Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Using your Gifts

The operating of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are very similar to the way the Gift of praying in tongues operates. They are always present with you, you need to put in efforts and operate them. It takes faith to operate them also it gets easier and you get better, as you keep using your gifts.
It is very easy to get carried away when using spiritual gifts. They manifest the power of God to the world, it is easy to fall prey to pride. It is sad that many people manipulate others using their gifting. It is important that all manifestations of the Gifts are driven and empowered by love and compassion for the people.
God does not take back the gifts once he gives them to you. You can use them at any time, although they are empowered supernaturally through the Holy Spirit, they are subject to you. You can start and stop at anytime with your free will, for example you may receive a word of knowledge about a person or situation but be too scared to do anything with it.
All the gifts are available to a believer, however the gifts generally don't operate in your own life.
A believer cannot heal himself or receive words of wisdom for himself through his own giftings, but he may do so through other channels. The difference is subtle, when you use your gifts for others and are motivated by love and compassion, you will see great results. When you yourself need help you need to ask God like anybody else. You must pray with faith, and trust in God for wisdom or healing in your life. You may also ask other gifted people to pray for you. This is a reason why being part of a group of believers in a church is very important.

BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

The Apostle Paul was a person who was blessed with many revelations, he operated in several gifts of the Holy Spirit. The book of Acts says that even pieces of cloth like a kerchief or an apron when it touched his body could heal people and drive out evil spirits. There was a time when he could not heal himself, he had to pray and be comforted by God. Similarly he has a thorn in the flesh (allegory to a demon) but he could not use his own gifts to drive it out.

REAL LIFE INSPIRATION

There was a young man who was filled with the Holy Spirit and was very excited about his walk with God. He knew about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and how people are blessed with the gifts they desire most. The young man made efforts to find out his own gifts, he was blessed with Word of Knowledge, Word of Wisdom and Discernment of Spirits, its a great combination that helps minister to individuals.
This man was sure he had these gifts, but had never used them before and did not know where to start. Once when he was on the way to a youth camp, he prayed and told God that whatever happens he wanted God to help him use the gifts that were given to him, and touch peoples' lives.
At the youth camp that weekend, he saw a man who suddenly created a huge scene, he fell down on his knees, shouted, clapped and loudly declared to the congregation that he had repented and that God has forgiven and saved him. There was a huge round of applause from everyone.
Suddenly something on the inside told this man that it was a deception and not to believe what was going on. He was taken aback as he did not like judging people and situations. He somehow knew in his spirit what was going on was not motivated by God and that there was some demonic activity behind the man.
The man dismissed the whole episode and carried on, sometime later he met one of the staff members at the camp who told him that the man who acted saved earlier was actually a drug dealer.
She told him that he did this every year to attract attention and to remove suspicion from himself. The young man was shocked, he realized the Holy Spirit was prompting him through his gifts. He prayed and thanked God, thats when God showed him the next step, he was given wisdom on how to approach the man and save him for real. The young man obeyed the instructions given to him and he soon got the man saved in a private one to one prayer session.
This was a life changing experience for the young man who discovered how powerful the gifts of the Holy Spirit were and how effective they can be when used correctly.

LIFE APPLICATION

*Cherish your gifts and use them, the more you use them the more people will benefit and the more will you receive
*Always make sure that Love is the only thing motivating you using the gifts
*Never use your gifts to manipulate people