Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12 v 4 - 10: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:"
The Holy Spirit has given us the promise of the Father, that we would not be alone, Jesus is always with us, and we would have gifts, or talents or abilities, to enable us to extend the Kingdom of God on Earth.
Jesus is our example of how to be a perfect minister of spiritual gifts. He said GO into all the world and teach them, show them, who I am. We have this plan to invite sinners to come to our church and meet Jesus there.
That sounds good but its your job to share the gospel with them and bring them to salvation. Individual ministry is expected of every believer. To reach out and touch a sinner and lead them to being born again is a joy not to be missed.
Then church is meaningful for water baptism and the laying on of hands for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This should all take place in quick succession. The new saint is now fully fledged and is speaking in tongues.
When he needs to help someone else in trouble he will receive help from the Holy Spirit. He may have to lay hands on the sick and the gifts of healing will be available. When that is successful his faith and experience of God will grow. If we are too shy or fear ridicule if healing does not happen, we will miss out on the Lord's blessings.
In my life I was thrown in the deep end when a woman came to stay with me to get away from her Satanist ex-husband who was threatening to take their daughters away for evil purposes. I had no idea how powerful these wicked people were. But when I took her to our church she went forward for prayer and immediately demons started manifesting in her. The pastor sent me and another experienced lady plus the one manifesting demons into another area to pray for her.
I had never seen anything like this before but all of a sudden I was equipped to fight this battle. If you saw the movie The Matrix where Trinity could suddenly fly an advanced helicopter when instructions were downloaded to her, that's what it was like for me.
I knew to command the demon to tell me its name and to bind it and command it to leave. It was very satisfying to see her free of that one but there were more and we were kept busy praying for the rest of that morning.
The lesson is, when you need a gift to help you help others, expect it to be available to you. The Holy Spirit is a helper and teacher. He is very patient. What He taught me went from being a gift to use when needed to a full ministry of deliverance. This went hand in hand with the ministry of Prayer and Intercession that is my calling. This gift is called the discerning of spirits.
The gift of Faith has been a constant blessing. It's not just believing or hoping but a knowing that God will do what He promised. A knowing that this cannot fail because you have faith to move mountains.
Speaking, praying or singing in tongues edifies your mind with solutions to problems, encouragement in times of stress, knowledge of hidden mysteries, and a million other things. Interpretation of tongues is like receiving a prophecy. What you have spoken in an unknown tongue is now revealed in English.
When an individual speaks a loud message in tongues in church there is usually one who can interpret it, or even yourself will get the interpretation. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 that the best gifts are to prophesy or to interpret tongues so everybody understands the message in their own language.
Over the years, as you use the gifts the Holy Spirit reveals greater depths and skills that open your understanding of how the Kingdom of God works on Earth. The most vital part is to stay true to the faith given to the Apostles and shun false additions to the church that cause harm.
We need to go back to the old ways where there was absolute obedience to the Word of God, where the disciples turned the world upside down with miracles, where selflessness was of prime importance.
The more you use the gifts of the Spirit the more you will get. If you bury your talents they stay buried and that's a real waste. So let this message stir up the gifts that are in you so more will come because there is still a great work to be done and everyone is important.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, may the Holy Spirit move mightily on all believers to stir up the gifts so that Your Kingdom can be greatly extended. Let faith grow too plus an awareness of Your love and presence. In Jesus' name. Amen.