I recently shared a message called “The Gifts of the Holy Spirit” and discussed how the body of Christ operates in different gifts. The nine gifts of the Spirit are a word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, faith, miracles, healing, tongues, interpretation, and prophecy.
A word of wisdom is an understanding of what is true or right, especially in decision making. The Holy Spirit gives you wisdom to apply to each scenario. For example, in Acts 27:9-19, Paul knew to warn the Roman centurion not to set sail.
A word of knowledge is an awareness or understanding received outside natural means. It may be something you learned by natural means but received supernaturally. For example, in Acts 5:1-10, the Holy Spirit revealed to Simon Peter that Ananias was lying to the Holy Spirit.
The discerning of spirits is when you supernaturally know what spirit is influencing an action or behavior. For example, in Acts 16:16-18, Paul discerned a girl was possessed by an evil spirit and commanded the spirit to come out of her.
The gift of faith is different from the kind of faith we all have. In Romans 12:3, Paul said, “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” In other words, every person has enough faith to hear the gospel and be saved. The gift of faith is the supernatural ability to trust God or inspire others to trust God in a particular situation or circumstance.
A miracle is an event that appears unexplainable because it goes against the laws of nature. For example, Paul operated in the gift of miracles in Acts 20:9-12 when he prayed for a man to be raised from the dead. A miracle is an event that defies the laws of physics and nature.
Gifts of healing have to do with the spirit, soul, or body. A miracle doesn’t necessarily have to involve the human body. Healing is a restoration of health or soundness. Believers have a general authority to pray for the sick, but some have unique gifts to pray for healing.
Then there is the gift of tongues. There is a difference between your prayer language—speaking in tongues during personal prayer—and the gift of tongues, which can edify the entire church. Speaking in tongues is for all believers, just like all have “a measure of faith.” However, the gift of tongues is to edify the church.
This is where the gift of interpretation of various tongues comes into play. In I Corinthians 14:27-28, Paul speaks of the need for tongues to be interpreted in a church. The Holy Spirit gives to some the gift of interpretation, so everyone can understand what God is saying through tongues.
The ninth gift, prophecy, is a divine utterance in the language known by those listening. There are two kinds of prophecy: forthtelling and foretelling. Forthtelling is speaking by the unction of the Holy Spirit, not from your own intellect. Acts 2:38-41 describes Peter forthtelling and people repenting after. Then there is foretelling, which is sharing a future event spoken to you by the Holy Spirit. In Acts 11:27-28, Agabus foretold a worldwide famine so people could prepare.
Those who think we spend too much time developing spiritual gifts need only look at Hebrews 5:14: “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” By reason of use, our spiritual gifts are developed. That is why we practice and have activations, a School of the Prophets, MorningStar University, and conferences—so our spiritual senses, not just our natural ones, can be developed.
Click here to watch my entire “The Gifts of the Holy Spirit” message and download the audio to enjoy wherever you go.
Also, check out my program Prophetic Chronicles with Chris Reed to see testimonies of how people's lives are being touched by the supernatural power of personal prophetic ministry. Click here.
Blessings,
Chris Reed | President & CEO
MorningStar Ministries
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