Cart is empty Have you ever wondered why sales people annoy us so much? I’m talking telemarketers and even people who come to our place of business or home and want to sell us something. How likely are you to buy from a total stranger? I know I’m not giving my hard-earned money to someone I don’t know or trust.
Now how does that scenario change if it’s a friend or family member? You are much more likely to buy from someone you have relationship with, right? You know them, you trust them.
It’s the same with the gifts of the Spirit. Let me explain. Often times we come to God for what we want, for what He can provide for us. But it’s really not about what God can do through us or for us. It’s about knowing Him. And from that overflow, we operate in the gifts of the Spirit.
Sanctioned Love has been partnering with Refuge City Church this weekend to host a conference called Gifts from His Heart, and it has been amazing! We wanted to teach about the spiritual gifts, but this weekend is really about the Gift Giver. Because the truth is, if we don’t have relationship with the Good Father who “gives good gifts to His children”, we’ve completely missed the point.
During the conference this weekend, we wanted to share the ‘how’ of operating in the gifts of the Spirit. And it’s important to learn how to do that and also activate it in our Christian walks. But more importantly, we wanted to share the ‘why’. It’s about cultivating relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We operate in the gifts through love, or else we’re just being obnoxious, “clanging cymbals”. (1 Corinthians 1:13) And if you’ve ever listened to a middle school band concert, you know no one likes obnoxious cymbals.
I’ve heard it said many times that “we seek His face, not his hand”. Getting to experience a service where there are prophecies and healings is amazing. But we should seek Him first, just because of who He is, not what He can do for us. How amazing is it when our kids come up and give us a hug and say they love us, not wanting anything from us in return? It seriously melts my heart when my kids do that with me. How do you think it makes Father God feel when we do that with him!?
In Matthew 6 Jesus is teaching his followers about the Father and how we constantly run after the things of this world: “What we gonna eat? What we gonna wear? Where we gonna sleep?” But Jesus says to seek Him first:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
This conference is not about sharing a secret formula. There is no formula for operating in the gifts of the Spirit. Because no formula will ever replace the intimacy of the supply from the Father! JESUS is the spirit of revelation and the spirit of truth. JESUS is the spirit of wisdom and knowledge and He is the gift and the Gift Giver. It’s always about the GIVER.
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. or ignorant ….You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of gifts (grace gifts), but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation (showing Forth) of the Spirit is given for the common good. (for whoever needs it) To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
This is the ’why’: if we can come into a deeper understanding and knowledge of these things laid out in 2 Corinthians 12, then the HOLY Ghost has more opportunity and capacity to flow through all of us. As verse 7 (shown in bold above) states, this is for the common good, for those who need a touch from the one true and living God. It’s to point others to the Father and bring them into His family! It’s to lift up and edify the body of Christ.
We hope that you will continue to learn and grow in the gifts, whether you have been able to be a part of the conference or are following along here. It is our prayer that you encounter the One who created you in your mother’s womb, the One who gives good gifts to His children, and the One who laid down his life for you when He became the ultimate Gift- the Savior and Redeemer of the world.
