Spiritual Gifts
One of the most exciting privileges God gives us as believers is the opportunity to bring the supernatural to the world around us. Whether it’s a healing, a miracle, an insight into a situation or even a glimpse into something that is yet to occur, supernatural manifestations are a stamp of divine authorship. They are irrefutable demonstrations that Christianity is not just a set of morals codes, a philosophical ideology or even a religion; it is a connection with a supernatural Being who is the author of life in the Universe. The supernatural brings an awareness of the presence of God into our every day lives.
In the twelfth to fourteenth chapters of 1 Corinthians, there are a set of 9 supernatural manifestations listed and discussed. They are known as Spiritual Gifts and they are divinely powerful to destroy anything that the devil could possibly throw at us. Sadly, however, most Christians rarely (if ever) experience moving in the Spiritual Gifts. In fact, for most believers, other than attending church, their lives don’t really differ from their unchurched family, friends, neighbours and work associates. While they live in relationship with a supernatural being, their lives are void of the supernatural and the gifts of the Spirit. Why is this and how can we change it?
There are two major reasons why people fail to experience the supernatural gifts of the Spirit :
- Ignorance of what they have and
- A lack of desire to flow in them.
Most Christians are not even aware of what the Gifts of the Spirit are let alone know how they operate. Most are waiting for God to do something, to enable them to flow in the Gifts Of the Spirit. They believe it’s all up to God and unless He does something then there’s nothing we can do. And so they sit idly by day after day, week after week, month after month and even year after year; waiting for God to hit them with the ‘anointing’ or force them to do something extraordinary. Others claim that we shouldn’t say things like ‘I have a spiritual gift’ because that can lead to pride. Many of these insist that it’s wrong to claim that you possess spiritual gifts because they all belong to God. According to these people, it would be wrong to claim to have the gift of healing for example because only God can heal.
Such thinking brings confusion and powerlessness into believers’ lives. The scriptures clearly show that God has given every believer at least one spiritual gift plus the capacity to flow in every one of them from time to time (Rom 12:6; 1 Cor 12:7, 31; 1 Pet 4:10). But if you don’t know this then you’ll be waiting for God to do something when in reality God is waiting for you to stir up the gift within you and move in the gifts of the Spirit (2 Tim 1:6).
It’s not prideful to admit we have certain gifts; the gifts come from God. No amount of study, physical training or self-discipline will bring the gifts into our lives. They come from God and so we can’t really take credit for them but we can give God glory for them. Spiritual Gifts don’t change who we are. Balaam’s donkey was used of God to speak to Balaam but it didn’t transform the donkey into an angel or even into a human (Num 22:22-34). It was a donkey before it spoke to Balaam, it was a donkey while it spoke to Balaam and it remained a donkey after the incident was done and dusted. In the same way, flowing in the gifts of the Spirit don’t change who we are; if we were a donkey before we exercised a spiritual gift then we’ll remain a donkey after we flow in them!
Therefore, there’s no need to ‘hide’ what gifts we have; they all come from God and there’s no way we can flow in any of them without His help. It’s not a pride issue. In fact, in my own experience, the more I experience flowing in the Gifts of the Spirit, the more I’m humbled that in myself I am not qualified to do this.
Furthermore, while it’s true that only God can heal, it’s also true that He puts this power in earthen vessels. Jesus commanded His disciples to ‘heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and raise the dead’. He didn’t tell them to ask God to do this; He told them to do it (Matt 10:8)
The free audio files below go into much more detail identifying what the gifts of the spirit are, how they operate and how we can flow in them.
Purpose and Significance of Spiritual Gifts
Revelation Gifts I
Revelation Gifts II
Revelation Gifts III
Power Gifts
Gifts of Faith & Prophecy
Utterance Gifts
How to flow in the Gifts
Recorded at Transformers Christian Church