On Spiritual Gifts

(Message I shared with InterVarsity on Oct. 10th, 2011)

Within myself and with people in the fellowship I have faced spiritual tension and I was kinda caught off guard but I later realized that its not flesh and blood that I'm fighting against, its the devil & his schemes.

The world usually equates being shy/quiet with being meek /humble, nice, innocent, not wanting to speak up and having nothing valuable to say. That stereotype is not necessarily true but most people think that it is. For me most people look at me and automatically give me those labels, and it has been up to me to fight against them with God's help since I cared more about what God said about me not what others thought. But for a long time I stopped fighting back, I gave into the devil's lies and into the general stereotypes that came with people's perception of me. And the devil held me bound and shut me up and its been the hardest, most frustrating and depressing ~8 years of my life.

But at Pre-Fall God totally set me free from people's opinions of me :D He reminded me who I am in Him and He gave me back my voice to be used for the building up of His body.

God set me free and I do not want to be bound by the devil's lies and discouragement again. "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins." (Isaiah 58:1) So I want to keep shouting, and I don't want to hold back anymore. So when I share stuff with you guys, its not because I want to promote myself. I just want to be obedient to God and share what He shows me and  convicts me of, even the stuff that I am guilty of, so that together we can apply God's word.

(2 Corinthians 4:5) "For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake."

Like Thaddeus said, we all have different gifts but the same Spirit gives them, and my gift is not more important than yours. So this past week, the devil has been trying to shut me up using the fear of pride. "People will think you are proud if you share that so not sharing, keeping quiet= being humble." ->LIE! But I've started ignoring that voice, like I said I don't want to hold back anymore.

God wants to use you and your gift to build up His body but the devil wants to do everything he can to stop you from using the gifts of the Spirit because his intention is to destroy the church not to build it up. So don't fall for the devils "false humility" mentality, God wants you to use your gifts boldly for Him.

Romans 12:6-8

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it

diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."

Ephesians 4:11-13

" So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ."

I plan to let God use me and the gifts He has given me to equip us and build us up.

But let me just prepare you, you are not going to like everything I am going to say and you may even not like everything that God wants to say to you through me. So when that happens before you attack me, really search yourself and see whether it is a spirit inside you eg unbelief that is causing that resistance within you, resistance to God's truth and conviction. Or whether what I am actually saying is not from God but actually a lie from the devil.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil."

I know I said that I will no longer fall for the devil's fear-of-pride scheme but that doesn't mean that I am immune to pride. So if you do hear me saying that is contrary to God's truth rebuke me and correct me. I once was proud in the past and without realizing it, that distanced me from God. It took a stranger to rebuke me and bring me back to my senses. I was mad that my Christian friends didn't call me out when they saw me falling and drowning in pride. So yeah rebuke me if need be! I will be really grateful. I don't want to be in the business of misleading people. I don't want to go to hell and I'm too young to die lol!

Deuteronomy 18:18-22

"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”

Thanks. If you wanna read more about your spiritual gifts, I found this to be useful: http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/

Have a blessed week! :-) ♥

Also I have a prayer request: with my gift, I don't want to care what you think when I share what I think God is saying but at the same time I want to show that I care. So I want to learn how to "Speak the truth in love." Also, I've been so fired up with letting God use my gift to edify the body but my personal relationship with Him hasn't been so hot. I have been having trouble just resting in Him and waiting on Him. So pray for me, and I'll pray for you :)