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Hebrews 2:4 NLT

[4] And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

            As we begin looking at these gifts, let’s be sure we understand where and why they originate.  The Holy Spirit of God places these gifts in the lives of believers for the purpose of confirming the message that Jesus is Messiah.  The Holy Spirit decides who receives the gifts and which gifts will be placed in their lives.  He sends these gifts to believers, along with signs, wonders and miracles, in order to let people know Jesus really is the Redeemer of Mankind and will return one day as the eternal King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

            We may seek God and ask Him to give us some spiritual gift, but the answer to that prayer is totally up to the Holy Spirit.  We cannot earn a spiritual gift any more than we can earn salvation or the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  God the Holy Spirit is the source of the gifts, and He chooses who gets what. 

            With this in mind, let’s look at Ephesians 4:7 NLT. [7] However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.  Each and every believer has been given a gift because of the generosity of Jesus.  Every single follower of Christ has been anointed to be able to bring glory to Christ through use of the gift given by the Holy Spirit. 

            The devil does not want you to realize this fact.  Satan does not want you to use your gift.  He does everything he can to get you to believe you are not able to do anything of any great importance for God’s kingdom.  He accuses you of being unimportant, and he tries to get you to think your efforts are all in vain.  He does not want you to ever consider that you matter as part of the overall church and especially as a part of this local assembly of disciples of Jesus.

            Here’s why he opposes your using your gift—Ephesians 4:16 NLT. [16] He (Jesus) 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.  The devil knows that when you put your gift into practice the body of Christ grows stronger spiritually.  Your gift helps the local body become healthier spiritually.   A spiritually healthy body of Christ is empowered with the love of God.  Your using your gift to bring glory to Jesus is a defeat to the devil and a victory to Jesus.  This is why satan does not want you to discover you have been given spiritual gifts from God.

            Look at 1 Peter 4:10 NLT. [10] God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.   Peter is admonishing other disciples of Jesus to use their gifts to serve one another.  We are to also use our gifts to build up other believers.  We are to use our gifts so others can be encouraged in their faith.  We use our gifts so others can benefit from the power, presence, protection and promises of Christ for the members of His family. 

            The gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit are to be used for the benefit of other followers of Jesus.  They’re not for us.  They’re for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

            Allow me to offer a word of caution here.  When a disciple of Jesus realizes he or she has been given a gift from the Holy Spirit, that is a defeat for the devil.  But, like with everything we receive from God, satan then tries to distort our thinking about the gift.  He tries to get you to focus on having the gift and what it can mean to your own life. 

            Sometimes the devil deceives a believer into thinking he is special because of having a gift.  Sometimes the devil brings pride into a life and gets a disciple to think having a gift is so important that the disciple is more useful to God than other disciples.  He will cause a disciple to be jealous of someone else’s spiritual gifts, or even convince a believer that their gift is more influential or even less influential in the body than the ministry of other members of the body. 

            Focusing on having some spiritual gift we have is worse than not realizing we have one.  If we think we can’t worship until “brother so-and-so” gives a word from God, or “sister so-and-so”shouts in the spirit, then we’ve been defeated by satan.  If we think only the pastor should lead people to Jesus, then we’ve been defeated.  If we think we have to sing a particular type of song or hear a particular type of sermon or hear a message in tongues with the interpretation before the Holy Spirit will move in a service, then we’ve been defeated by the devil into focusing on a gift or the person with the gift rather than focusing on Jesus and helping our fellow disciples grow closer to Jesus. 

            God gives us gifts for the benefit of the overall body of Christ.  We must be very careful about how we react to the gifts and those to whom they have been given.  We must not create man-made traditions and systems when it comes to the gifts of God.

            With this caution in mind, let’s look at 2 Timothy 1:6 KJVS. [6] Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.  We can realize we have a spiritual gift and understand its importance, but if we do not use the gift, it never achieves its purpose of helping others in their walk with Jesus.

            I can fill the tank of my car with fuel, but if I never crank the car to go somewhere the fuel becomes useless.  If that fuel sits in the tank too long, it deteriorates and stops being useful at all.  It has to be pumped into the engine and ignited by a spark before it becomes useful in making the car move.

            The same concept holds true for the spiritual gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit.  If we do not put the gifts to use in our daily lives, the gifts becomes useless.  We have to stir up the gifts, allow the fire of God to ignite the gifts and let them flame forth in our lives so others can receive the benefits that originate when we use our gifts.

            A question for you—Do you know what your gifts are?  Another question—

Are you allowing the gifts God has given you to burn brightly in your life?  If you don’t know what your gifts are, ask God to reveal them to you.  Ask God to stir up your gifts, to ignite them, to use them to help your brothers and sisters in Christ to become more like Jesus.

            It’s time to talk to God about our gifts.  It’s time to ask Him to reveal our gifts to us, to stir us up and to use us for His glory.

If you have questions about the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to the followers of Jesus, contact us.