GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
Now about the spiritual gifts (the special endowments
of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to
be misinformed.
I Corinthians 12:1 AMP
There are supernatural abilities in the spiritual realm, better known as “gifts”.
It’s truly impossible to undertake a task if one doesn’t have the right tools or equipment. The most important thing to know is that since God is supernatural, He executes His plans through His supernatural nature in the middle of a situation…that’s where gifts come in.
In Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy, chapter 2, verse 3-6; He makes a reference of this special mission and he compares it to a soldier, athlete and a farmer – two of which are peak performance occupations and the other one requires patience. If we are soldiers, we need the right equipment. According to 2 Co. 10:4 the weapons of our warfare are not physical. So if they are not physical, obviously they are spiritual, however the writer goes on and translates them as “ but they are mighty for the destruction of strongholds.”
Here is a brief summary of the supernatural equipment registered in the Bible….
(I Corinthians 12:8-11)
GIFTS OF INSPIRATION
• Prophecy. Seeing beyond the norm or receiving a message.
You are a God of seeing, for she said, Have I [not] even here [in the wilderness] looked upon Him Who sees me [and lived]? Or have I here also seen [the future purposes or designs of] Him Who sees me? Gen. 16:13b AMP.
The gift of seer is part of the prophetic gift.
Prophecy is the gift where you have access to the past, present and future beyond the obvious information regarding a person or situation. Remember that the prophet, or facilitator of the gifts, lives connected to eternity, where there is no time and there is access to all the information.
This gift also deals with delivering divine oracles. So it could be operating in both the seen and spoken. It could be a seen message or a message in which the interpreter recites the given sentences.
• Tongues (the language of heaven).
There are various kinds of tongues. The main purpose of this spiritual endowment is for the individual to be recharged with energy. Also it boosts the facilitator of it, bringing sharpness and ability to the rest of the gifts. Normally it brings direction if needed. The Apostle Paul also speaks of “angelical tongues”, which means that you can also dispatch angels.
However there is another kind of tongues which happens when heaven is unleashing a message here on earth. The message is delivered first in the form of tongues and then it’s interpreted. Which brings us to our next point.
• Tongue Interpretation.
This is where we decipher the message that was first delivered in tongues. It’s important to know that this is not a translation. Its more like when tongues are heard and you start receiving the sentences in your spirit in earthly language. The question then is how much the Spirit of Truth abides in you in order to give you the truth about the message given in tongues. It is more like decrypting it or deciphering it, knowing in your heart the meaning of the message. Tongues + Tongue Interpretation = Prophecy.
GIFTS OF POWER
• Faith
This is practically the gasoline and take off platform for all the gifts. The Pivotal base specially of the gifts of power, such as healing and miracles. Faith has to do with hearing the instruction of God and acting upon it even if you don’t have yet all the pieces to the puzzle. Always remember, you don’t need to understand in order to obey, but once you obey you will start to receive understanding.
This gift is directly connected to obedience. It is fueled by placing the Word of God in our system and acting upon it. It helps us to get to the “next” level that the Spirit has for us.
• Healing
“And behold, a woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment;” And Jesus, recognizing in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around immediately in the crowd and said, Who touched My clothes?” (Matt. 9:20 / Mk. 5:30).
Healing virtue is available for the full body of Christ, the church. Death or sickness should not be the norm. Surprisingly, some people who suffer with sickness, survive it by healing virtue and they often, develop this gift. Through the creative power, you can impart this “virtue” to others. The previous example is only one avenue of acquiring this gift.
• Miracle making
It includes people resurrected (Acts 20:10), blind men healed (Acts 13:11), finding money (Matt. 17:27), miraculous fishing (Jn. 21:6), etc. Closely linked to operations of the Spirit. Remember that there are gifts, services and operation of the Spirit – 2 Co 12:4-6. Some of the greater miracles recorded are blinding people on a massive scale, 2 Kings 6:18, causing objects to float 2 Kings 6:6,etc. The base foundation of this gift is faith.
GIFTS OF REVELATION
• Discernment of spirits.
The Greek word “anakrino” or discernment means to inquire, to investigate, to analyze, to search out. As one keeps developing spiritual mastery, it’s important to develop discernment of spirits. The first Spirit you discern is His Spirit and His intention. Having developed this sensitivity while discerning the intentions and nature of the Spirit of Truth, one is able to discern when there is opposition or an unclean spirit prowling around.
This gift is developed as it is used and it operates along with spirit of revelation (Apokalupsis). It works as a spiritual “metal detector” in the spiritual world.
• Word of wisdom
It is said there was a prophet whose words never fell to ground. His name was Samuel. One of the gifts in which he operated the strongest was “word of wisdom”. This gift consist of listening to your heart in order to hear the voice of heaven. Instead of doing your own will or applying your own words, you follow the lead of heaven and as He pours it over your heart, you deliver it. That’s when the word of wisdom is generated. It’s a directive gift that applies wisdom of heaven to the daily situations.
• Word of Knowledge
This has to do with information veiled to the human knowledge. It is only though the divine that we can shed light upon the matter. It operates based on spirit of revelation. This gift helps specially with deliverance, when one needs to know what happened in previous generations, that’s when the gift of knowledge comes in handy. It is exercised by intercession and practice.
As long as you use these gifts in order to build the Kingdom and in alignment with the Spirit, the Lord will give you no limits as far as how much you can develop them.
Spiritual Gifts are learned, acquired and imparted.
As in any discipline, they must be trained, practiced and developed in order to master them, until they are fully grown and conquered by the facilitator
But solid food is for full-grown men, for
those whose senses and mental faculties are
trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish
between what is morally good and noble and what
is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
Hebrews 5:14 AMP
When we train people as Kingdom Agents, one of the requirem is for them to be able to use their gifts at any moment and in any situation. As long as the Spirit of Truth is actively flowing through you, there is nothing that can stop you from flowing in those gifts.
The more you make the right use of the gift, the more it will increase and be strengthened within you. Gifts are propelled and subject to the Spirit. But if the Spirit is actively and continually living through you, you can access these gifts whenever you need them.
Remember this, gifts are a tool through which we express an invisible yet powerful Kingdom in the visible world.
You will find further information about gifts ~ how to train them and develop them in the other sections of the web-site. The main thing to understand is that these gifts are for the Body of Christ, and therefore they are accessible to anyone who wants them.
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called
his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
To one he gave five talents [probably about $5,000], to
another two, to another one—to each in proportion
to his own personal ability. Then he departed and left
the country.
Matthew 25:14-15 NIV/AMP