The bible says in Ephesians 4:11-13 that ‘Jesus has appointed some with grace to be apostles, and some with grace to be prophets, and some with grace to be evangelists, and some with grace to be pastors, and some with grace to be teachers. And their calling is to nurture and prepare all the holy believers to do their own works of ministry, and as they do this they will enlarge and build up the body of Christ.’ - Ephesians 4:11-13 (TPT)
Jesus wants to equip you in 2020 to do your own works of ministry – the Holy Spirit is ready to give you power, ability as well as supernatural gifts to be successful in ministry. Today, I want to lay a foundation for you to understand the gifts of the Spirit and to know the difference between operating with a spiritual gift and operating by faith without a spiritual gift.
Paul the apostle tells the church at Corinth that believers should not be ignorant or uninformed concerning spiritual gifts…
Now, there are nine spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, more are named in 1 Corinthians 8:28 and others are mentioned in Romans 12:6-8. We will do a more in-depth study on these particular gifts and how they function in a future teaching.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT A GIFT OF THE SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO A BELIEVER AND OPERATES AS THE HOLY SPIRIT WILLS – NOT AS WE WILL!
‘Remember, it is the same Holy Spirit who distributes, activates, and operates these different gifts as He chooses for each believer.’ - 1 Corinthians 12:11 (TPT)
It is important to know that as believers we can minister by faith in almost the same way that a person ministers who has received a gift of the Spirit… in other words, any believer can stand upon the Word and minister healing, miracles, words of wisdom, words of knowledge as well as give a prophetic word by faith, even though they do not have any of those gifts of the Spirit.
You do not have to wait until a gift of the Spirit is given to you for you to minister supernaturally – you have the Name of Jesus, and as you use His Name by faith, you can do everything that Jesus did, including raising the dead by faith right now!
Let me explain the main difference between ministering by faith and ministering by a gift of the Spirit… The gifts of the Spirit have faith, boldness, courage and revelation built into them, so when the Spirit activates the gift, the believer with the gift is fully propelled by that gift and does not have to dig deep and get into faith… the gift just overflows effortlessly…
WHEN WE DO SOMETHING BY FAITH, WE NEED TO PLANT THE WORD – GET REVELATION – THEN STEP OUT BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH.
OPERATING BY FAITH AS WELL AS BY THE GIFTS ARE BOTH NECESSARY!
A GIFT IS LIMITED TO FUNCTION ‘AS THE SPIRIT WILLS’ - FAITH IS ONLY LIMITED TO THE WORD AND ON US USING OUR FAITH!
Many gifted ministers do not know how to minister if the gift is not operating – they do not have a revelation of being strong in the Word and operating by faith according to the Word. The gifts of the Spirit are not for your everyday living, we live by faith, not by the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are for limited supernatural ministry… I say limited, because not all ministry should depend on the gifts of the Spirit – ministry should be done by faith through people who are full of the Word – the gifts of the Spirit are to operate as the Spirit wills beyond what we do by faith… as I said, both are essential.
Step out today and begin to minister by faith out of the overflow of the Word – as you do, desire the best gifts. I am assured that the Holy Spirit has one or more amazing ministry gifts set aside for you. Get ready for an impartation, get ready for a supernatural ministry gift and as you do, get ready to minister in great power in 2020, in Jesus Name!
Be blessed, go forth and do mighty exploits in His Name, Nick
