The gifts of the Spirit are exactly what they say they are – they are gifts from God to His Church and are energized or empowered within us by the Holy Spirit.
Their primary function is to build up and
edify the Church and to bring Godly guidance and counsel to both individuals
and groups to help them in their Christian walk in fulfilling their Godly
destiny in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NLT)
Let love be your highest goal! But you should
also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to
prophesy.
From scripture, let’s identify what the
spiritual gifts are:
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NIV)
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the
Spirit is given for the common good. 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, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work
of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as
he determines.
A word of wisdom
The ability to receive from God a word of
wisdom of what to do about a particular situation once you know the facts
concerning that situation.
A word of knowledge
The ability to receive from God a word of knowledge
that will reveal facts of a situation in an individual’s or a group’s situation
about which it would be humanly impossible for them to know anything about.
Faith
The ability to believe in God for the seemingly
impossible to come to pass and to also pass on to others the same belief and
faith, i.e. impart and inspire faith in the hearts of others.
Gifts of
healing
The ability to impart the healing virtue of
Christ to those who believe and have faith in God to receive their healing.
Miraculous
powers
The ability to perform acts that are contrary
to or beyond the realm of the laws of the natural and common understanding.
Prophecy
The ability to deliver in your own language a
message from God to a person or group of people that is always for their edification,
exhortation, instruction and comfort or correction.
Distinguishing
between spirits
The ability, with revelation from God through
the Holy Spirit, to detect the presence of evil spirits (demons) and to
identity the type of spirit.
Speaking
in different kinds of tongues
The
ability to speak in languages that you do not understand, and to speak at your
own will. This gift can manifest in two forms:
i.
In
a language known on earth.
ii. In a language spoken by angels.
1 Corinthians 13:1a (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues (languages) of
men or of angels, but do not have love,
i.
In a language known on earth
This was evidenced on the day of
Pentecost
Acts
2:4-8 (NIV)
4 All of them were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled
them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem
God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this
sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own
language being
spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they
asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each
of us hears them in our native language?
i.
In a language spoken by angels (of the Spirit)
This is a language that is available
to all believers as bestowed by the Holy Spirit. It is a language all of our
own (each person’s spirit language sounds different to another’s although some
sound similar) that connects you to God through the Holy Spirit and is the
language we use when we are praying in the Spirit and do not know what to pray. Praying in tongues is for
one’s personal edification, it edifies your own spirit.
Romans 8:26 (NLT)
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit
prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows
all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in
harmony with God’s own will.
1 Corinthians 14:4 (NLT)
A person who speaks in tongues is
strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the
entire church.
Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on
praying for all the Lord's people.
The
interpretation of tongues
The ability to interpret in the language of
your understanding the sum and substance of what has been spoken in an unknown
tongue – usually somebody else’s tongue but can be your own tongue as well.
The gifts of the Spirit operate effectively in and through us when our sole motivation is the agape love of God. Loving others unconditionally as He loves us.
TO JESUS BELONGS ALL GLORY, HONOUR AND PRAISE.
JESUS THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES
Part 2 will be published next week.TO JESUS BELONGS ALL GLORY, HONOUR AND PRAISE.
JESUS THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES
An extract from my book: Fan Into Flame: Life in the Spirit available on Paperback:
Thank you for sharing
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