PART 1. God
wants us to be in SHAPE to do His work.
Serving
our God requires us to be in SHAPE.
·
To be physically in SHAPE,
·
To be mentally in SHAPE and especially …
·
To be spiritually in SHAPE.
To
be physically in S.H.A.P.E, well we all know how to do that. We probably spend
more time on this one than the other two.
To
be mentally in S.H.A.
To
be spiritually in S.H.A.
Here
are three questions to keep in mind.
PART 2. There are differences
between Spiritual
Gifts, Heart
Passions, Abilities
(Talents, & Skills), Personal traits and Life Experiences
2. HEART PASSION:
We have heard people say … “he is so passionate for the Lord” or “she has such a passion for the poor”. Passion
is good to have – it is God given. Even the passion
between husband and wife – is God given. It is called “Eros love”. We also know
though that we can have passion for something
that may have little to do with Spiritual giftedness.
In the eye of the doer and sometimes even in the
eye of the receiver, the passion may seem “spiritual”. However, an over zealous passion for something that seems “good” and “for the
Lord”, may be in truth have the trappings of spirituality but upon
investigation, only builds up the individual and not God.
In the Old Testament, God gave His people many
wonderful skills and talents in craftsmanship in
order to beautify His Holy dwelling places such as the Arch of the Covenant.
You can read about this in Exodus 35. He gave others skills
and talents in the preparation of the offerings. Were these Spiritual
gifts or practical abilities? … Both can be used by God for His glory.
4.
PERSONAL
TRAITS:
Our personal Traits are God given but Oh, how at times we
wish they were different. These traits can be used with our gifting to enhance
them. If you have the characteristic of always smiling
– and God has given you the gift of serving others,
then your serving will be pleasing to all who
are affected. If you are always grumpy, contentious or moody … then your
ministry will not be very effective. Hmmm … !
5. EXPERIENCES:
We quite often draw on our life’s experiences and
use them in the church in order to help others and minister to their needs. As
helpful as our life’s experiences are, they do not always make the person the
best “counselor”. When helping others through situations, the Spiritual gifts of compassion and encouragement are what God gives to His “ministers”.
The experiences and
“And now, dear brothers [and
sisters], I will write about the special abilities the Holy Spirit gives to
each of us, for I must correct your misunderstandings about them. … I want you
to know how to discern what is truly from God:
·
No
one speaking by he Spirit of God can curse Jesus, and no one is able to say,
"Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”
1) Spiritual
Gifts are given only by God. They are not allocated by
man.
·
Romans
12:6 says: “We have different gifts according to the grace given us.”
2) Spiritual
Gifts are for Spirit filled believers. God has not entrusted His Holy Spirit
gifts to unsaved people for they do not have the Holy Spirit within them. God
only gives Spiritual Gifts to His church, to His bride.
3)
Spiritual gifts are given as a means of helping
the entire church.
·
In 1 Corinthians 12:7, we read that Holy Spirit gifts are not given to edify the
individual believer but to edify the church. But He has also
given to the individual believer the gift of praying in the Spirit that is
sometimes referred to as “praying in tongues”.
4)
Some Spiritual Gifts need to be activated.
God will make the believers aware of their Spiritual
Gifting and show them how and where to activate them.
However, someone may have the gift of speaking or praying
or even interpreting a tongue but that person, because of fleshly weakness, may
not automatically know how to use these gifts. It may be necessary to have
another gifted person assist in activating these gifts.
·
In 1 Timothy 5: 14-15, Paul
says – “Do not
neglect the Spiritual gift you have received through the prophecies spoken to
you when the Elders of the church laid their hands on you.”
·
And in 1 Thessalonians
And
lastly …
6)
Spiritual
Gifts are given for a purpose to the mature in Christ. They must be used according to His will.
·
Hebrews
Spiritual
Gifts are some of the ‘solid food’ that Paul
talked about when he said that we can no longer exist only on Spiritual “milk”.
Spiritual
“meat” requires maturity.
The
using of Spiritual gifts requires maturity as well.
They
are not man-made nor are to be man-pleasing.
But … Paul
reminds us … better than all gifts though, is LOVE.
PART 4. Before
we partake of His Banquet Table of Spiritual Gifts, let’s reflect on the
following from our Scripture reading in 1-Corinthians 12: 4-11.
4.
Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts,
but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source
of them all.
5.
There are different kinds of service in the
church, but it is the same Lord we are serving.
6.
There are different ways God works in our lives,
but it is the same God who does the work through
all of us.
Now, let’s have a meal of 18
choices on God’s Spiritual Gift menu!
In Romans 12: 6-8, Paul describes several of
the Spiritual gifts that God gives us. He said:
“So if God has
given you the ability to (1) prophecy, [then] speak out when you have faith that
God is speaking through you.
If your gift is
that of (2) serving
others, [then] serve them well.
If you are a (3) teacher, [then] do a good job of teaching.
8. If your gift is to (4)
encourage others, [then] do it!
If you have (5) money,
share it generously. (Are you tithing?)
If God has given you (6) leadership ability, take the responsibility
seriously. (Are
you seeking to learn about your leadership abilities?)
And if you have a gift for (7)
showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
But LOVE is the
over-riding requirement.”
Let’s
continue with the selections from 1 Corinthians 12: 7-10.
…
the Spirit gives the ability to (8) give wise advice.
(Who
here has never given to or received from anyone wise advice?)
… to another he gives the gift of (9) special knowledge.
(Who here has never received from or
given to someone special knowledge about a situation?)
…
The Spirit gives (10) special faith to another,
(who
here has never received a faith elevated in a spiritual situation?)
… and to someone else he gives the power to (11) heal the sick.
(who here has ever been healed
or seen healing take place by God’s power? Who here has laid on hands and seen
God heal?)
and [even] more
… HE HAS DESERT for us.
He
gives one person …
…
the power to (12) perform miracles, …
… He gives someone else the ability to (13) discern whether [something] is really the Spirit
of God or another spirit that is speaking.
…
Still another person is given the ability to (14) speak
in
unknown languages,
…
and another is given the ability to (15) interpret
what is being
said.
Paul continues … “The
Church cannot decide who gets what gift. It is the one and only Holy Spirit who
distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
Then, in verse 28 … and this is most important … Paul lists
in a precise and purposeful order, some of the key “members” of the
church that God has placed in the body of Christ as follows:
…
first are (16) apostles,
…
second are prophets,
…
third are teachers,
…
then those who do
miracles,
…
those who have the gift of healing,
…
those who can (17) help others,
…
those who can get others to (18) work together (overseers),
…
those who speak in unknown languages.
Paul reminds us that all are not called to be Apostles or
Prophets are even Preachers.
He finally exhorts us with one key demand in verse 31 when
he says;
“And in any event, you
should desire the most helpful gifts.”
PART
5. So then who gets what gift? How many gifts can one receive? How do I know I
have that gift?
“We are all one body, we have the same
Spirit, and we have all been called to the same
glorious future. There is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
and there is only one God and Father, who is over us all and in us
all and living through us all. However, He has
given each one of us a special gift according to
the generosity of
I
believe there is only one way that God bestows His Spiritual gifts on His
church. He has tasks to do and He provides His Holy tools to the obedient
believer!
Therefore,
·
I believe that we must have an intimate relationship with
Christ and ASK Christ … where do you want me to
serve you? Not, what Spiritual Gift do you have for me so that I can do
something for you?
·
Then, we must LISTEN to His
answer. His answer may come aurally, visually, by a deed done by someone else,
an image, a dream and even a vision.
·
We must TRUST that God will
give us only those gifts that are good and perfect and according to His will.
·
Finally, and this is a stumbling block for most of us, we
must be willing to absolutely OBEY His will for
us.
Through our obedience, God will equip
us with His Spiritual Gifts in order to enable
us to accomplish His work through us.
No Spiritual gift will ever be given to
the disobedient.
ASK, LISTEN,
TRUST
& OBEY
I call it – “ALTO”
PART 6. Church Leadership is to make sure the
church environment is such that God’s Spiritual Gifts can be freely used in the
Body of
Paul’s command regarding gifts and
leaders in the church is found in Ephesians 4: 11-13
“It was he who gave
·
some to be apostles,
·
some to be prophets,
·
some to be evangelists,
·
and some to be pastors
·
and teachers,
[In order] to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of
Brothers and Sisters, we have no option, we are commanded by God to use our Spiritual Gifts because God is given the glory since He equips us with His Spiritual Gifts in order to accomplish His will through us.
The converse is also true. God is not glorified when His
Saints refuse to do His will and through disobedience, disallow the use the
Spiritual gifts that they have been given.
Finally, Spiritual gifts are still alive in Christ’s church
today because He is the same today as He was yesterday and as He
will be tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
In 1 Peter 4: 10-11 Paul
states that:
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve
others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone
speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone
serves, he should do it with the strength God provides,
so that in all
things God may be praised through Jesus