Let the gifts of the Spirit be stirred in you
You are a vessel for the Holy Spirit. His gifts have been given to you as tools to be used in ministering God’s love to others. They are important, available to us all and express themselves through our diverse personalities.
We have more of the Gifts than we think. They are given to ordinary believers in ordinary places and in ordinary, everyday situations. Let’s not limit the Holy Spirit to the pulpit! He can work through all of us for the benefit of others. The Lord’s desire is that we would all abound in Spiritual Gifts. They are for all believers everywhere, and there is no particular movement or denomination that has a monopoly on them. There is such a wonderful diversity in the ways the Lord expresses Himself through Christians from differing backgrounds and environments.
The Apostle Paul says that veryone can prophesy. We do not need to be anxious, but trust the Lord that He is able to use us all. It’s good to have a rmore relaxed attitude about this. We need to use the Gifts in a sound way. You don’t have to be afraid of making a mistake. He will teach us step by step to hear His voice and be more and more accurate. We need not have reached perfection in order for the Gifts of the Spirit to begin to function through us. The Corinthian church is a good example of this, and that can be an encouragement to you and me. Paul writes in his letter to them – in the first chapter – that he’s thanking God for the fact that they’ve been enriched with Spiritual Gifts. As we read on, we see that there were problems, disorder and even sin in the church. We all have weaknesses in your lives but the Lord can still use us if we are humble and open to correction. There is no greater hindrance to the flow of Spiritual Gifts than pride and self-righteousness.
It’s the Holy Spirit who distributes the Gifts. They are His, and nobody else can lay claim to them. They are for the edification of other people, not for the elevation of one’s own ego. If we are to understand the Gifts, we must go deeper in our relationship with the Holy Spirit – letting Him train us and soften our hearts. We can’t separate the Gifts from the Person of the Spirit.
The Gifts of the Spirit is God’s love streaming through us to other people. They are the power of God working through us, supernatural tools that He has given us. And they function through revelation. We get a word from the Holy Spirit -a revelation – and then it’s up to us to step out and walk on the water, daring to believe that the impression came from Him, and to act on it.
