The gifts of the holy spirit are unique skills and abilities given by the holy spirit to faithful followers of Christ in order to serve God. The gifts of the holy spirit are the weapons God gives you to fight and win your battles. They are supernatural tools designed to equip you for God’s service. They are not the product of your natural ability. In other words, it is not something you can earn on your own. It is a gift from God. There are 9 gifts of the holy spirit and I am going to describe each one for you so that you can better understand what each one does.
THE 9 GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Gift #1 is the gift of wisdom
Through this gift, God will reveal to you the future, and you will know what is going to take place. An example of this in the bible would be the story of Noah. God revealed to him the coming of the flood. (Genesis 6: 9-22)
Another example would be that in prayer a few years back God gave me a verse that spoke of my future and what will happen. I still haven’t seen it come to pass yet but nevertheless, He spoke words of wisdom to me.
Gift #2 is the gift of knowledge
Through this gift, God will reveal a fact that now or did exist. It can only be supernaturally revealed-something the eyes have not seen or the ears have not heard.
An example of this would be when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well. When the woman came to get some water at the well, Jesus was there to meet her. He asked her if she could get Him a drink of water. Then He proceeded to tell her to go get her husband. She responded that she didn’t have a husband. Jesus told her that was correct, that she has been married 5 times and was now living with a man that was not her husband. (John 4:1-30)
Here Jesus knew for a fact that the Samaritan woman had no husband and that she had been married 5 times. This is the gift of knowledge.
Gift #3 is the gift of the Discerning of spirits
This gift will allow you to recognize whether or not something is truly from God. You will be able to tell the true nature of a person or situation.
An example would be when I would be hiring someone for the restaurant my parents owned. Their resume would look good and they would seem perfect for the job. But during the interview, the Holy Spirit would speak to me. Telling me they were not a good match for the position. The Holy Spirit speaking to me was him giving me discernment so that I wouldn’t hire someone that He didn’t want in that restaurant.
Gift #4 is the gift of Faith
This gift allows you to trust God and inspire others to trust God no matter the conditions. You will have total faith in something others would say was impossible.
Every believer has faith. But the gift of faith makes a person extremely bold.
Five years ago one of my cats was really sick. God gave me a verse to help me get through this time. I was bound determined that if I kept praying and believing, God would heal my cat. My cat eventually passed away and I was left feeling broken. My faith was so strong that I thought I had failed God in my belief that He would heal my cat. But God whispered to me that I had shown Him great faith then and that I would be blessed because of it.
Gift #5 is the gift of Healing
It is a wonderful gift to use God’s healing power to cure a person who is ill, wounded, or suffering. A good example of having this power would be Jesus. He never failed to heal someone. While others in the bible such as Simon Peter could heal, he couldn’t do it every time. He had to call upon Jesus to heal his mother-in-law. (Matt 8:14-15)
Gift #6 is the gift of miracles
This gift displays signs and miracles that give credibility to God and His word. In other words, it is God working through a person, animal, or some other instrument to do something that could not usually be done.
An example of this would be when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. (John 2: 1-11) Or in Matthew 14 where Jesus broke the bread and the fish and fed the large crowd with it.
Gift #7 is the gift of prophecy
This gift declares a message from God. It is not foretelling the future. The gift of prophecy is used to build people up. To encourage them and to comfort them.
I have experienced this on several occasions while running the restaurant. I would receive a message from God in my reading of His word. And I would go to that specific person and deliver the message. Whether they believed me or not. I feel that God wanted me there in that place and at that time for a reason.
Gift #8 is the gift of tongues
When a person speaks in tongues, he has no understanding of what he is saying. It is your inner spirit speaking directly to God.
In the bible, it speaks of tongues being evident in The Acts of the Apostles. It is shown in Acts chapter 2, on the day the church was born; in chapter 10 when Peter ministered to the Gentiles; and in chapter 19 when Paul laid hands on the believers in Ephesus.
Gift #9 is the gift of interpretation of tongues
This spiritual gift is the supernatural ability to understand and explain messages uttered in an unknown language. The one giving the message has no idea what he or she is saying. The interpreter reveals the message through God speaking to him or her. God “reveals” the meaning of the words or message being spoken and allows the interpreter to communicate its meaning to those who need to hear it.
CONCLUSION
So in conclusion, you are not to exalt people with the gifts of the holy spirit no matter who they are. There is only one Jesus and you are to exalt Him and Him alone. You and I serve the same God. And He wants you and me to have the gifts of the holy spirit functioning in our lives.
Now the Holy Spirit knows what you can and can’t handle. He gives you the gifts as He wills. This means you can operate with more than one gift. And you can ask the Lord for more than one gift when you pray.
God puts you in certain positions for a reason. If you are a housewife, then be a good one. If you are a businessman, be the best one you can be. Wherever God has put you, be strong. You have no idea how many lives you will touch and bless in the place God has put you.
Do you have one of these gifts I spoke of? If so share in the comments below. If not, know that God is willing to give you these gifts. So don’t be afraid to ask.
A PRAYER FOR THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for these gifts. Allow me to have one or more of them to glorify you here on earth. Help me to honor you in whatever I do. And to show others the grace and mercy you so freely give. In Jesus’ Name, I Pray, Amen
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