Friday 3 July 2020

Using Your Gifts



 We must then open and wholeheartedly use our gift.

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:10

Rossini was once presented with a watch by the King of France—of which he was justly proud.  Several years after, showing it to a friend, he was told that though he had possessed it so long, he did not know its real value.  "Impossible," said Rossini, whereupon the friend, taking the watch, touched a secret spring, at which an inner case flew open, disclosing a beautiful miniature painting of Rossini himself.

This is characteristic of a certain type of modern Christianity. It values its ethics and is acquainted with and appreciates much of its teaching, but it has not discovered the inner secret which gives it its supreme value. The portrait of Christ is still hidden. When the secret spring is touched and the Face of Christ is recognized, the whole attitude of mind and theory of values is changed. The secret spring for the Christian is the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit comes to reveal the face of Christ and unlock His full power in and through us, revealing so much more of Him. 

“Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"  (John 14:9) Christ said to one who called himself a disciple and an intimate. The Apostle John lay as dead before a revelation of the one he thought he knew so well but didn’t really know at all (Revelation 1:17). In both cases what was needed to see more of Christ was a revelation of Him by the Spirit, and this is exactly the same for us today.

The extent to which we open up God’s gift of the Spirit to us is the extent to which we will see more of Christ and His Image will be formed more and more in us. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” This is clearly in the context of the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives if you read the preceding verses from verse 1. The Holy Spirit is the seal that carries the image of Christ upon our lives (Ephesians 1:13-14), and it is therefore imperative that we fully open up and open up to the gift of the Holy Spirit.

After I was baptized with the Spirit on the Holy Spirit Weekend I saw that God started to reveal more and more of His Word to me. As I read the Bible, things I previously could not understand were opened up to me and as I prayed there was a greater sense of His presence and guiding. However, because I stopped short in praying in the new language that was bubbling up in me on that day, I had not fully opened up to the working of the Spirit and there was still so much more of Christ that I was missing.

It was several months, during which my friends spent time praying for and encouraging me to move more in the Spirit and pray in Tongues, before I allowed the free flow of the Spirit through me and spoke excitedly in a spiritual tongue. When this happened, and I continued to pray in tongues privately, I noticed a definite deepening of my relationship with God and I seemed to know Him more and know more of His ways for me. Indeed I could hear more of His guidance and started getting more involved in the Christian Union, in leading a small Bible Study group and sharing my faith with greater boldness. I also started hearing God’s calling to go on mission trips to France, Spain and Morocco, where I would receive my calling for fulltime missionary and, eventually, local church work. This is all because I wholeheartedly opened up this special gift.

Bertoldo de Giovanni is a name even the most enthusiastic lover of art is unlikely to recognize. He was the pupil of Donatello, the greatest sculptor of his time, and he was the teacher of Michelangelo, the greatest sculptor of all time. Michelangelo was only fourteen years old when he came to Bertoldo, but it was already obvious that he was enormously gifted. Bertoldo was wise enough to realize that gifted people are often tempted to coast rather than to grow, and therefore he kept trying to pressure his young prodigy to work seriously at his art. One day he came into the studio to find Michelangelo toying with a piece of sculpture far beneath his abilities. Bertoldo grabbed a hammer, stomped across the room, and smashed the work into tiny pieces, shouting this unforgettable message, “Michelangelo, talent is cheap; dedication is costly!” 

We should not merely coast along with our talents, be they natural or spiritual, but be dedicated to unlock the full potential God has for us. This is only done by opening up wholly to the Holy Spirit’s work in us and through us. Although I did not initially open up fully to this wondrous gift, I had great dedication to go deeper and found myself wholeheartedly opening up to the Holy Spirit so He could paint more effectively through me.

We must not question God’s choice of colours (gifting).

“But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” 1 Corinthians 12:11.

David Jeremiah relates the true incident of when Raphael was engaged in painting his celebrated frescoes. He was visited by two cardinals who began to criticize his work, and found fault without understanding it. "The Apostle Paul has too red a face," said one. "He blushes to see into whose hands the Church has fallen," answered the angry Artist.

When the Holy Spirit starts manifesting His supernatural gifts through us we may find the way He does so is not to our liking, just as the cardinals thought of Raphael’s painting. We now know that Raphael, a master painter, chose exactly the right colours and, in the same way, the Holy Spirit will work through us in exactly the right way. Let us not be like these cardinals but allow Him to manifest as “He wills” (1 Corinthians 12:11).

At first I questioned the Holy Spirit’s use of speaking in Tongues through me, but later I began to see His wisdom and the fruit of such a gift. Indeed I can remember a time when Speaking in Tongues probably saved my life. This was when I was on a mission trip in Sabah and myself and another pastor went swimming in the sea. A long way out we found ourselves surrounded by jellyfish that were stinging us from torso to toes. We both started speaking loudly and unceasingly in Tongues and swimming to the beach. When the lifeguard came to us on the beach (even he was too afraid to rescue us with so many jellyfish) he marveled that we were unhurt as previous cases needed to be taken to hospital or even proved fatal!

Later, as the Spirit continued to manifest more and more supernatural gifts through me, I saw His wisdom as lives were being touched and His will was being outworked.

I can vividly remember one time soon after being released in speaking in Tongues, I was in Holy Trinity Brompton church on Sunday and worshipping the Lord. Halfway through the songs the worship leader said that the Spirit was moving mightily in the building and we should all allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow. As they said this I felt a warm sensation in my hand, a gentle burning. Being new to the move of the Spirit I asked the person next to me what this meant and they said it was often a sign that the gift of healing was being released. The person on my other side heard this and said they had a bad back that needed healing. I laid my hand on her back and prayed for healing in the name of Jesus. The lady I prayed for leapt up to her feet saying she felt something like electricity run down her back. Then she smiled gleefully and said that the pain had gone!

When Jesus sent the disciples before Him across the Sea of Galilee and they got caught in a life threatening storm, He came to them walking on the water. The Bible tells us that “in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.” (Matthew 14:25). Jesus was coming to them and about to call Peter to walk into the miraculous by stepping on the waves, but all they saw was a scary ghost and they were filled with fear. During that time Jesus was physically with them but later He sent His Holy Spirit to come to them and empower them. Older Bible translations use the term Holy Ghost instead of the Holy Spirit. Often, Jesus sends the Spirit to us but we’re afraid and see a scary ghost instead. However, when Peter realized it was indeed Jesus He launched out on Jesus’ word and walked on the water, walking into the miraculous. In the same way we must see that the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the empowering of the Holy Ghost, is of God as the Holy Spirit Himself is God.

Was I expecting that these were the colours the Spirit would use to paint through me? Certainly not! Indeed I was shocked in both cases. I was like the disciples in the boat seeing a ghost walking on the waters. 

However, like Peter, I began to see this as truly being of God and stepped out of the boat as He willed. Speaking in Tongues was something I thought was from the Devil but I found it to be the tongues of angels (1 Corinthians 13:1). The way the gift of healing came shocked me as much as it did the lady who was healed, but was a wonderful blessing to both of us. 

We must not question God’s choice of colours but simply yield to the Spirit’s working and by faith move in the gifts as He wills.



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