The Indwelling Spiritual Gifts
USING YOUR ELDERS FOR UNDERSTANDING The Lord Jesus reveals to us in 1 Timothy 4:14; ”Do not neglect the spiritual gifts within you, which was bestowed upon you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery (church leadership). I desire each person who goes through this series to experience the fullness of His gifting from within. It is the responsibility of your church leadership to help you discover your gifting. Do not hesitate to contact your pastor to get your questions answered. If your pastor is of the modality that spiritual gifts are no longer in effect, you will need to contact a leader who does embrace spiritual gifting. This series is to start the process of embracing all God has for you regarding His spiritual gifts. DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOUR YOUTHFULNESS Many people think they need to be more mature to use their gifting! Most think they have not been saved long enough to be used by God fully. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once you have received the Holy Spirit upon salvation, you are qualified to be used by God. 1 Timothy 4:11-16 tells us: “Prescribe and teach these things. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, exhortation, and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gifts within you, which were bestowed upon you through the prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things; be absorbed so your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and your teaching; preserve in these things; as you do this, you will ensure salvation both for yourself and those who hear you.” God wants us to prescribe and teach these things—prescribing meaning, writing them down and then teaching them to the Body of Christ. God is calling us to know our gifting. We are not to look down on our youthfulness. He wants us to speak with the power of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us - my favorite thing about being a believer. He allows the fruit of the Holy Spirit to show Himself through our conduct, His love, appropriating the measure of faith He has put within us. Thus, walk in the purity of His light while we live. We are to be examples to those who are new to the reality of being filled with the gifting of Christ in us - teaching them by example how to walk in & through the Spirit. All are resulting in operating in the fullness of His gifting within us. How do we accomplish this? It is accomplished by being devoted to the scriptures & reality that He lives within us. Since the Word of God is alive and sharper than a two-edged sword, we will exhort one another to function in their God-given gifts by teaching what God's Word says. God wants us to take pains with these things – take this matter on as a burden. He desires us to absorb them, soak them up like a sponge. This is how we reveal our progress in our walk with Him to the world around us. When people see God’s gifting flowing through us, they see God! Lastly, God wants us to pay close attention to our teachings regarding this topic. This topic needs to be managed by God through us. Many churches have been divided over the topic of spiritual gifts. The gifts are for unity, not to bring more division.
DISCOVERING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS You have just begun the process of discovering your spiritual gifts. Some of you have known for years, while others are just “looking into it.” In either case, God knows you are interested in Knowing Your Spiritual Gifts. Here is a list of items to keep in mind as you explore the realities of God’s gifts: - Be willing to explore what God has for you. Read each of the scriptures stated in this series. Use this publication as a Bible Study. Pray through each scripture. Learn the gifts, how they are used, what characterizes them, and how they function within the Body of Christ.
- Do not lean upon your feelings. Many look to their feelings to label their gift. This is the greatest error in discovering spiritual gifting! God will reveal your gift(s) through your church's presbytery (elders). The Spirit will bear witness to the process and the use of the gift if it is of God. It is true that when you are functioning in your gift, you will “feel” like you have found your “niche.” When, or if, you are functioning in a task that is not your gifting, you will “feel like a fish out of water.” You will not be able to function comfortably and freely if it is NOT the Spirit flowing through you. It is a true statement that God does not strap you with a gift you will not enjoy.
- You will see positive results when functioning in your gifting. Since spiritual gifts are designed to benefit the Body of Christ, not yourself, you should see the fruit of His gifting through you in the lives of the people you are helping. You will not see a positive result in the lives you are ministering right away, do not panic; it may be a sign the resistance is on the other side. If you are using your gift to exalt yourself or by using a gift to prosper your ministry, you might see earthly results of your methodology, but God will soon correct you in your misinterpretation of Spiritual gifting.
- Expect confirmation from the Body of Christ. It is an innovative idea to allow the Body of Christ to be a part of confirming your gifting. God speaks through the Body. People observing us are equally as important as the Spirit’s revelation in our prayer time. That is because it is the same thing. If you believe you have particular gifts and no one else agrees with you, then you should go to the presbytery (church leadership) for confirmation.
- The Lord is the One to lead you to discover your gift. Even though God uses the above process, God reveals His gifts in you. Remember that He is the Gift Giver and knows what is in His “gift bag.”
- As God reveals more of His supernatural ways, you openly accept His manifestations of the Spirit in a manner worthy of His calling. Do not limit God to your human reasoning – let God be God even in your gifting.
Until next time: -Stephen | 
Posts