He Gave Gifts to Men (Part I)

Therefore, He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”  (Ephesians 4:8).

If you have read Water, Fire, Spirit ~ Baptism of the Holy Spirit, I posted it to prepare you for an emersion into the gifts of the Spirit.  Once you have received the Baptism I spoke of in the previous post, you are ready to learn what your gifts are.  This series will help you identify your God ‘tools’.

I will add here that a lot of the gifts the Lord supplies to us are to be given out to others.  In other words, for ministry to His body.  The body of Christ is His target audience for the operation of these coveted tools.  And yet, the gifts can provide us comfort individually.    

However, unless you know what is in your toolbox, you cannot use them in the name of the Lord.  It is for His glory that the gifts exist, so discovering what your spiritual gifts (aka tools) are, is the next step after receiving the Baptism or In-Filling of the Holy Spirit.  I will add here that these are supernatural abilities different from our natural talents and abilities.

As I mentioned in the Water, Fire, Spirit ~ Baptism of the Holy Spirit post about my personal experience, “I didn’t feel any different (after the Baptism); see any visions or anything…kind of boring.  But soon I started having an insatiable desire to read God’s word and to pray. I prayed fervently for a couple of months about what gift I had been given.

In the summer of 1996, Bobby and I were camping in San Simeon when, praying while on a walk, I got my first scripture address. It was Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”  After I got the address on the walk, I didn’t know if there was an Amos in the Bible, I had to find it when I returned to camp. I was so excited; finally, I knew what my gift was…prophecy!” 

To tell you the truth, I was awestruck by the gifts, and I had a voracious appetite to learn more about them.  But during those early years of my searching for what my gifts were, the Lord told me to seek Him and not the gifts.  He continually gave me Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  And so, I quieted down my spirit to seek Jesus first and then the gifts started to manifest.

A helpful explanation of the gifts came from a pastor friend: 

“All the gifts are given by the same Spirit.  But I also believe because of the work of the disciples and apostles that we could haul all the gifts according to our faith. If we have the Holy Spirit then, all gifts are available to us. I have learned that I can walk in all of them. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit is given out based upon the manifestation of how we receive.”

Therefore, He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  (Galatians 3:5).

I think this verse encapsulates my friend’s belief (especially, if we are using them to bless others): Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.  (Luke 6:38).

Wow, I want ALL the gifts, how about you?