When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, we are "Born Again" it is at that time that we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift that is given to us freely by God. His purposes for sending the Holy Spirit to us are to better our prayer life, allow him to work through us to heal, pray, and minister to those in need. Through the Holy Spirit God will perform his miracles, we are merely the vehicles he uses in the physical. The Holy Spirit is not a gift to us that is meant to be kept to ourselves. Like any other gift bestowed upon us by God, if we don't give it away, we will lose the gift. It was never meant to be kept to ourselves.
Spiritual gifts do not depend on natural talents and aptitudes or developed skills, though God gave you those, too. A spiritual gift is something that God gives for the purpose of building up others in a life of faith. It is the experience of Christians over the years that the Spirit usually harnesses one's talents in the service of the gifts that are given. Yet sometimes, the spiritual gifts seem to work against a person's natural endowment. This is, after all, the same God who led his people out of Egypt using a stammerer named Moses, made a shepherd boy/musician named David into a renowned warrior and king, and turned rural fishermen into leaders who left a mark on the course of history. There are examples everywhere of people who don't have training, aren't highly skilled, have no particular knack, but when the time comes for them to benefit the Body, the gift is there. The Spirit takes pleasure in surprises and on turning the tables on the expected. It's wise to leave ourselves open for such action. We develop a talent, but God gives the gift it's meant to go with.
Where there's a gift, there's usually a natural ability and a developed skill that can go with it.
· There is the gift of discernment, and the natural ability of intuition, and the skillful use of a discernment process.
· There is the gift of healing, and there are the natural healing processes and the medical skills to assist those processes.
· There is exorcism, and there are people ridding their lives of those who use lies and trickery, and the skill of making themselves truer.
· There is prophecy, and there is the ability to discover the truth and the skill to figure out how and when to share it.
· There is ecstatic spiritual experience and there are romance and desire and the skills to use them to create bonds of love with your spouse.
God created all people with these natural foreshadowing’s of supernatural gifts. They're good, and are meant to be used for all, not just the faithful. But it takes the Holy Spirit working within the believer to put the natural and the supernatural together with power to serve
Having received the Holy Spirit and being born into God's family, a very simple question needs to be answered. What is the purpose of God's wanting to indwell His children by His Spirit? Some people believe it is just to make the individual feel good. But that can hardly be the reason. Others think they are saved just to go to Heaven, but that is not the primary reason because that will come when life is ended. The only answer that fits the Bible teaching is that we are saved to serve here and now. Isaiah 43:7 conveys that we are created for God's honor and glory. To put it very simply, we were created to fulfill the purpose and plan of God now. That's why we weren't born one thousand years ago. This is our day to live for Him. Salvation is God's way of bringing us into the kind of relationship with Him so that we can fulfill the plan He has for us now.
To perform service for the Lord requires that one be qualified and empowered. It is precisely for this reason that the Holy Spirit gives "gifts." The Scripture passages which name the gifts are Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, and Ephesians 4:7-13. From these verses we learn certain basic truths about spiritual gifts.
There are dangers lurking along the pathway of any Christian believer who is conscious that God has given him a special gift by the Holy Spirit. First of all, there is the danger of using the gift for personal gain and prestige. "Look at me; I am somebody special; God has given me this unique gift, and I am the only one for miles around who has it.'' There are some who get caught in the net of "a good feeling." As with other dimensions of our Christian life, there is the possibility of some trying to exercise their gifts entirely apart from the larger Body. They develop a "go it alone" strategy and set out to build their own little kingdom apart from the church. All must guard against these dangers.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father we thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to us so that we are able to be used as vehicles for you to work through us. Father I pray that you would always make it known to us, when we take the gifts you’ve given us for granted even for a second. Thank you for your endless mercy that provides us with forgiveness whenever we fall short of your will. As we start this New Year Lord, I ask you to change the perspective from which we see, so that we see things we do more as you see them, thus making us able to correct ourselves and one another. In seeing from your perspective, we can better protect ourselves from any & all influences of Satan.
I ask this in Jesus name
Amen
God Bless You All
"The Sharpshooter"
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