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“I was attending this conference because I felt that I needed to seek the Lord with my all. I am a regular on Sunday and Wednesday as well. At first I just thought this was another day service, wondering if I could get some crumbs that would fall from the table. Well, they did and I heard a story about how the Holy Spirit touched a young pastor during vacation. This gave me confidence and confirmation of almost a mirror situation that happened to me. Man, I thought people would think I was crazy if I told the story, let alone I always wondered if it was really God or just my mind. Well, I know in my heart and soul what the truth is. I would also like to point out that the Spirit led three of the team members to pray and prophesy over me. However, this took place on two different days. I was just happy to be amongst my church family, not expecting anything to happen. I was really shocked when each person from SL prayed and told me how the Lord is going to use me. I was also told the Lord knows I’m going through tough things, and it feels like I’m being pressed. I was then handed a garlic press with a note and a study word. Wow! How did the SL team know? I have never to my knowledge met any of these people that prayed for me at the conference. They were spot on and gave me encouragement that God is in control and cares. 

Thank you SL team for being obedient to God!”

-Smith

Thank you so much for that testimony. It has been so humbling to hear everything that God did through the conference. 

This week we will be going to finish out the last section of the nine gifts, the Revelation Gifts. 

Gifts that “Reveal”: Revelation Gifts

Word of Wisdom: supernatural perspective

1 Corinthians 12:8 – To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom… 

The word of wisdom is usually for the future and is for the purpose of giving a divine direction. This does not mean that it is for wisdom in all subjects. It gives wisdom and insight into a future situation that has not taken place yet. 

One definition of the word of wisdom is the “supernatural perspective to ascertain the divine means for accomplishing God’s will in given situations…” – Jack Hanford Spirit Filled Bible 

Working in this gift does not make one a prophet. One can prophesy or give a word of wisdom without being in the office of a prophet, as it is explained in Ephesians 4:11-12

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ. 

Word of Wisdom is a tool to “equip the saints” to do the work of the Lord. 

Word of Knowledge: supernatural revelation of certain facts in the mind of God

1 Corinthians 12:8 – …to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit…

The word of knowledge can be defined as the “supernatural revelation by the Holy Spirit of certain facts in the mind of God. To work in this gift is to know something from God that we could not know any other way. It can be something that has happened in the past or present about a person, place, or thing. This is not natural knowledge. This is a supernatural revelation of the divine will and plan. 

An example of a word of knowledge can be demonstrated through a situation our team went through. We were at a conference and had felt in prayer that we were going to minister to a young woman who would be wearing a yellow sweater. God revealed some other attributes about her so that when we saw her, we would know that the word he had given us was for her. We were able to purchase some gifts for her in advance and when the day came we were able to pick her out of the crowd and deliver the word God had given us for her. 

How can we know this information? We are His sheep and we know His voice!  We are trained and we sit in His presence and give ear to his voice and learn to be led. We learn to follow the Spirit and direction of Jesus, our King, who only says and does what He hears His Father say and do. This is something that can be learned and practiced, just like any of the other gifts. It is through spending time with Holy Spirit that we are able to operate in the word of knowledge. 

And we don’t always get it right! Sometimes we are off, and that’s okay. The point is that we are allowing our ears to hear what the Lord would say to us and stepping out in faith. 

Discernment of spirits: supernatural insight into the spiritual realm

1 Corinthians 12:10 – “to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits…” 

The discernment of spirits can be defined as the “supernatural revelation of the plan and purposes of the enemy and his forces.” – Jack Hayford Spirit Filled Bible

Discernment Spirits is the perceive by seeing. It is not judgement of others, of their faults or weaknesses. This is not about judging people in the natural, but about discerning what is going on in the spirit realm. This is distinguishing between all classes of spirits: angels, demons, and even human spirits. 

An example of discerning an angel comes from 2 Kings 6:15-17

15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.

16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

They saw into both realms in this situation. 

Another example of people seeing into the spiritual realm is when Jesus and three of his closest disciples went up on the mount of transfiguration. Suddenly there appeared with Jesus, Moses and Elisha, men that had been dead for thousands of years. (Matthew 17:1)

In Daniel 10: 4- 9, Daniel describes a visitation from the angel Gabriel. “On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.”

Another example of people seeing into the spiritual realm is when Jesus and three of his closest disciples went up on the mount of transfiguration. Suddenly there appeared with Jesus, Moses and Elisha, men that had been dead for thousands of years. (Matthew 17:1) The discip[les were able to see Jesus in his glorified state. 

The purpose of discernment is not so we can say, “Hey! Look how cool I am!” It is so we can see what is going on and pray into what God wants to do in the situation. 

In all of the gifts, we are to walk with Jesus, to seek His face, not become obsessed with the manifestations. We want to learn how to operate these gifts with courage and boldness, but also in honor., We never want to expose someone and bring shame or hurt. You may sense something, like they have been molested or something similar. That piece of information would not be good to share in front of everyone. In some cases it may not even need to be shared with the person. Remember, God always has something good to say. He may be showing this secret to you so you can simply pray for the person. Not every secret that God shares with you needs to be shared with others. That is where wisdom and discernment comes into play!

All in all, we hope this series has been encouraging for you and we hope that as you get to know the Giver even more that you will step out and practice using the gifts to minister His love to those around you!

Happy March! And welcome to week 2 of our series on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. But first, we’d like to share another testimony of what God did at the Gifts From His Heart Conference a couple weekends ago. 

“The Sanctioned Love conference was awesome!  The worship music was empowering. (I really liked the young man.)  The messages were very genuine and touched feelings and hit nerves that needed to be touched and hit.  I could sense God guiding the sessions as the leaders seemed to follow an outline instead of a close script. I liked that. The visuals were helpful to me, especially Marcy’s kitchen gadgets.

I came away encouraged knowing God desires for me to be part of His plan by being sensitive to His promptings with His gifts and to exercise them.  I am to say, “Yes Lord” first, resist the enemy, and let Jesus be the host, not the guest. Giving a prophecy does not mean I have to foretell someone their future but to encourage people as Jesus speaks to and through me.  I allow Jesus to bless others when I am his mouthpiece to edify, encourage, enlighten and educate. Pray in tongues, stay in love, be free, be bold.

Thank you, Lynda and group, for a very rewarding experience.” 

-DK

Gifts that “Do”: Power Gifts

1. The Gift of Faith

 1 Corinthians 12:9 (AMP) 9:  to another [wonder-working] faith [is given] by the same [Holy] Spirit, and to another the [extraordinary] gifts of healings by the one Spirit;

The gift of faith is not natural faith, not walking in faith for the promise’s. This is not salvation faith. This is supernatural faith and it is manifested by the Spirit to enable a person to receive a miracle beyond the capacity of ordinary faith to receive.

Here are some examples of the gift of faith from the Bible. 

In Daniel 6:38 we read about Daniel and the lion’s den. Because he believed GOD he went to sleep in the midst of hungry lions. Daniel did not do anything to protect himself, God gave Him supernatural faith. And God was faithful to rescue him from the jaws of the lions. 

In Mark 4:38, Jesus slept in the boat during a storm! Can you imagine sleeping through gale force winds, waves taller than the boat? The disciples were scared out of their minds thinking that they were about to die. And Jesus slept! Jesus had the gift of faith.   

John 14:12 tells us to ‘believe in [Jesus] and greater works shall we do!

Gifts of Healings: supernatural healing without human aid

The Gift of Healing and the Working of Miracles, which we will go into next, are often seen in evangelism or an evangelist can operate in these. Often gifts operate together and others support. The gifts work in tandem with each other. 

God has been able to move through our team through the gift of healing on our recent trip to India. I prayed for a gentleman who had been in a car accident and when we arrived back home I found out that he had been completely healed. He could walk again and had no pain!

Our worship leader, Natalie, prayed for a baby with a severe fever and it went away that night.

Another of our team, Marcy, prayed for a lady with a severe foot infection. She felt the Lord say to tell her that when she woke up in the morning, she would be completely healed. And true to His word, when the woman woke up the next morning her foot was completely healed!

It’s amazing to see what God does when we decide to step out in obedience. And it’s also an adventure. I’ve realized over the years that there is no formula! God heals and moves in new ways every time, and getting to walk with Him is like following a treasure map when it comes to operating in the gifts. You never know what’s coming next. All we know is, it’s good!

 John 16:12-15″I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.

Working of miracles: a display of power giving the ability yo go beyond the natural 

A miracle can be defined as a supernatural intervention by GOD in the ordinary course of nature.   to change the laws of nature  

Here are some examples from the Bible of when the working of miracles was in operation: 

In John 11:23-26, Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead for four day!

Moses, through the power of God, split the Red Sea and allowed the Israelites to pass through on dry land to escape the Egyptians. 

In John chapter 2, we read about Jesus’ first miracle happened at a wedding in Cana, where he turned water into wine. 

Acts 15:12: The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

The Greek word for ‘acts’ of ‘signs’ in this passage is semeion and is defined as: miraculous sign, mark, token, and is used of miracles and wonders as signs of divine authority. 

The word ‘miracles’ is the same Greek word dunamis, meaning acts of power or mighty wonderful works. 

Ask for increase for the Holy Spirit, because we cannot access any of the gifts without faith. But that’s just the thing. We access these gifts through relationship with God. And He rewards those who earnestly seek Him!

John Wimber said that “Faith is spelled R.I.S.K.” And if we are to step out in the gifts of the Spirit, it really does take courage and risk! But when you step out with Holy Spirit, he is always faithful to work through a willing vessel. The fear of man or rejection are just smoke screens. We have learned over the years that when we step out in prophecy or word of wisdom, even if it doesn’t make sense in our earthly understanding, God is so faithful to move on the heart of every person we speak to in obedience to His leading.

Sometimes it feels like you’re standing on the edge of a cliff when God asks you to step out and use the gifts He’s given you to minister to someone. You’re heart starts to beat wildly, your hands get sweaty, and you wonder if what you’re feeling or hearing is actually coming form God? The truth is, we live in a hurting and dying world that is craving an experience with God. The gifts are tools for us to use to lead people into an experience with the Father.

The Gifts from His Heart conference was such a sweet time of unity in the spirit. We were so honored to partner with the team from Refuge City Church. God moved in powerful ways. Many people have said that the worship sessions were some of the most powerful times for them. And God really did get to have a “show and tell” during this conference. There was awesome teaching, but God also showed His love for people through demonstrations of the gifts. There were words of knowledge and prophecy, prophetic dance and art, and healings. We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who came to and prayed for the event.

Here is a testimony from a couple who attended:

”Gifts From His Heart conference was nothing less than a divine appointment for my husband and me! Even as I write this I have a giggle in my belly at how He never gives up on us, and how His timing is perfect!!!  It was a great honor and privilege to cover the conference in prayer, knowing that there would be divine encounters with His Love, for those that would attend.  What I didn’t know was that God had a special encounter for us, an intersect moment to collide with my husbands’ heart again!  It had been five and a half (long) years since we had literally watched the dreams of doing fulltime ministry together, shrivel and become like dry bones. Man the enemy is such a liar and we must be on guard so that we dont partner with him, but rather stand firm in who we are in Christ Jesus!  Have you ever met someone who, while they are sharing truth with you, did it in such a way that you realized they knew something that you did not?  That had been my experience with Lynda from Sanctioned Love,  when she would talk about intimacy with the God….I knew that she knew something,  had experienced something that I had not and it caused me to want to know more of His nature, His love! This searching and finding, in turn has allowed me to take my eyes off of my circumstances, and self imposed expectations, and put them fully on His Wonderful Face!  What I continue to learn and love about God is that HE DOESNT WASTE  A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!!  We have both grown so so much during this time, however, for my husband it still seemed as if there was a proverbial “cork” in his mouth! There were very few and far between times that he would open his mouth to share a gospel truth with anyone. This was particularly hard because he is called to be a teacher of the Word, yet refused and was partnered with wrong thinking and rationalizing why he wouldn’t. At the conference, on Sat afternoon, God showed up in amighty way when Seth had a word from the Lord for my husband! He began by saying that he was hearing “educator”, so point blank asked him of he was a teacher, to which he quickly replied, “Yes, I was a teacher of the Word!”  The moment he spoke that out, declaring it to be truth, something “broke” off of him and a freedom came!!! Of course there were tears and emotions because he wrestled within himself to cast off the old and embrace the freedom!!! The rest of the.prophetic word was right on and in that moment, on Saturday afternoon, the “cork” came out and the Holy Spirit showed me a picture of the cork being removed and replaced with a pour spout so that the oil and new wine can flow!!!  That very afternoon we began to dream again and WOW how we missed that!!! God is so good and because of the deep honor  and integrity that Sanctioned Love chooses to walk in, they are seeing a move of God that is so on track with His heart, that we have it, we must have HIM!!!! Thank you for pursuing Him and for inviting others to join!” — Stacey and Kevin Marcon

For this week, we would like to share some of the teaching on the nine gifts and then share some testimonies of what God did during the conference. 

Here is a list of the nine gifts that are listed in 1 Corinthians 12:

1. Message of Wisdom

2. Message of Knowledge

3. Faith

4. Gift of Healing

5. Miraculous Powers

6. Prophecy

7. Distinguishing between spirits

8. Speaking in different tongues

9. The Interpretation of tongues

All of these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them as He wills. Manifestations of the spirit always point to God. He gives us these gifts in order to point people to Him! During the conference we learned that the nine gifts of the Spirit can be broken down into three categories, gifts that “Say, Do, and Reveal”. This week we will briefly breakdown the “Say” or Utterance Gifts. 

Gifts that “Say”: Utterance Gifts

1. Prophecy: to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people

1 Corinthians 14: 3-5 – But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

So from this scripture we see that prophecy is for edifying (or building up) the church. It promotes growth in the church body as we continue in the work God has set before us. 

2. Tongues: a tongue not naturally known, a supernatural utterance

1 Corinthians 14: 2-4 – For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.  But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.  Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 

Speaking in other tongues is a language that has never been learned by the speaker. It is not understood by the mind or intellect, and it is not understood by the hearer. It is a vocal miracle from the Spirit. The purpose for tongues is to edify your own spirit and the other is to edify the congregation, when there is an interpretation, which is what we will talk about next. 

One of the very interesting points that was brought forward during the conference was the research that has been done by Caroline Leaf. She and her team of scientists conducted an experiment over a 25 year period. They would hook people up to electrodes that read their brain activity. They would then ask them to read texts from their different religions, such as the Quran, the Book of Mormon, etc… and of course the Bible. In every other religion’s text, their brain activity flatlined. But when people would read the Bible, the readings on the machines would go up and down. There was activity. It goes to show that when the Bible talks about the Word of God being living and active, it’s actually true! There is scientific proof of this fact. The same is true when we as believers speak in other tongues, or ‘heavenly language’ as some call it. It surpasses our earthly mind and we are communicating directly with God through His Spirit. (1 Corinthians 14:14)

3. Interpretation of tongues

This is not a translation of tongues, not a ‘word for word’ kind of translation we would hear in any other earthly language. It is an interpretation. It is to interpret the inspired message or the jist of what God is saying. Tongues plus interpretation equals prophecy. 

1 Corinthians 14:5 – I would like every one of you to speak in tongues,  but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

From the context in 1 Corinthians 14;34  it appears that the Corinthians were speaking in tongues and prophesying without regarding others in the body who also had prophetic words to share or a tongue and interpretation. This caused disorder and confusion in the church meetings, with people speaking up and giving their opinions about what was spoken.

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll continue to breakdown the other two categories of the spiritual gifts. 

The spirit moved in a lot of “showing” this weekend, as well as “telling”. One of the members of our team did what is called prophetic art. She had a canvas up on stage during worship and she painted what the Lord had put on her heart. Below is what she felt God showed her and the meaning of the painting.  

“I saw an open heaven over Klamath Basin. It stretched for miles. I saw God pouring out His oil and fire and wind and rain and it was like a waterfall over the city. It became a river – a wave flowing out. And as it flows away from the epicenter, it got deeper and deeper. The gifts of the Spirit have to be taken outside the church, outside the epicenter – for that is where they increase!’ I heard God say, “Drink deep of the river!” Ezekiel 47

Hebrews 1:9 – “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore God your God has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy!”

We look forward to the fruit that will come out of this conference. This is just the starting point. It is our prayer that you will take all that you’ve learned about the gifts and start to out them into practice for the glory of God. It’s about knowing Him and allowing Him to pour His love into you. The gifts are an overflow of that love. Let it spill out on the people around you to bring them into the kingdom of God! We would humbly like to suggest that when you hear God leading you to step out in the gifts, you jump off the “cliff” and watch what He does.

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. 

The table is set with the finest china you own. Candles have been lit and the centerpiece flowers you worked three hours on look fabulous. The seven course meal you planned has taken nearly three days of preparation. You look around the dining room one last time, straighten the silverware, stand back, and sigh. Yep, everything looks perfect. 

A knock sounds at the door and you quickly take off your apron, straighten your hair and check your makeup in the mirror in the hall. You take one last look around your home. It’s never been so clean. And it’s only right that it should be. When God is coming to dinner, you must present your very best. 

You take a deep breath and open the door. Father God is standing on your doorstep. He smiles, “Hello, sweetheart. May I come in?” 

“Of course!” You exclaim and open the door wide. You lead him into the dining room and he seems impressed. You offer him a seat but he declines. He instead pulls out the chair for you. 

“I don’t understand?” You say as you reluctantly sit down and he scoots the chair in for you.

He smiles and says, “Tonight, I serve you.” 

You look up at him, dumbfounded. This was not how you had envisioned the evening going. This isn’t right. You should be serving him, not the other way around. Right?…

A few months ago my team and I were doing a ministry weekend with a team of pastors from California. I invited the team to my home and we had a powerful weekend of training and prayer. As my team and I prepared for this weekend months in advance, we felt the Lord tell us to prepare a seven course meal for them while they were with us. We were to set the table extravagantly. We felt that God had given us specific meanings for each of the courses, and we were to explain the significance behind each one as it was served. It was a lot of work, but God showed his great love through that seven course meal. 

A lot of times in our Christian walk we treat God as the guest of honor at the table. We take great pains to set the table of our lives to impress him. We clean house (as best we can) before we invite him into our home. Guests do not prepare the dinner. Guests do not help with washing dishes. And guests are only allowed in the special rooms of the house. They are most definitely not shown the “catch-all room” on the tour. (You know, the room where you threw all the toys and dirty clothes that had been sitting around before your guest arrived?) 

But the fact of the matter is, Father God is not the guest – he is the host. God has paid the ultimate price to adopt us into his family. He is the one who has prepared a seven course meal for us and invited us to his table. He does the dishes, and then he goes into the rooms of our hearts that we allow him into to clean up the dirty socks and crusty pizza boxes. 

But why is it so hard to see him doing the dirty work? Perhaps it’s because in every other religion, the false gods demand to be served their every (evil) whim at the expense of their followers. My team and I recently went on a trip to India, and I was shocked by the living conditions. Everywhere we went people were living in squalor, trying to scrape by as best they could, while their temples were covered in gold and lavish meals laid out for the gods. But their gods do not answer them. I was so honored to share the love of the only one and true God. The God who always feeds the hungry and heals the brokenhearted. The God who takes off his outer garment, wraps a towel around his waist, and washes our feet. 

Christianity is the only religion where our God sets a table before us and our needs are provided for. Our God is a good father, the best father, who values relationship. He is a father who gives good gifts to his children. 

So what are these gifts? How do we use them? The truth is, many of us have been given gifts that we have refused to open. Thoughts like, “I don’t deserve this. I’m scared of what’s in the box. I’m not sure if that is for today,” are holding us back from opening the amazing gifts that God has given to us. And the fact is that these gifts are not just for you! They’re to share our amazing Fathers love with those around us. 

How would you feel as a child on Christmas and your brother or sister had a present that was for you and your siblings? How would you feel if they didn’t want to open it and share it with you? 

Over the next few weeks we are going to be sharing about the nine gifts of the spirit. We want to teach you how to partner with Holy Spirit to activate these gifts. And we would love to invite you to join us for the Gifts from His Heart conference coming up on February 21 and 22 at Refuge City Church, 2610 Shasta Way, Klamath Falls, Oregon. 

So come to the bounty of the Fathers table, where the lost are always found, the thirsty are quenched, and the hungry are always fed. 

The question is, are you hungry? 

Bon appetit!