Finish Your Race and Fulfill Your Assignment from God

God is building his church and you have a significant role to fulfill. Do you know your assignment in the body of Christ? God didn’t create you to do a job for him, he created you to be his child, plain and simple. Acknowledge God as your Father and Christ as your savior and purpose is fulfilled.

However, now that you’re in his family, he has an assignment for you, some people call this a calling. You can accept or decline the assignment, it’s your choice. God will not change his mind about you nor will he revoke your access to Heaven if you don’t fulfill your assignment, but don’t you want to complete what he wants you to do?

You may have multiple assignments throughout your time on earth as a member of his body. Your assignments may be as simple as being kind to strangers but it may also be serving as a missionary to a hostile nation where you lose your life, or any number of assignments in between. Either way, he has equipped you with his spirit, he continually leads you and he will be your peace as you work out the details.

I pray you can confidently say the same thing as Paul said to Timothy…

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

— The Apostle Paul

So how do you know your assignment? It’s as easy as this, step into the opportunities you have to love people. If something organized or formal takes shape, steward it well. You’re free, be creative, dream a little, have fun with it, but LOVE intentionally and follow through.

FOLLOW THROUGH!!!

FINISH WHAT YOU START!!!

This week I decided to feature my friend Jimmie at church. I was touched by his effort to start a Bible study for some unchurched young men at his workplace and thought it would be encouraging for him to share the details at church.. Check out this testimony. I pray Jimmie’s love for people inspires you, I pray you are provoked unto good works, and I pray you are compelled to take action and step into whatever opportunities you have to love people. They’re all around, open your heart and run with it!!!

You can watch more messages from my series: GOD IS BUILDING HIS CHURCH.

The Gift of Tongues Aligns Creation to Reflect God's Will

“Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”

— Max Planck - Nobel Prize in Physics winner, Originator of Quantum Theory

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Max Planck is credited with pioneering quantum theory. He discovered that humans are not merely impacted by nature, we are at interplay with the subatomic world. Through his research, Dr. Planck discovered that particles and waves respond to human observation at the quantum level. In layman’s terms, Planck discovered that matter behaves differently at the smallest observable level. It behaves differently based on human intention, emotion and observation. He said this in response to his discovery.

"Anyone who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: 'Ye must have faith.' It is a quality which scientists cannot dispense with. ... The pure rationalist has no place here.” ~ Max Planck

This points to the way God structured the world in Genesis when he gave mankind dominion over the planet.

Personally, I like to understand things from a scientific perspective, even spiritual things. We can apply the rules of science to matters of the spirit, we just have to think spiritually to understand the conclusions.

There is a consistent physics to spirit. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, and its main goal is to understand how the universe behaves. I believe that the spirit of God within us will teach us the physics of Heaven as we trust God and grow in our identity in Him.

The spiritual spectrum is accessible now. The kingdom of Heaven is at hand, it is within. It is absolutely possible to understand the spiritual spectrum through our scientific understanding of the created world.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20

This perspective does not put God in a box and it’s not trying to intellectualize spiritual matters, it actually demystifies spiritual realities and helps us interact with God’s spirit in a practical way. I don’t know about you but I’m not satisfied with interesting ideas and mysteries about God’s power, I want to see results. When I pray or seek to believe a promise, I want to know that what I’m doing is effectual, that’s it’s making a difference. I want to be able to observe changes when I trust God. I don’t just want to say I have faith, I want that trust in God to come to pass and manifest in this dimension. God gave us a way to work with him to see the manifestation of His spiritual promises.

God Declares His Will Through You

He gave you his spirit so you would understand what He put in you (1 Corinthians 2:12). His spirit is searching your heart to show you areas where you don’t trust Him, and He shows you the truth to believe about your identity in Him. Knowing His truth sets you free. He's trying to lead and guide you into all truth and His spirit is trying to reveal to you what He’s prepared for you, and how to navigate life to position yourself to walk in those good things, and be a blessing to others (John 16:13).

Praying with your spirit is cooperating with that process. God gave you authority over all creation, even at the subatomic level. When you pray with your spirit, God is collaborating with your authority to declare His will.

Through Christ, God has given you spiritual powers/gifts/graces to influence the material world. One of those graces is “tongues.” “Praying in tongues” is the popular phrase used in Charismatic and Pentecostal denominations but the more Biblical concept is “praying with your spirit.” You can actually pray and praise with your spirit.

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 1 CORINTHIANS 14:14-15

Praying with your spirit edifies you, it helps you open your heart to receive strength from God in your inner man. If you’re at church, someone might even get an interpretation after you pray with your spirit. See 1 Corinthians 14 for the Apostle Paul’s instruction on the operation of tongues in church.

“Tongues” just means “language.” Your physical tongue is involved but the power of praying this way comes from your spirit. Actually, it’s your spirit cooperating with God’s spirit and your tongue just interacts with this world through the sounds that are formed.

There are no magic words being spoken when you use this gift, you are simply creating sound with your mouth. What makes those sounds powerful is your authority as a human being coupled with God’s declaration. Praying with your spirit, in unintelligible tongues, is simply yielding your human authority to God and allowing Him to pray through you.

There may be times when your heart and your spirit are not engaged. There are times when you’re just making sounds. But there are also times when your faith is involved and your spirit cooperates with God’s spirit in you and you speak words, groanings, songs and simple sounds that are directly from God’s spirit.

Imagine adding another layer to the sounds that are coming out of your mouth, a spiritual layer that is given shape, a container, by the sounds and words you’re speaking. God uses the sounds coming our of your mouth as a vehicle for His spirit to declare His will through you. He does this because He designed this world to respond to humans, I’ll say more about that a little later in this article.

The Material World Responds to Mankind

The material world responds to mankind. Our emotions affect the health of plants. Human observation affects matter at the quantum level. Photons arrange themselves in response to human DNA. Collaborative prayer can lower the crime rate in a city. These 3 videos touch on the first 3 points I made, click here to read about the Washington D.C. crime experiment.

As wild as these experiments may be, they reflect one simple truth, the created material world responds to mankind. God designed this world to respond to the presence and authority of humans. Your words make an impact on the physical. Your emotions and the beliefs of your heart have an electromagnetic and energetic effect of matter. This only serves to validate the importance of collaborating with God’s spirit within you when you speak and pray.

God knows this, so He gave us the wonderfully powerful way of praying from our spirit as to affect the material world. God does not work through magic, and His ways are not mysterious, they’re spiritual. We must think spiritually, but understand that we then impact the physical world.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

— Max Planck

All The Pieces Come Together

After you pray with your spirit, God makes everything work together for your good. That idea may sound familiar to you in part. Most Christians lift Romans 8:28 out of context and apply it to cancer, the loss of a child or even a cold. Romans 8:28 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who I have been called according to his purpose." You can not lift out that passage and apply it randomly to life’s circumstances, you must apply it in context.

Here’s the context…

ROMANS 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who I have been called according to his purpose.

This is saying that after you have prayed in tongues, THEN God works everything together… How? He explained it, when you don’t know what to pray, He’ll pray through you and declare His will which causes all things to work out for your good. It’s actually a very simple concept but we have years of bad theology attached to this one passage.

God can make everything work out for your good because you’ve allowed Him to speak into your life through your own mouth. This reflects how incredibly important it is to utilize this gift.

Do It

If you’re struggling with praying with your spirit, or you’ve been taught it’s not for today, give it a try. If you are born again, you have God’s spirit living in you. Being baptized in the spirit is not when the spirit comes in you, it’s when it comes upon you. God’s spirit comes upon you from within you. So you can go ahead and do it, pray with your spirit or speak in tongues.

Try this, become aware of God in you, allow His presence to rise up within you and then give voice to that rising. Open your mouth and make sounds in response to the awareness of God’s spirit within you. He WILL declare His will through and it’s a promise of His that things WILL work out for you.

A Confirming Prophetic Word Was Given That Highlighted What God Wanted Us To Remember

Here’s some bonus content, this word came from Stacy Surfus. It’s a powerful confirmation of the message I shared, I think you’ll find it inspiring and insightful. I see this as a word directly from God to encourage you to use the authority in your mouth and pray with your spirit continually!!

“Sunday morning during the worship team sound check I felt like drawing in my notebook. So I opened it up and started drawing triangles over the places that ink had bled through the paper. While I was drawing I had the start of a sentence in my head, “All the pieces come together” and as I thought about it more I thought “At the sound of Your words” but words didn’t have the right feel so I scratched it out and wrote voice.

So the sentence became “All of the pieces come together at the sound of your voice.” I felt like it was the concept of what the Lord was trying to communicate so I dug deeper by looking at thesaurus.com to expand the concept into something concrete. Often this is how the Lord and I communicate, almost like playing a game while co-laboring. He makes it fun for me by allowing me to dig deeper and discover the beauty of what He is communicating. He also often speaks to me very poetically, and very visually.

As I searched the thesaurus the other words that jumped out at me to expand the word ‘pieces’ were fragments, elements, & segment; for ‘come together’ I added fall into place, line up, assemble and align; for ‘sound’ I discovered drop, ripple, vibration and resonance; lastly for voice I chose utterance, proclamation, affirmation and mandate.

It is easy to create multiple sentences by switching out these words for each other. The first three that I have put together that resonated with my spirit are the following: 

• All of the fragments assemble at the vibration of your utterance. 

• All of the elements align with the resonance of your proclamation.

• All of the pieces align at the drop of your voice.

I have sketched out two of these sentences and will probably continue to make more sentences and sketches as each of these ways of saying the same thing have touched on something deep and healing in my own heart and I know will have the opportunity to do the same in the hearts of others.

As a creative I know that sharing my expressions and their process of coming to be can have a profound impact on people because it is how I connect with God and often how He chooses to work through me. So may these words and images bless you in your journey, draw you into an encounter with the God of all creation, remind you that your words carry the power of life and death and bless you with the wisdom to use them to expand the Kingdom.”

You can connect with Stacy at https://www.manifestgumption.com

Can You Evolve Spiritually? Demystifying the Gifts of the Spirit.

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I used to sit on my roof, smoking marijuana, trying to send mental signals to UFOs to pick me up and take me on a trip to the Pleiades. I often used psychedelics to “expand my mind” and help me connect with the multiverse. I had a theory that I was more connected with other dimensions while I was on LSD. While I thought I was becoming more spiritual and increasing my awareness, it was actually leading me to a very dark place. I began to hear audible voices and had a direct, open encounter with multiple demons that lasted for months. I wrote about it in my book Devil Walk. Click for more on my book Devil Walk.

This article isn’t about that encounter, it’s about the mindset that facilitated the encounter. I believed that I could become more spiritual through the knowledge of secrets. I believed that I could ascend the “human condition” through expanded consciousness. The agent of expansion was psychedelics. I believed we were evolving into more spiritual beings. I believed aliens were more advanced humans, and could help me learn to become more evolved. I believed there were secrets I could learn in that altered state that would teach me to live in a higher plane.

Charismatics Are Like New Agers

The New Age community predominantly believes in evolution. They believe that the next phases of human evolution are not physical but spiritual in nature. In other words, we’re not evolving a better body, we’re developing a more spiritual mind or consciousness. This evolved consciousness will be able to interact with higher dimensions of existence that are free from illness, disease, government, religion, war, and a host of other worldly constructs. Many new agers believe you can tap into that realm through drugs.

Why am I making this point? Because many Christians believe the same thing, although they use different terms.

Spiritual Evolution

Spiritual evolution is actually a very common mindset in some circles of Christianity. Charismatic Christians are not necessarily using drugs to try to become more evolved spiritually, but they’re trying to become more spiritual, none the less. The truth is that we are complete in Christ, we have God’s spirit within us and we are as spiritual as we’ll ever be. We can become more confident in the power that is within us, but we can never gain more anointing or power. Most folks would actually agree with that but when the rubber meets the road, many Christians still believe things like this…

• There are different kinds of anointings (healing, prophetic, etc…)

• You can receive different anointings or gifts through impartation

• You can carry someone else’s mantle (anointing)

• You can gain more power over higher levels of demons through fasting

• There are keys to receive more anointing/power

• You can walk in the gifts more as you live more holy

The list goes on. When the Apostle Paul outlines the 9 Gifts or Graces of the Holy Spirit that God will empower within believers, he is very intentional to say there’s one spirit, one baptism of that spirit, one Lord, one body and it’s the same spirit who works all those graces in different people. All the gifts/graces are in all believers but God will lead different people to walk in the gifts/graces in different ways at different times.

Impartation

I make the point because too many believers have been taught that they are not as far along as they should be because they’re not performing miracles or giving prophecies. These kinds of teachers often offer the opportunity for an impartation so you can receive something you didn’t have before or walk in a power they’re walking in. It’s just simply not the way it works.

Many pull their beliefs about impartation from 2 Timothy 1:6 where Paul instructs Timothy to “fan into flame the gift that’s in him through the laying on of my hands.” Remember from my last two articles (here and here) that to have the spirit of God is to be anointed, and that anointing abides.

Paul is referring to Timothy’s ordination at Lystra, when Paul formally placed him as a shepherd in the church. He’s reminding Timothy that his assignment is to not be ashamed and preach the Gospel. If you read the whole chapter, the context is being placed in the body of Christ as an apostle and teacher, not receiving a power he didn’t already have.

How To Operate In The Gifts

Ok, now that you understand that you don’t need another anointing, more power or to grow spiritually, let’s talk about the actual gifts. The graces/gifts of the spirit are simply empowerments that God works through you for the benefit of all.

If you want to operate in the gifts/graces of God’s spirit within you, here are the ingredients.

• Love people, see the person you’re praying for through the eyes of God’s love for them

• Be at peace within your own heart, mind and soul

• Acknowledge God within

• Act on the inspiration that arises

Act On Inspiration

Love never fails! If you want to see God move through you and touch people’s lives with his power, love them. Don’t lead with the gift, don’t worry about trying to give a word or get them healed, just love them. Allow’s God’s love for that person to come alive within you to the point that you’re not even thinking about their need or any gift you want to operate in.

Then…

TRUST GOD!! The Holy Spirit will teach you what to do. Yes, really, that’s it! I promise you God is speaking to you and influencing your heart on what action to take next. No one can activate you into it, no one can impart something to you to make you do it, God won’t give you secret knowledge to help you understand it, but God will influence you and will teach you what to do and say.

How do you hear from him, how do you know what he’s saying? You tell me. You’ll never know if you don’t act.

I am not offering you a course in miracles, an outline of how to get words of knowledge or any information that will give you understanding, I’m simply telling you to love people and trust that God will lead you. You can do it. You hear and follow God better than you think you do. Get over the fear, the shame, the confusion, and act on love.

The Five Fold Ministry and God's Church

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God is building His church in the earth today. His church is also known as the Body of Christ. Every single Jesus follower has an assignment within God’s church or Christ’s body, including you. Some roles are formal while other roles may not even be recognized by the traditional church. I want you to know that you are important, you belong, and God has an assignment for you that brings Him glory and causes you to experience fulfillment.

The 5 Fold Ministry

The Apostle Paul received instruction from God about church government and how leadership should be structured, he wrote about it in his letter to the church at Ephesus. Paul mentions apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

Let me address this from the beginning, the “5 fold ministry” is NOT a hierarchy. A hierarchy is a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority. In the body of Christ, no person has authority over another. The 5 positions listed are offices of administration, not positions of authority or power.

All believers have the same authority, which is Christ in us. All believers have the same power, which is Christ in us. All believers have the same anointing, which is Christ in us. There is no apostolic anointing and there is no prophetic anointing, there is one anointing, one spirit and one Lord, Christ in us. The offices mentioned in Ephesians 4 are functions within the body of Christ, not positions of authority over other parts of the body of Christ.

Here’s why God instituted these offices of administration…

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to EQUIP THE SAINTS for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 UNTIL WE ALL ATTAIN TO THE UNITY of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

READ The Unknown Healer: Understanding the Gifts of the Spirit for more on the idea of anointing.

System of Control

It’s interesting that the “5 fold” is to help believers stay away from bad doctrine but sometimes people who overemphasize it end up perpetuating bad doctrine.

Here’s an example of what I mean, this is a popular teaching that is pervasive in circles that focus on apostolic and prophetic ministry. This progression starts with a truth then makes an extrapolation that strays into error and creates the possibility for control.

Here’s the progression...

• Jesus is coming back for a spotless bride.

• Jesus isn’t coming back until the bride is spotless.

• The 5 fold is for the perfecting of the saints.

• Therefore proper apostolic alignment is necessary for the bride to be perfected properly so Jesus can come back, because he’s not coming back for a bride he has to clean.

Many of you have encountered some form of this teaching. My question is, “what makes the bride spotless?” The obvious answer is, the blood of Christ. It is most assuredly NOT being aligned under the proper apostolic covering. There is no spiritual covering other than Jesus, no man or woman is your spiritual covering or authority.

The leaders in these kinds of churches end up taking on a role that is not proper, they place themselves between the believer and the Holy Spirit. If a man believes he’s this kind of apostle then it’s his responsibility to make you perfect. Usually a “culture” is formed around this idea and you must conform to rise through the ranks. If you don’t conform you are labeled as dishonoring or something similar. If you have been in those circles, you know the mystical control that’s exercised among the leaders.

The 5 fold offices of administration are supposed to help Jesus followers grow up into their new creation identity in Christ, not make them spotless enough for Jesus to return.

Colossians 1:22 but now He has reconciled in His body of flesh through death, to present you holy and unblemished and blameless before Him

Jesus presents you holy and unblemished to the Father, not your apostle.

You Have An Assignment

We need people to answer the call and take their assignments within the body of Christ seriously, but it must be from the perspective of family and unity rather than authority and power.

You are complete in Christ but God has an assignment for you. Do you know what it is? It’s not based on what you do really well, it’s based on who you love. Your assignment or your calling is made evident by who your heart has passion for. Whether that be widows, orphans, the homeless, single moms, pastors, bikers, politicians, children, etc… Jesus commands us to love one another, it only makes sense that your assignment is related to who you have love for.

I encourage you to spend some time answering the question, “who do you love?” Identify that people group and take action toward them, in whatever way the Holy Spirit leads.

Next week I will begin to talk about the specific gifts and help you become confident in the gifts God is seeking to work through you.

My series Why Am I Here? may be a helpful resource for you this week.

The Unknown Healer: Understanding the Gifts of the Spirit

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “gifts of the spirit?” Do you get excited, do you feel pressure, do you want to walk in the gifts but don’t know how, do you feel like you’ve “been there done that,” do you feel like the gifts aren’t for today? Maybe something else?

I have some observations I’d like to share with you. Let’s start with the word “gift.”

Gifts/Graces of the Spirit

The word “gift” is the Greek word charisma. The root word is charis, which is the word for “grace.” Charisma is charis in action. This makes sense when you understand the true definition and function of GRACE.

Grace is unmerited favor but it also means “God’s divine influence in your heart.” Grace also means “capacity.” The idea is this, God will empower you in your inner man, otherwise known as your heart. He empowers you to do things that only His spirit is able to do, things you can not do in your own strength. Things like live holy, heal people, function as a prophet, be righteous, all of which are empowerments (gifts) of His spirit. But who can operate in which gift?

When I think of the gifts/graces, I think about a guy I call the unknown healer.

The Unknown Healer

You can read about this guy in Luke 9:49-50. This person is mentioned after Jesus sent out the original 12 apostles with power to cast out demons and heal people but before he sent out the 70 disciples 2 by 2.. The Apostle John has an interesting experience with “the unknown healer.”

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

Who is this guy? He must have heard that Jesus gave His followers power and decided it was for him too. He took that for himself and jumped out there on his own. I find this seemingly insignificant story incredibly encouraging. He wasn’t part or the 12, he wasn’t part of the 70, but he decided that God’s power could work through him too.

Do you know who he is? I’ll tell you, he’s YOU!! Yes, you!! You’re the unknown healer. You’re the unnamed Jesus follower that can take God’s power and run with it. If you have His spirit, you can yield to His influence and be empowered to express His power. The fact the he is unnamed, and not formally sent out by Jesus tells me that anyone who chooses to minister in the authority of Jesus can do so, and Jesus is cool with it.

What about John’s response?

John, the self-professed “disciple whom Jesus loved,” the guy who reclined on Jesus’ chest, the author of the Gospel about God’s love. John told the unknown healer to STOP. Notice John’s reason, “because he follows not with us.”

He doesn’t go to our church, he didn’t go through our supernatural school, he doesn’t know our culture, he doesn’t have proper exegesis, he’s not one of the elect, he reads from the wrong translation of the Bible, etc… John tries to stop a man who has taken Christ’s mandate to set people free from demonic oppression and disease, because he was not part of his tribe.

This is “religion” at its worst. Our churches are full of this kind of division today. We disqualify people all the time because they “don’t follow with us.” Jesus said, “don’t tell him to stop, if he’s not against me he’s for me.” That’s as wide open as it gets, that’s freedom! It takes a secure leader to offer that kind of freedom. I understand the importance of everything being done decently and in order, but Jesus didn’t try to control people, He gave them power and set them free.

Jesus didn’t say, go get him and make sure he knows all the Law and Prophets. He didn’t say, bring him to me so I can make sure he’s interpreting the Bible properly. Jesus didn’t say, he needs to go through my training to be qualified. Jesus didn’t even ask the guy’s name, he told his followers to leave the guy alone. Jesus knew a secret, the Holy Spirit will teach the unknown healer to minister as he goes.

There Is Only One Anointing

Have you heard about the prophetic anointing, or apostolic anointing? The problem is, there is no such thing. There’s one anointing, that’s the indwelling of God’s spirit.

He places His spirit in you and it abides. His spirit will then move through you and empower you in different ways, which some people refer to as “anointing,” but that’s actually not scriptural. If you have God’s spirit, you are anointed, period.

1 John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.

To anoint with oil, you smear the oil on the person. The way God anoints is by smearing or spreading His spirit within you, and that smearing remains. If you have His spirit, you have been anointed by God. That indwelling spirit will then empower you in different ways. Paul’s audience would have understood this to mean, there is ONE anointing. As you read this passage from 1 Corinthians 12, notice how careful Paul is to express the point that there’s one spirit and that one spirit has different capacities.

1 CORINTHIANS 12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the SAME SPIRIT; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the SAME LORD; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the SAME GOD who empowers them all in everyone. 

Same spirit, same Lord, same God. You can also say, same anointing. There are no different anointings because there is only one spirit. Now that he’s made it clear that’s there’s one anointing, he describes how that one spirit empowers different kinds of gifts in people.

The word “given” means empowered or endued. The idea is that God empowers people to walk in these graces or gifts. The word gift is not to be understood as a stand alone package that one person gets while another person doesn’t. God’s spirit might empower one person to do something and another person to do another thing, but it’s the same anointing/spirit working the graces/gifts through everyone.

7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 ALL THESE ARE EMPOWERED BY ONE AND THE SAME SPIRIT (anointing), who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

God chooses which grace/gift he expresses through people. This is important because we’re all the same, all equal, all important members in God’s body. You don’t need to run to a “gifted” minister and have them lay hands on you to impart their anointing or gifts to you. You are complete in Christ, lacking nothing. As God is building His body in the earth, he needs you to yield to Him so He can express the power of His Gospel through you, you are an important part of His body!!

Impartation

I understand impartation in the same way I understand tuning an instrument with a tuning fork. Before digital devices, musicians would use tuning forks. You can strike a tuning fork and hold it next to a motionless string on a guitar and that string will begin to resonate the same frequency as the tuning fork. Another person who is yielding to God and allowing Him to empower a certain gift through them can lay hands on you and “tune you” to the frequency of that gift.

That person doesn’t give you something, they awaken something within you. It’s still God who decides which gifts work through people, but if you’re called to operate in a certain gift, another person who already operates in that gift can help you become tuned to that gift and flow in it.

If you have God’s spirit, you have all the gifts in you, but they need to be activated. Another person can help you activate them or you can simply yield your heart to God and allow Him to empowerment you.

How Do I Do It?

You might wonder how to actually express the gift. Here’s the truth, you probably already operate in that gift, you’re just not intentional about it and you may not be confident in it. The best way to become confident is to minister to people. Get around some people and pay attention to what happens inside you. Connect to love for those people and do what the spirit leads you to do. By the way, you hear God better than you think, you have a new heart that knows His voice.

Fall In Love with People

After Paul goes into great detail about the gifts, he ends chapter 12 by saying, “I will show you a more excellent way.” He’s still talking about God empowering people to walk in his abilities, but he begins to frame it with love. He says all that stuff is pretty much worthless without love. He makes the bold statement, LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Here’s the bottom line. If you love people, genuinely have compassion for them, God will help you bless them. God will teach you in the moment what to say and do. He might want to give them a promise from His Word through you, He might want to help them understand which decision to make, He might want to heal them, He might want to call them into a specific office in the body of Christ, it can be all kinds of things. And He can do all of those things through you because you have His spirit within you. You are anointed, in fact, you are as anointed as Jesus!

The question is, will you lay aside your ego and fear of man, and act on the compassion that arises in your heart for that person?

Try This

The Holy Spirit will teach you as you go. Each day when you go about your life, see if you can connect to love for people in your heart. See if you can look at people and have compassion for them. I don’t mean feel sorry for them, but feel compassion for them as describes in 1 Corinthians 13. Fall in love with people. It may be just an emotion or feeling at first but it may also turn into an action. Be sure to stick to healthy boundaries, don’t create codependency or do their part for them, but love them, in real ways.

In the coming weeks I’ll discuss the specific gifts in more detail, but start with being willing to allow love to rise up in your heart for everyone around you.

Also review last week’s blog for more on this topic.

A Condemnation-Free Heart Has Great Faith

Would you like a formula to develop great faith? The kind of faith sees the manifestation of everything you ask for?

The truth is, there is no formula, but there are some necessary ingredients to great faith. #1 key ingredient to developing great faith is to live a life where your heart doesn’t condemn you. #2 is to keep Christ’s commandments. #3 is to ACT on that commandment to love people.

Before you think I’m presenting a legalistic formula that’s based on performance, keep reading, I’m actually talking about what’s going on in your heart and how to develop confidence toward God.

1 John 3:18 Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. 19 And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things. 21 Beloved, IF OUR HEARTS DO NOT CONDEMN US, WE HAVE CONFIDENCE BEFORE GOD, 22 AND WE RECEIVE FROM HIM WHATEVER WE ASK, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.

How do you get your heart to stop condemning you?
You keep His commandments.

Which commandments?
Love God and love people.

How do you love God?
We love Him because he first loved us. Our love for Him is a response.

So the proper way to love God is by responding to His love for you. What does that look like? You acknowledge Him for who He is in all His authority and majesty, AND you walk in love toward people.

That’s the “formula.” Respond to God’s love for you in such a way that your heart stops condemning you and then allow that love to spill onto others from your own heart.

A Heart that Condemns

If you follow John’s logic you’ll see that a heart that’s free from self-condemnation is so receptive to God that is receives whatever it asks. This kind of heart will only ask for things that God wants for you so it will not ask amiss and therefore will always receive what it asks for.

Earlier in his letter, John walks us through the basic concept that God is love, in Him is no darkness, and since we’ve been forgiven and now belong to God, we should also walk in the light, turning our back on sin.

A heart that is allowing God to abide within it and influence it will not choose sin, therefore will not experience self-condemnation.

This is not a reference to salvation, it’s a reference to the person who keeps their heart free from self-condemnation. We already know there’s no condemnation (from God) for those who are in Christ, but there may be condemnation from SELF in the heart of one who is in Christ.

Walking in the light, free from the lure of sin doesn’t cause God to give you what you ask for, it causes your heart to be confident toward God, therefore able to receive what God has actually already given you in Christ. His spirit is in you and that spirit contains everything you’ll ever need; all the wisdom, instruction, provision, blessing, grace and power you’ll ever need in this earth.

The reason to walk in the light rather than in sin and darkness is to keep your heart condemnation free. God isn’t condemning you, you are. To John, the truest way to ensure a condemnation-free heart is to love God (respond to His love) and love people. Loving God, responding to His love for you, and letting that love spill out to others develops great confidence within, such confidence that it ceases to limit God and allows God’s influence to meet every need.

He already knows what you need, when your heart doesn’t condemn you, you will ask for the things He knows you need. You will also be sensitive enough to ask for the things He wants you to desire.

What Does He Want You To Desire?

God wants you to desire His will for you and good things for others. God wants you to desire to see His healing and transformative love restore and rescue others from darkness.

When your heart is condemnation-free, you will allow His love for others to flow through you. Conversely, if you want God’s power to flow through you toward others, begin to intentionally love people. If you want to see your needs met and see the manifestation of “all that you ask of God,” fall in love with people…and ACT ON THAT LOVE. Acting on God inspired love for others teaches your heart to be confident toward Him.

Keeping His Commandments

Keeping Christ’s commandments develops a confidence toward God that causes you to see the manifestation of “all that you ask of God.” That promise is so powerful I can’t stop myself from repeating it. Keeping the rules doesn’t make God happy enough to give you what you’re asking for, that’s not what John is saying. He’s saying this, as you respond to and experience God’s love for you, you will love Him, honor and worship Him, which will cause you to love others, which causes you to live condemnation free, which results in great faith/confidence toward God. AND THEN, this kind of transformed, God soaked heart, naturally and effortlessly desires the things God desires for you.

How to Experience God’s Love

Try this, develop a daily habit of meditating on God’s love for you. Here are a few things to meditate on that have to do with God’s love for you:

• Because your sins have been forgiven through His name.

• Because you know Him who is from the beginning.

• Because you have overcome the evil one.

• Because you know the Father.

• Because you know Him who is from the beginning.

• Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

These are from 1 John 2:12-14. Don’t confess these to make them true, confess them because they ARE true! Make sure you meditate on each one until actually feel the associated emotions. I’d love to hear you describe what each of these feel like for you.

There are so many passages to pull from, share your favorite passage or “method” that helps you experience and solidify God’s love for you in your heart.

Your Place in the Body of Christ

This article is the first in a series about developing confidence in the heart to see the manifestation of all that you ask of God. I will continue this series for a few weeks. Next week I will discuss how walking in the graces/gifts of the spirit fit in to developing confidence. Stay tuned! Subscribe below to make sure you get all my emails.