Spiritual Gifted to Give: The Manifestation or Miraculous Gifts

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”

1 Cor 12:7-11 (NKJV)


The manifestation or miraculous gifts are somewhat different from the other gifts. Though all the spiritual gifts are special abilities given by the Spirit, these gifts are seen when an incredible anointing of the Spirit is present. 


Can these gifts be misused? Absolutely and they have been. So much so, that most Christians are very skeptical about these gifts and many do not believe that they are still evident in the Church today.


Can these gifts be faked? Absolutely and they have been. But that does not mean that these gifts are no longer for the body of Christ today. We as Christians need to use discernment and remember that all spiritual gifts should point to Christ and not another person or even the gift itself. All gifts should ultimately bring spiritual maturity and stability to the church body. They are meant to build up the body of Christ!


So, what are descriptions of these gifts?


Knowledge - This gift is seen when the Spirit supernaturally reveals facts about a person or situation. Knowledge can also be evident when a person is supernaturally empowered to memorize and recall Scripture. Cautions: The person with the gift of knowledge must always have love as a motive when speaking a word of knowledge to someone. The word of knowledge will not ever be in contradiction to the Word of God.


Wisdom - This gift is evident when a person gives specific direction on how to apply the Word of God or a word of knowledge.  Cautions: It is often easy to confuse one's own opinion or feelings on a situation with a word of wisdom. Make sure that the word of wisdom is always judged by the Word of God.


Faith - Of course, without faith is impossible to please God or even have relationship with Him. However, people with the gift of faith have an unshakable confidence that their lives are in the hands of God. They are great prayer warriors and often have a childlike faith. Cautions: One must not assume that they always have an accurate reading on the will of God. 


Healing - One with the gift of healing can either be the recipient of healing or an instrument of God's power to heal. This includes the healing of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual brokenness. Cautions: People with this gift must rely on God's method and timing of healing. They must be careful to remember that they are only distributors of healing, not the Source.


Miracles - This gift is evident when God decides to perform supernatural acts through an individual. Cautions: This gift should always bring glory to God and not an individual or the miracle itself. God is always the Source and the Giver!


Discernment - The person with this gift is able to distinguish the spirit behind a situation, a teaching, or a course of action. They are able to determine whether the spirit is God, human, or demonic. Cautions: People with this gift must be careful to not be impulsive in their judgement and to always make sure their intuition lines up with God's Word. Stay in tune with God!


Tongues/Interpretation - The gift of tongues is the special ability to speak in a language that is foreign to the speaker. The gift of interpretation is the ability to interpret a prayer spoken in tongues for the body of Christ. Cautions: Spiritual gifts are meant to edify and build up the body. People with these gifts need to be careful not to bring confusion and disorder.


Bottom line: If you have or operate in any of these gifts, be sure to stay in line with God's Word and in tune with Him! It is so important to understand the heart of God when you use any of these gifts. Finally, remember ALL spiritual gifts are meant to edify and strengthen the body of Christ.


So, what do you think? Have any of these gifts? Do you have any encouragement or cautions for others who exercise these gifts? Would love to hear your thoughts. P.S. Thanks for being gracious with me this week. Sorry this post is so late in the week.


Unwrapping the gifts of the Spirit,


Kelli

Spiritually Gifted to Give: The Ministry Gifts

Mercy. Serving. Encouragement. Giving. Helps. Leadership. Administration. These are the spiritual gifts of MINISTRY. These are the most common and most used gifts within the body of Christ.



Mercy:  People gifted with mercy are extremely sensitive to the needs of others. They have empathy, demonstrate compassion, and are often drawn to people who are hurting. Cautions: They can be overly burdened by the needs of the world. 


Serving:  People with the serving gift love to meet practical needs of the body of Christ. They will volunteer to help in any way... manual jobs, behind-the-scenes tasks. They love serving!  Cautions: Servants have a hard time saying "no." This can sometimes lead to them neglecting their own personal needs or the needs of their family.


Encouragement/Exhortation:  People with this gift build others up through their words and counsel. Sometimes it is necessary for them to speak hard truths to others as well.  These people are inspiring, motivating, and often make good counselors. Cautions:  They can get discouraged themselves when people do not follow through with their advice or when people repeatedly fail.


Giving:  Those with the gift of giving have an abundance of generosity and love contributing money or other resources to the body of Christ. They have a willing heart and inspire others to give as well. Cautions:  They need to be careful not to be judgmental of others who do not give as they do.


Helps:  People with the gift of helps are eager to "help" others be successful using their gifts. They are usually humble and compassionate. They like serving, but their great reward is the relationship they build with others. Cautions:  They must be careful not to neglect their own personal/family needs and guard against pride when others are recognized and they are not.


Leadership/Administration:  Both of these gifts grant people the skills to coordinate, motivate, and help others with great efficiency and impact. They give vision, guidance, and assistance. They are good communicators and organizers. Cautions:  They must be careful to always be servant leaders -- with a selfless, humble nature. They also need to be careful not to neglect their needs or the needs of their family.


What do you think? Has God gifted you with a ministry gift? Everyone usually has at least one of these gifts because we are all called to minister in some way. Obviously, one of the common threads of these gifts is the inability to say "no." Just remember every time we say yes to something, we say no to something else. With the ministry gifts, we often end up saying no to our own personal needs or the needs of our family. Have you struggled in this way? Please share. 


Unwrapping the ministry gifts,


Kelli

I don't want you to miss anything, so if you are just joining us in this series on spiritual gifts, you probably want to read the previous posts.

God Believes in You
Spiritual Gifts: Not a Secret
Spiritual Gifts: They Are Just That!
Spiritual Gifts: What They Are NOT (Includes an assessment)

Spiritual Gifted to Give: Equipping Gifts

Spiritually Gifted to Give: The Equipping Gifts

Thanks for allowing me a Thanksgiving break and detour last week. I so enjoyed writing my Thanksgiving blog post...just relishing in the goodness of God. If you missed it, you can read it here... The Familiar.

Now back to Spiritual Gifts...

I don't want you to miss anything, so if you are just joining us in this series on spiritual gifts, you probably want to read the previous posts.

God Believes in You


Spiritual Gifts: Not a Secret


Spiritual Gifts: They Are Just That!


Spiritual Gifts: What They Are NOT (Includes an assessment)

Although spiritual gifts assessments are not the all-in-all, they can be very directional in helping us discover our gifts. Another way to discover your gifts is to recognize where and how God uses you. Do you often find yourself ministering to the needy and helpless? You most likely have the spiritual gift of mercy/compassion. Do you volunteer or get asked to teach often in the church? Then teaching is probably one of your spiritual gifts. Do friends frequently call or text or email you asking for advice? Perhaps you have the gift of wisdom or encouragement/exhortation. See how that works? Start observing where and how God is using you and that is probably a sure sign of your spiritual giftedness.

Another way of recognizing your spiritual gifts is to gain a good knowledge of specific spiritual gifts. Today, let's discuss the gifts that equip others.

Apostle/Missionary:  The person with this gift has a heart for a particular geographical area and seeks to find ways to reach that area for Christ. Apostles have a burden for unreached people groups and are able to easily overcome cultural barriers. Cautions: Because missionaries often work on their own, they need some type of accountability. They also need to be aware of pride and neglect of personal spiritual health.

Evangelist: Though we all have been commissioned to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, people with the gift of evangelism "ooze out the gospel." (My words.) Seriously, these people can be at a store and before the clerk has rung up their last item, they are talking about Jesus. Though many preachers are evangelists, not all evangelists are preachers. In fact, many people with the gift of evangelism never have a public platform. Their passion is to see people come to faith in Christ and they develop a simple and practical way of sharing Jesus with others. Cautions: Evangelists need to realize that bringing people to Christ is just the beginning and that people need discipleship beyond that. Also, they need to remember that this gift is not superior to any other.

Pastor/Shepherding:  People with this gift spiritually feed, nurture, and protect a group of believers. Remember that you may have this gift and never pastor a church! Pastoring is often seen in small groups. It is the ability to love on people and help them grow in their relationship to Jesus. Cautions:  Do not neglect your own personal or family needs because you are bearing so many others' burdens. Be aware of pride because sometimes those you shepherd can put you on a pedestal.

Prophet: Yes, this gift is still used today!  How? People with the gift of prophecy are able to assess a situation and speak the truth of God's Word into that situation. They are serious listeners to the voice of God and are not timid about sharing what they hear. Prophets defend God's Word and are deeply moved by sin or apathy in the body of Christ. Cautions: People with the gift of prophecy MUST be in God's Word to know the truth of God's Word! They must not lean on their own understanding. They must guard against pride and condemnation of others.

Teacher:  Teachers are able to effectively communicate truth and knowledge of God's Word to others. As a result, students are able to make life application with that knowledge. Teachers love researching God's Word and often enjoy word studies, historical searches, and cross-referencing. They are able to bring simplicity to a difficult subject. Cautions: Teachers must rely on the spiritual anointing of God instead of their natural ability to teach. Teachers need to be responsible and accountable for what they teach.


Do you have any of these equipping gifts? Are you already using those gifts to glorify God and build the body of Christ? Or maybe you need help identifying these gifts in yourself? I would love to hear from all of you! Please comment to let me know that this series is helpful. Thanks!


P.S. If you do not follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I would love to connect with you there...

Unwrapping the equipping gifts,


Kelli

Spiritual Gifts: What They are NOT

Now we know what spiritual gifts are and why we have them. It is also important to understand what they are NOT.

• Spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talents. Having a talent means you can do something well. Having a spiritual gift means you have been given a special ability (anointing) to do something well because of the power of the Holy Spirit within you. God created us with certain natural abilities and then spiritually gifted us with certain gifts. Can they overlap? Certainly.  Sometimes our spiritual gifts are spiritual "extensions" of a natural talent. On the other hand, our spiritual gifts can sometimes provide special abilities where we lack naturally. Either way, we recognize that our God is incredibly detailed and knows in advance what to give us naturally or SUPERnaturally so that we can do what He has called us to do.
• Spiritual gifts do not allow us to make excuses for not fulfilling our roles as Christians. For example, just because we do not have the gift of evangelism doesn't mean we don't continue to share the love of Jesus Christ with others. And just because we don't have the spiritual gift of mercy doesn't mean that we have an excuse to be unkind or negligent.
• My spiritual gifts are not for bragging rights. Every believer has been given spiritual gifts. Even though some gifts are more visible than others, there is no gift that is superior. There is also not a gift that is inferior. All our gifts are necessary in the body of Christ for it to function as God intended.
• My spiritual gifts are not to be used without having love as a motive. Any other motive is selfish, and my gift is no longer being used in the power of the Holy Spirit.  LOVE is imperative. 

So, what do you think? Has this been helpful? I hope so.  And if you need to take a spiritual gift assessment to help you discover your gifts, I have included a link below to another site where you can either complete the assessment online or download it. Remember, assessments are only to be used as directional tools. If you feel you have a gift in which you do not score highly on the test, feel free to still include it as one of your gifts. You will notice that the inventory that I am linking to is not exhaustive and does not include all of the gifts. Again, this is just for discovery and directional purposes. And this inventory is free!  There are others online and in stores that you can pay to take. Even still, no assessment is perfect or complete. We must rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the affirmation of others to truly know what our gifts are.

FREE SPIRITUAL GIFT INVENTORY FROM SPREADING LIGHT.COM

Feel free to comment with any questions and I will get back with you. I LOVE YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS and will answer them by responding in the comments or in another blog post.

Have a great weekend. Don't forget to be thankful for the gifts you have!

Unwrapping the gifts - the spiritual ones,

Kelli

Spiritual Gifts: They are just that!

If you are just joining this blog series, you might want to go back and read God Believes in You and Spiritual Gifts: Not a Secret. 

Spiritual gifts are just that. GIFTS. You cannot earn them, work for them, stand in line for them, or volunteer for them. They are GIFTS and they are given to each of us who follow Christ. And I always say, if you don't like the gifts you are given, well, you can take that up with the Holy Spirit! 

"All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each person, just as He determines." 1 Corinthians 12:11

I don't believe the Holy Spirit is selfish about them, either. He gives them freely and graciously! Most people who have gone through my classes have at least three gifts that are evident to them. I find that many more gifts continue to surface as a person grows in his/her relationship with God and seeks to serve Him in many ways. In other words, sometimes we are not aware of gifts until we have had opportunities to use and develop certain gifts. And then there are times that God equips us with gifts necessary for a specific ministry situation, even if they are not our primary set of gifts.

So why do we even have spiritual gifts?

• Our use and development of our spiritual gifts glorify God. People see God and not us...He is made known. 
• Our spiritual gifts help other people when we use them as God intended. For example, when we use the gift of teaching, we are helping others understand the Word of God. Those with the  gift of mercy/compassion see people in need and reach out to help them. 
• The body of Christ (the Church - individual churches and the CHURCH as a whole) is strengthened and built up when we identify and develop our spiritual gifts. Similar to our physical bodies, when the parts of the body of Christ function and thrive, the body is healthy, stable, and productive. 

I know that many of you are anxious to complete an assessment. But I feel it necessary to lay a strong foundation about spiritual gifts in general before we start getting specific.

Coming Thursday: What Spiritual Gifts are Not.  ( And hopefully, the assessment)

So, tell me. Do you know what your gifts are? Have you ever been frustrated with the gifts you have been given? Are you using your gifts to build up the body of Christ? Please comment!

Unwrapping the gifts - the "spiritual" ones,

Kelli

Linking up with SDG...if you have never visited this blog, you need to.  Jen is a terrific writer and loves the Lord!

Spiritual Gifts: Not a Secret

I am constantly amazed at the number of Christians who are not aware of their spiritual giftedness. It motivates me, actually. I want to stand on the street corner, write a blog (ha!), tweet, whatever to educate believers about their spiritual gifts. They are not meant to be a secret!

Flikr

I am guessing there are a couple of reasons why this lack of knowledge exists:
1. Never thought about it
2. Not necessary to think about it
3. If I don't know my spiritual gifts, I don't have to use them.


Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12: 1, "Now about spiritual gifts, I do not want you to be ignorant." Thanks for cutting to the chase, Paul. In other words, Corinthian church, you are ignorant about them! Not only were they not informed about their individual gifts, but they had taken it on themselves to assign superiority to certain gifts. 


Ok, so what about you? Do you know YOUR spiritual gifts? If you do know them, are you using them? Developing them? Or are you taking the easy way out, preferring not to know them so that you are free not to use them?


Friends, spiritual gifts give us the opportunity to glorify God, serve others, and build up the Body of Christ.  And they remind us that we have a special place of service within the Kingdom. 


There is no one else who can do what God has called you to do like you do it. That's why He called you.


Next week I will provide an assessment for you folks that are not sure what your gifts are.  And then we will start looking at the gift descriptions.


In the mean time, PRAY that God would reveal how He has spiritually gifted you. ASK others in your life where they see fruit, and you will often find your gifts. 
So, what comments or questions do you have that we can cover in weeks to come?


Unwrapping the spiritual gifts,


Kelli