The Gifts of the Spirit

Love, joy, and peace is being produced in your life as you abide in the Lord.  His power through you is displayed in your gifts.

“God wants gifts & fruits working together in our lives.” – Pastor Billy R. Johnson.

In the scripture, Paul uses the phrase spiritual gifts.  He does not want the church to be ignorant or uninformed about spiritual gifts. These gifts exist; we must know how they operate and know their purpose.  They are manifestations of the spirit to profit all.

There are 9 gifts listed in the scripture. (I Corinthians 12:7)

They are categorized into 3 different areas.

• Gifts that Reveal Something – the word of wisdom, knowledge & discerning of spirit.
• Gifts that DO Something – the gift of faith, healing & workings of miracles.
• Gifts that SAY Something – prophecy, tongues & interpretation of tongues.

 

 

GIFTS THAT REVEAL SOMETHING

 

The Word of Wisdom

Something given by the spirit supernaturally exposing the mind, purpose & way of God. ACTS 27:9 gives an example of the word of wisdom at work.

Paul warned the people not to sail. This is an example of God giving Paul a word of wisdom. That supernatural insight is God revealing something to us. It is the word of wisdom which is the gift at work.

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A Word of Knowledge

A supernatural revelation of information pertaining to a person, group or situation and it is not known by natural means. The Holy Spirit can give you inside information that is going to be helpful to us. A biblical example is in ACTS 5:1 regarding Ananias being deceitful about a financial transaction. Peter did not know naturally that Ananias was lying, or withheld information. But, God revealed to Peter what was going on, and Peter revealed that knowledge to Ananias. God will give us inside information if we take the time to listen, and He is not limited to revealing information.  He will reveal information inside and outside the walls of the sanctuary.

 

Discerning of Spirits

The ability to discern the spirit world and detect the true source of something. The spirit world meaning – opening our spiritual eyes. An example of this is in ACTS 16:16 – a girl who was said to have a demon spirit, was saying the right thing, but it was coming from the wrong spirit. It is the Holy Spirit giving knowledge of the source.

In closing, God wants us to know there are gifts available to us. As we yield, the Holy Spirit will allow the gifts to flow through us.  This can be gained by “denoisifying” your life.  In other words, the noise of voices, chatter, television and other stimulants does not allow us to hear the Holy Spirit.  Take the assignment of being still or silent for 10 minutes. Listen to what you hear and allow the Holy Spirit to speak, make sense of things and clarify the clutter.