power and the power of others, whether we are dependent on the gifts God alone gives. But God's Spirit is Certainty. Perfectly Trustworthy. Imitations of Satan and demons bear no comparison to the true and living God.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
How to KNOW and USE Your SPIRITUAL GIFTS (PART 4)
No matter what spiritual gift we consider, whether they are the spectacular ones or less spectacular, the procedure for their use is inherent in the gift itself. Gifts of speech have a spiritual source, but the same mechanics. Like with the virgin birth, for example. Once the Holy Spirit “impregnated” Mary, she went through the same nine months that every woman goes through. A prophet receives inspiration within to share a revelation, but uses words according to the same rules of grammar he always uses. The healer receives healing power in her hands, and touches the one she heals. The extension of her hand to touch the sick is by the same muscles she uses to extend her hand to pass the salt across the table. In one instant, she has faith that she can reach and pass the salt shaker. In the other, she believes power from the Spirit is transmitted from her hands. When Jesus told a man with a maimed hand to “stretch out his hand," the act of stretching out his hand wasn’t supernatural. The word of the one who commanded, and the faith of the one who obeyed, had power to heal.
How to KNOW and USE Your SPIRITUAL GIFTS (PART 3)
The essence of the last article leads right into the use spiritual gifts. It is this: The spiritual is practical, so the use of the gifts is practical. If gifts are transient and indefinite, then how can Paul and Peter consistently exhort believers to use the specific gifts they each distinctly have? In other words, Peter and Paul not only assume each believer has a specific gift, but that each believer KNOWS his or her gift AND how to use the gift! This has to be the case if the apostles are exhorting them to use their gifts according to their faith! So how do we use a spiritual gift? First, we look at the name or title of the gift, and then we focus on its function. The function determines the technical use of the gift. For example: If your spiritual gift is healing, how do you do it? You follow the example of Jesus or the apostles as far as their “regular” healing techniques. You primarily see Jesus commanding healing, or laying hands on the sick. So do what He did! If you believe in Jesus, have an undeniable desire to see people healed, and you can imagine and believe that you can perform healings, do so in the way Jesus or the apostles did it, according to what you believe you can do.
Monday, October 28, 2013
How to KNOW and USE Your SPIRITUAL GIFTS (Part 2)
Before we discuss using your spiritual gifts, we must discuss the essential nature of the gifts. Your spiritual gift is distinct and permanent, just as distinct and permanent as the different parts of your physical body. The scriptures make this comparison of physical body parts to the spiritual gifts in the church. This comparison goes against the notion that God gives us spiritual gifts “as the need arises.” A blind man may gain an intensified sense of hearing, but he doesn’t gain sight “as the need arises.” We go to a dentist when we have a toothache, not to a surgeon, because doctors cannot simply perform just any kind of medical procedure “as the need arises.” There are specialists who have specific specialties. So it is in the body. Yes, we can all take pain medications and do things to preserve health, but this doesn’t make us all doctors. All are not eyes, noses, or feet in the body, nor CAN body parts transform into other body parts. So if a gift is missing in your church, you should pray for a member with that gift, just as a blind person needs someone with sight to help her across the street.
How to KNOW and USE Your SPIRITUAL GIFTS (Part 1)
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The Lord Jesus
You know your spiritual gifts in the same way you know your natural gifts.
You were born good at something. You were born liking to do certain things.
How did you find out that you like and are good at those things?
I like and I’m good at dancing. I remember the very day I found this out. I heard music that moved me so deeply I had to move to it. I saw dancers like Michael Jackson and MC Hammer and knew without doubt I could move like they move.
You’ve experienced the same with your talents. One day you were in a situation that pulled your abilities out of you, like Adam in the Garden of Eden. God made Adam a Gardner. He then put Adam in a garden. That’s all God had to do. All He had to do with me is let me hear music. All he had to do with you is put you where your soul came out.
Your natural gift was with you when you were born.
Your spiritual gift is with you when you are born again.
What do you like to do now that you are born again? What are you good at?
Do you find yourself in situations where you meet spiritual needs almost without thinking about it, like when I moved to the music without thought? That, at least, is your spiritual gift. You know it the same way you know your natural talents.
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