The Gifts of the Spirit

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." - 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

1 Peter 4:10-11 tells us, "God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen."

^"And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers.His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him." - Ephesians 4:11-13

What do we learn here of the Gifts of the Spirit?

1) They are varied.

2) They are all to edify the body, and to glorify God.

3) There are some gifts which are higher than others. There is to be an ORDER to the Church.

 Recently, I was reading Culture of Honor, a book by Danny Lee Silk, where he was discussing how the Church at large is out of God's divine order of operation. that wasn't the main topi, no, but it caught my attention nonetheless, because of how true it is. When we place those with pastoral and teaching gifts ahead of those with apostolic, prophetic, and evangelistic gifts, there is a problem. ALL are used of God, but not all are equal in terms of heirarchy.

Most people don't ant to think of there being hierarchy in the Church. Why, it's just UN-American!! Yet, God isn't from America, He is from Heaven... and Heaven is to be reflected in the earth. The gifts and callings of the Spirit are one way that we are to reflect His nature and our true home here on the earth, where we live. We as the Church are to CALL HEAVEN DOWN to "invade the earth," as Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church at Redding, California puts it.

The Word of God calls us to ASK, SEEK, and KNOCK. We are to walk by faith, and live by faith. We are called to live out God's divine order here on earth, regardless of what the world's systems say.

As Danny points out, we are to live in a culture of honor, where each person is honored for who they are in Christ, in the roles that God has assigned for them, and the placement they have within the Church at large. But if we have things OUT of ORDER, how is that an honoring thing? Those with apostolic and prophetic giftings are to be honored because they help bring Heaven's perspective and thoughts to earth and SPEAK FOR GOD that which He wills us to hear! Yet in much of the body of Christ, they are not honored, but set aside. Many fear the very gifts God has given us because they have believed the lies of the enemy and see only the potential for harm when they are misused, and throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.

When we ALIGN ourselves to Heaven - it's priorities, giftings, heirarchy, and rule - we ALIGN ourselves with God Almighty! To align with anything else would be a travesty...