THE CALLING. ENTRY 45. Gifts and fruits, what is in your basket? Do you have gifts or do you bear fruit? If so, do you know what they are? This teaching requires more than one Entry to address properly. Next Entry will focus on remaining Spiritual Gifts. 1 Corinthians 12 & 13 New International Version (NIV) Concerning Spiritual Gifts 12 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 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,[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. Unity and Diversity in the Body 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians 13 New International Version (NIV) 13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit Knowledge: The Gift of Knowledge is simply the Holy Spirit transmitting His specific knowledge to you on something that you would have no ability or means to be able to know about with your own limited intelligence and knowledge levels. It is supernatural knowledge and insight being given directly to you by the Holy Spirit Himself, not by your own mind or your own intelligence levels. Wisdom: There are literally an infinite number of possibilities where you will need God’s wisdom to get you safely though the problem or dilemma you are now having to face. Since our own human intelligence is so imperfect and so limited in its ability to apply real wisdom to handle and solve some of life’s real tough problems, we all need the wisdom of God flowing through our lives on a regular basis so we can handle and overcome many of life’s adversities that can get thrown our way at any time. Prophecy: This next gift may be the greatest of the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit. The reason I say this is because the apostle Paul, purposely singles out this gift when telling you to seek after the spiritual gifts. He says to “desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. The gift of prophecy is when you get a direct Word from the Lord to usually give to someone else. And when I say a direct word, I mean the message from the Lord that will be given to you will literally be word for word. Faith: This next gift is something that comes from the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that we are saved by “faith” through grace. And then over the course of our walk with the Lord, our faith will continue to grow to higher levels as we continue to draw closer to the Lord in our personal relationship with Him and increase our knowledge levels about Him through the study of Scripture. Healing: What this means is that at anytime the Holy Spirit can manifest this special gift through any believer so He can then heal someone of any kind of disease, illness, or sickness. Not only can the Holy Spirit directly heal you with your own personal prayers to the Lord, but He can also use you as an anointed vessel to manifest His healing power through to help heal someone else – if you will only have the courage to speak out what He wants you to say to that person, and then lay hands on that person for the healing power to be transmitted into their body to the affected body part that will need the healing. Working of Miracles: This next gift from the Holy Spirit is where you can get into some real serious supernatural activity from Him. Some of the different Bible Dictionaries describe the word miracle as the following: • An intervention in the natural universe by God • A phenomena that transcends natural laws • A divine act by which God reveals Himself to people If you study the Bible very carefully from start to finish, it is literally one miracle after another with both God the Father and Jesus Christ. Our God is a miracle-working God. The Bible says that God does not change, and if both Him and Jesus were constantly doing miracles in both the Old Testament and New Testament, then God is still performing miracles, even in the jaded and skeptical times that we are now currently living in. Believe. For more information on my story/spiritual journey and this ministry, go to https://facebook/BarefootMA. If you like this Facebook Page, please click on “Like” and pass on the page hyperlink to family and friends. I believe that there is something there that every individual can relate to.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:11:02 +0000