Part 2 – God-Given Gifts, Have We Accepted Them?

Christians are given gifts by God.  They are to be used for Him, His Glory, and His Plan.  The questions I have are: 1) what are the gifts?  2) How do you know what gifts you have? 3) How do we use them?

Let’s dive in the scriptures and see what the Word of God says about the gifts of God.  Romans 12:3 says “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.”  We are told we individually are given a measure of faith, so then Faith is a gift.

Ephesians 4:11-16 

“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

We also see in Romans 12:6-8:

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-11  “4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.  9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”

As an active, Holy Spirit filled Christian what are these gifts supposed to look like when equipped?  Let us start off with the gift of faith, as we read we are each given a particular measure of faith.  Faith what is it and how do we activate it? The definition of faith is this:
“complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” We have faith our chairs will hold us up, we have faith our car will get us where we are going, we have faith our employer will pay us on time. We actually use faith more than we realize now faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is completely different.  That is faith in the unseen, believing God will do what He promises.  Many of us struggle with this which is understandable for if our belief is based on our measure of faith given so it’s no wonder there are so many critics.  I guess that is why those gifted with a higher measure of faith; much more is required.  The bible says to love believing in all things. Our faith is to be that of optimism, not pessimism one that is pessimistic is not one of faith, God is in control of all things, every area of our lives, He knows every hair on our head, He formed us in our mother’s womb, and don’t you think He is our provider and caretaker? It’s time to put your faith into action and see God work, for we all are given a measure of Faith so let act like it.

Now we will move on to the gifts given to the church, the 5 fold gifts:

Apostleship – This is different than the office of Apostle.  This was only given to a number of individuals by Jesus, including the 12 disciples (Mark 3:13-14) “Afterward Jesus went up on a mountain and called out the ones he wanted to go with him. And they came to him. ¹⁴ Then he appointed twelve of them and called them his apostles.” And Paul (Romans 1:1) “this letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.”  The Apostles had specific requirements to meet the title like being an eyewitness of Jesus, His ministry, resurrection, and given authority to start the church, write scriptures, perform miracles, etc.

That ship has sailed there will be no more of that type of Apostle, one chosen by Jesus.  But the gift of apostleship continues in a different sense.  (Ephesians 4:11-16) ^“Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ¹² Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. ¹³ This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. ¹⁵ Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.¹⁶ He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

Today, the mission for those with the gift of apostleship is to plant new ministries and churches, go into places where the Gospel is not preached, reach across cultures to establish churches in challenging environments, raise up and develop leaders, call out and lead pastors and shepherds, and much more.  They often have many different gifts that allow them to fill the ministry.  These are leaders of leaders and ministers of ministers.  They are influencers.  They are typically entrepreneurial and are able to take risks and perform difficult tasks, or missionary church planters.  They can run Christian schools, or be institutional leaders.  Leaders of multiple ministries or churches often have the gift apostleship.

Prophet – A prophet will be able to prophesize, bring divine inspiration, or speak for God.  God chooses these people to bring forth His word, to lead people, guide people, and increase people’s faith etc.

Evangelist – The commitment to or act of public preaching of the gospel with the intention of spreading the message of the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Pastors – An ordained leader of a Christian organization or congregation.  Pastors give advice and counsel to the people of the community.  They feed the people and protect them like a shepherd protects his flock.  They hear from God and are led daily.  They are spiritual overseers and caretakers of the flock.  They love on them and look after them, protecting and teaching them.

Teacher – A teacher teaches.  The pastor can also teach.  They can give a message that was given to them by God.  There are those who teach in a servant’s way, Sunday school, Children’s Ministry, evangelists, ministers, bishops, and elders.  There are so many areas of teaching.

Serving – One who serves others and expect nothing in return. There are many serving positions in the church. In the mission field in so many capacities you can serve. It’s in your heart to serve.

Christ is our supreme example of a servant.  He came to serve in, not to be served.  A servant has to die to themselves and think about others needs before their own.  To be a true servant, you must die to self and become a slave to Christ.

Exhortation – An address or communication emphatically urging someone to do something, encourager, entice someone, strongly encourage or persuade someone to do something.

Giving – to give, to give up, offering something to someone or someplace, sharing, feeding someone, blessing someone with something.   Your heart would be giving.  You can give materials, money, advice, love, or your time.

Leadership – one who leads, can entice people, can shepherd or pastor, has influence over congregations, teams, groups, organizations, overseer

Mercy – compassion, forgiveness shown towards someone, to love someone who doesn’t deserve it, love your enemies, do good to those who want to harm you, forgive when there is one who is guilty.  Christ gives mercy continually to His children.

Wisdom – Godly wisdom is pure.  False wisdom is characterized by bitter envy and selfish ambition.  Godly wisdom is characterized by purity of motive.

Godly wisdom is peaceable.  Selfish ambition is a constant war, but God’s wisdom can bring truth and clarity when there is chaos.

Godly wisdom is gentle.  You must have strength and power, but you have to have them under control, so when you have the opportunity to hurt someone you won’t do it.

Godly wisdom is open to reason.  To be reasonable means to be willing to listen and willing to learn.  To be reasonable is to be humble and teachable.

Godly wisdom is full of mercy – To forgive those who wrong us, but also being willing to help them.

Godly wisdom is full of good fruit.  You cannot manufacture the fruit of the spirit.  True spiritual maturity happens from the inside out for those who are indwelt with the spirit of God and are seeking His wisdom moment by moment.

Godly wisdom is the kind of wisdom that comes from the very heart of God, who is all wise.

Godly wisdom is impartial.  Those who live by worldly wisdom cannot be impartial because they are always trying to please someone, but those who live by God’s wisdom are consistent, single-minded, and authentic.

Godly wisdom is sincere.  A sincere person is genuine, without hypocrisy, and wears no masks.

Godly wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing, full of mercy, produces good fruit, is impartial, and is sincere.

When these fruits are blossoming in your life that is how you know the word of God is taking root.

James 3:17 “But the wisdom of God is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere.

Wisdom is pure.  It shows purity of motive.  It’s peaceable, it brings truth and clarity.  It is gentle.  It gives you strength and power that is under control.  It allows you to reason.  You are willing to listen and willing to learn.  It makes you humble and teachable.  It fills you with mercy.  You can forgive those who wronged you and help those same people, your fruit is good.  You are impartial, your consistent, and authentic.  You are sincere, genuine, without hypocrisy, and you wear no mask.

If this is you, then you are wise and filled with godly wisdom.

Godly Knowledge is clear, it leads.  It clears the cobwebs of doubt and confusion.

The wrong or worldly knowledge can be dangerous.  It can misdirect, it can confuse.  It is puffed up and it is prideful.  It is its own god.  It can lead people away from God.  It causes wars.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” Proverbs 1:7

1 Corinthians 3:19 – For the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight.  As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”

1 Corinthians 1:25 –  For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God stronger than human strength.

James 3:15 – The wisdom of the world is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, and demonic

…The Gift of Distinguishing between spirits…

2 spirits – Godly Spirit or Demonic/Evil Spirit

Godly Spirit is recognizable for the fruits of the spirit or evident.

How do you distinguish between Spirits?  For one, you have to have that gift.  There are 2 spirits.  One is from God and one is of the devil.

Ephesians 6:12 “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. “

The devil is an invisible spirit, a ruler with an army so vast you can’t comprehend.  Satan literally has thousands upon thousands of demon spirits allotted for every human on earth.  Jesus cast out legions.  That is 2000 demons from a man on shore and cast them into a heard of swine.  These demons are real.  They bring: harm, hurt, pain, suffering, depression, sickness, disease, destruction, calamity, injury, mental conditions, and cancer.  They bring confusion, stress, anger, hostility, greed, lust, drugs, alcoholism, deception, rage, and lawlessness.  These demons bring every single kind of godliness known to man.  These spirits can get you to walk away from God, commit adultery, blasphemy, they can bring divorce, separation, and mostly they bring sin into your life to separate you from God.  These evil spirits are very proficient at what they do.  They use entertainment, sports, to draw people into acceptable sinful lifestyles, public school, private schools are all playgrounds for the demons.  They make what is bad good.  They make sin acceptable.  They make godliness into godlessness and then normalize it.

People are lost and searching, confused and displaced and this is child’s play for these evil spirits.  If you are not filled to the brim with the living Word of God, you too will be misled and misdirected on these spirits.

As for me, I am a demon hunter.  I am crowned with apostleship and given the full armor of God, carrying my shield of faith and my sword which is the Word of God, slaying what steps in my path.

Most Christians get too complacent.  They get so confident, that they are living right that they don’t even realize how close to danger they really are.

Given the gift of discernment can place you in a lonely place, so sometimes I feel because you have this ability to SEE, and to see clearly…

You have the ability to discern.  You can look at one’s life and see the spirits working, discerning which has dominion over one’s life and seeing this coupled with the gift of spiritual wisdom and knowledge places you in a tight spot.  It’s a place like Paul’s life.  Always seeing, always discerning, always knowing, and always wanting to do the Will of the Father.  So now go forward, recognize your God-given gifts and put them to use so when God looks down on you He will have a big, bright smile.