Follow The Way of Love and Earnestly Desire The Gifts!

An Introduction to the Spiritual Gifts Part 1

Sharon kicked off our series at the beginning of the month.  Here is a review of her message.

In John 14, 15 and 16, in the original language, the Holy Spirit is called “Paracletos' which means: comforter, stand by, advocate, intercessor, teacher, friend, guide, counselor, strengthener, leader, helper and partner!!!  “God! I feel like everyone is against me!!  HE IS YOUR ADVOCATE” “God!  I don’t know how to pray! HE IS YOUR INTERCESSOR”. “God! I don’t know what to do about this issue!” HE IS YOUR COUNSELOR .

In Him is the FULLNESS of everything we need to OVERCOME, in Him is the FULLNESS of what we need to FULFILL our CALLING.  When we are FILLED with His Spirit, He GIVES us the GRACE and ENABLEMENT to do what God has called US TO DO! 

-The HOLY SPIRIT is the same spirit that:

-hovered over the waters at the creation of the earth

-breathed LIFE into Adam

-came upon people in power, like Samson, Gideon and David

-that was IN Jesus, communed with Jesus while He was on earth

-that RAISED Jesus from the dead

THE SAME Holy Spirit lives in US, here on the earth & one way He reveals Jesus to the world is THROUGH US!  The Holy Spirit always points us to Jesus J

-it’s to OUR ADVANTAGE that Jesus is in heaven with the Father. WHY? Because He left His Spirit and said you will receive MY POWER & GREATER THINGS will you do than Jesus did.  WHAAAAT?

We work in PARTNERSHIP with Holy Spirit to display His power here on earth, so the WHOLE WORLD will know that He is ALIVE, He is REAL, He is living on the INSIDE of us.

The enemy HATES when we understand WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST and WHEN WE ARE FILLED with the power of the HS.  WHY?  Because strongholds are demolished, and we are launched into our purpose with BOLDNESS!  Because we start using our Spirit given GIFTS to build up the body of Christ and be a WITNESS in the world!!!  (1 John 4:4 GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD!)

The more time we spend getting to know Holy Spirit, the more we become aware of WHO HE IS, WHAT HE’S doing and HIS ROLE. We also better understand WHO WE ARE and WHAT OUR PURPOSE IS! That’s POWERFUL!!

Do you think that maybe that is WHY anything and everything to do with the Holy Spirit is often controversial? Fighting about the Holy Spirit is a tool that the enemy can use to KEEP US DIVIDED!

I believe the biggest misconception is that the Holy Spirit is charismatic.  HE IS GOD! As believers…we ALL need Him!

As we look at the GIFTS of the Spirit…let’s not get them mixed up with the

1)    FRUIT of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). The fruits of the Spirit are the results of living in the Spirit and keep in step with the Spirit. They develop over time as we walk with Jesus.

2)    This is NOT about your IDENTITY either…which was sealed when you got saved.

The GIFTS of the Spirit? They are given by grace, just like salvation.  A sign of super spirituality?  NO.  God’s grace.   Do we EARN them? NO. They are given when He decides. He decides which gifts. He decides WHEN we get them. He knows which ones we need!  1 Corinthians 12:11 says that He gives His gifts “just as he determines”.

1 Corinthians 14:1

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Earnestly desire – be zealous for, envious of.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:8-11 

8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

SIDE NOTE: I find it interesting that Paul goes ON to talk about unity in the body…(the foot, wanting to be a hand…the ear wanting to be an eye…parts that seem insignificant, parts that seem more important, etc).  It’s like Paul knows that because the distribution of the GIFTS are NOT “even”, NOT the same to each believer…this MIGHT lead to TROUBLE!!! 

Let’s be honest…our flesh can be UGLY. We often want the things we don’t have, and play the comparison game. We can easily become jealous of each other…possibly feeling dissatisfied with the role God gave us or we might feel better than, or less than someone else in the body of Christ depending on our GIFTS…which is NOT the case. We are equal in Jesus.

All week long I have been listening to AMY WARD (teaches at YWAM in Kona, Hawaii). She is SUCH an amazing teacher and I listened to HOURS of preaching this past week.  I’d encourage you to go to www.amyward.org where she has notes on HS and his gifts with TONS of scripture references…more references than we have time for today. She divides the 9 gifts into 3 categories…3 that see, 3 that do and 3 that speak.

The 3 that SEE…a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom and discernment of spirits (the EYES of God, The HANDS of God and the MOUTH of God.

WORD of KNOWLEDGE

It is NOT normal knowledge that comes through study, reading, observation or experience

It is NOT about our intellectual ability or education

A word of knowledge is a message that Holy Spirit drops in your Spirit for someone.  It’ll be information that you couldn’t have otherwise known.  It helps people’s hearts be OPEN to the gospel or what God wants to do in their lives.

WORD OF WISDOM

This is closely related to a word of knowledge. It is a word from the Lord that reveals wisdom for our future actions and choices. It’s a supernatural gift. God lets us know how He wants us to deal with a specific situation as it arises in the future.

DISCERNING OF SPIRITS

What the GIFT IS NOT!!!

-it is NOT the gift of suspicion or speculation

-it is NOT fault finding or judging people

-it is NOT about looking for a demon behind every bush

The Bible clearly tells us that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (EPHESIANS 6:12).

The Bible also clearly states that we should show hospitality to strangers because we might just be entertaining an angel, without even knowing it! (Hebrews 13:2).

I have heard over and over the story of believers SEEING the angelic, and being COMFORTED by the angelic just before they die.

Angels are among us, serving their God-ordained purposes, while demons wander the earth with NO PURPOSE other than TO STEAL, KILL and DESTROY.  

WE ARE ALSO spiritual beings…and have the choice to live by the FLESH or by the SPIRIT!

The gift of discernment is when the  Holy Spirit gives you supernatural discernment, insight, and knowledge involving these spirits. Typically, this gift will be used to fully expose what is really going on and operating behind the scenes with someone or something.

There will be situations when you need supernatural insight into situations or activities and the Holy Spirit can give you that gift of discerning spirits.

Some believers see spiritual things, some have a “knowing” (they KNOW that they KNOW), some people sense, feel as they discern…and it’s a gift from the Holy Spirit. Rest assured that HS can give this to you when and if you need it!

It is possible to be a Biblical scholar and KNOW all the stories in the Bible, but NOT walk in the power of the HS. It was be sad if we didn’t walk into ALL that He has for us. 

It would be unfortunate to be SAVED, but not have the BOLDNESS to share your faith with co-workers, family and others that need to hear. 

The world is DYING for us to tell them the GOOD NEWS. That they can have HOPE, FREEDOM, that they are LOVED unconditionally. 

If you don’t have hunger…pray for the desire to pursue the Lord and to earnestly desire the GIFTS. Be honest with God, tell Him how you’re feeling…He already knows

If your heart isn’t full of LOVE for yourself and/or others…that comes first. LOVE has to be the highest goal…we need to pursue LOVE as we desire the GIFTS

If you know Jesus, but have never asked HS to fill you and use you for His purposes, today is a good day. We can pray with you if you want.

If you have experienced the Holy Spirit but want more, we can ask God for that too. I remember when I was just starting to learn about things of the Spirit and the Lord said to me “Why eat the crumbs UNDER the table when I have laid out a feast for you on the table?”  God has taken me to places that I would have never gone, shown me things that have blown my mind…and it’s NOT because of my knowledge, or my good works. I just said YES to MORE!!!  I just tried to OBEY when He nudged me and told me to do something.