Your Divine Design - How to Develop Your Spiritual Gift for Kingdom Impact, Part 2

In our last broadcast. We began a journey very specific journey itemize and clarify the meaning of each spiritual gift in the New Testament we covered four basic gifts last time really cover seven more this time. Are you ready because today my prayer is you hear a gift described in realize that that's me. So stay with.

Thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge usage Chip Ingram, Living on the Edges of international discipleship industry focused on helping Christians live like Christian is mentioned in this program will continue walking the specific ministry for us in Scripture and how we can know which best describes us.

But before we dive in, if you've missed any part of our serious your divine design catch up anytime@livingontheedge.org or via the chipping room was bad. Here's part two of Jeff's message.

How to develop your spiritual gift kingdom impact the gift of teaching the divine enablement to understand and give detailed explanation of biblical truth. It's the ability to search out and validate truth which is been presented.

Notice this is a motivational gift but is also like ministry gift and so we won't go into a lot of explanation other than when I think of this one, especially in this country. If you listen on the radio to what I what I think are some really quality teachers. If you listen carefully. Their ministry gift is teaching but they teach out of different motivational gifts. For example, when I hear Chuck Swindoll. I can tell you right now his primary gift is probably exhort her but don't you hearing even as he talks he puts his arm around your age. A very specific practical ways to teach. I think of another fellow on the West Coast, who is very clear, very accurate but is very dogmatic. This is the way it is only there is not a great area when he teaches I'll guarantee he teaches on the gift of prophecy and so you can listen to different people teach and you needn't realize maybe you have a ministry gift you want to teach.

We think will I don't see myself as a teacher. Or maybe you can teach out of the different gift is because when you teach out of X rotational gift you can be like counseling a whole group of people prophetic gifting to call people to repentance and to really grow miracles first Corinthian's 1210 and 28 is the ability to serve as an instrument through which God accomplishes acts that manifest supernatural power. Miracles bear witness to the presence of God and the truth of his proclaimed word and appear to occur most frequently in association with missionary activity. The gospel message carries its own authority. But God sometimes graciously uses miracles to authenticate and open doors for the proclamation of forgiveness and life in Christ, jot down in the corner Hebrews 1, 2 to 4 talks about signs and wonders will touch on it in a minute but imagine when the early church and especially in countries with those competing worldviews where people really wonder.

I mean, should I believe in this religion or that religion or imagine being an early apostle and walking to downtown Ephesus or Corinth and there's a God on every single corner and you're going out to tell people Jesus is the Messiah God has visited the planet. She's raised from the dead. I'm an eyewitness, and people want.

Yeah right. And so God says well I think we need to do some things to authenticate that these are my messengers and we need to do some things to authenticate that this really is my word, and so that's why you see the three major periods of miracles and old New Testament.

You have most of us giving a new truth, you have Elisha Elijah giving of restoring the truth and have the early apostles. But this is a gift God on occasion and it seems especially overseas, where the need for office authentication and verification is greater. He'll do miracles will choose to go outside the bounds what we call natural laws and do a miracle notice healing first quickens 12 928 and 30 is the ability to serve as a human instrument through which God cures illnesses and restores health. The possessor of this gift is not the source but the vessel who can heal only those diseases, the Lord chooses to heal me. We all know there's times where people were healed times when they're not this spiritual gift should not be confused with signs and wonders performed by Jesus and the apostles, and it should not be discredited because of the abuses of grandstanding and faith healers say that the early apostles. I mean me, Jesus raised people from the dead. Paul raised people from the dead minute took handkerchiefs off Paul Peter shadow me.

There were signs and wonders that were unique to authenticate the first century church. That's not this, but the other things I think we get to the point where we think God never does any of this mean we have an a command in James chapter 5 when someone is physically ill anointing with oil price and I will tell you was a pastor of the years we have in faith prayed anointed people with oil and then I watched him die of cancer. I can also tell you that we've anointed people with oil, prayed, and I can tell you later. You had a brain tumor. This big and she went back to the checkup. Two weeks later and was completely gone. How and why I do not understand God chooses to heal and an ongoing he does it in response to what he's doing in people's lives. And there are times where that's his manifestation to bring glory and honor to himself, and I mean in China you think of what's going on there. Of the lack of the Scriptures they went from about a million or maybe two believers in the 1940s to probably well over 100 million now God has done miraculous things in the church where there's little education little of his word little training to authenticate his work. God chooses to do what he wants to do when he wants to do it. Administration/leadership this word different from the Wharton leadership appears only once in the New Testament and is used outside of Scripture for the helmsman who steers a ship to its destination. This suggests that the spiritual gift of administration is the ability to steer a church or Christian organization. Toward the fulfillment of its goals by managing its affairs and implementing necessary plans a person may have the gift of leadership without the gift of administration. I am a living example of this, the gift of administration is the enablement to understand what an organization needs to run efficiently and effectively, and then be a spiritual ability to plan and execute achieve and produce the organizational's ability to work through people to accomplish its God-given goals. And you know some of you it is just you know how to organize you now to orchestrate and how to implement. In fact, when things are not well organized. It just makes you nuts. You just can't believe that people can't see it. By the way, that's one of the indications you spiritual gift. What comes so not. It is so natural it so much that the lens that God has you see through offering your spiritual gift is most realized in your reactions to things instead of your actions because you react as you can understand why this isn't being taken care of because it is so easy for you to see gift of administration, the gift of leadership often ask the what question, what is it we need to do the gift of administration answers. How do we need to do it and what we need to do to get there, the gift of wisdom is the ability to apply the principles of God's word in a practical way to specific situations and then to recommend the best course of action at the best time if the exercise of this gift skillfully distills insight and discernment into excellent advice. These are people that are saturated in the Scriptures, they have a gift of wisdom.

There is one thing to know the Bible. It's another thing to see the chaos and problems and struggles in life or problems. It is the gift of wisdom that takes the truth and inside of God's word, the struggles, challenges, problems or opportunities and bring things things together and to understand how this word and insight given by the Holy Spirit can address out of this truth.

Those situations, as a young pastor's guy named Bill Carter and that he traveled a lot and had the gift of teaching. I learned probably more from him that I did it in a seminary class he would study sometimes six or seven hours a night on the road and and often I would come with just Mike. If it is, I've never felt like your life is like a ball of twine that's gotten just totally all messed up and no matter what you do. You just can't unwind it. I would take my ball of twine issues. Issues in my marriage is using parenting issues in the ministry and I would bring them to Bill and I would just lay out all this junk on what to do and I know part is my attitude. Maybe it's the season in a wine wine wine moan moan moan is a godly older man and he said ship. It would seem to me and he would just open the word and say you know there's a timeless principle here, and then he would describe it and he said there's you know as you think through this and then little by little, about 45 minutes later he taken my ball of string, and he would deliver six pieces of string nicely laid out about what to do.

Why did do it God's character issues in my life how to respond, and it was just like some of you have that gift. Some of you have that gift and prophets. We call them is 81 years old and so I said prof to have plans for breakfast. He said now is it compassionate with you so sure and so we made a time and and so we ate breakfast and is a very direct guy. So we did little small talk for about 45 seconds and and then I basically I thought of you know how many times will I get this and I laid out here is my season of marriage and grown kids and this is different, and I know these are my insecurities and know me for 25 years in block and here's another really big issue, not on what to do with a man not say what the night my eggs and I came back and told Teresa what he shared about how you love grown kids and in law issues and what happens in your 50s. What happens in your 60s and what you need to do now so you finish well and Teresa said ship, you better go write that down and so I did the gift of wisdom and knowledge of the ability to discover and analyze and systemize truth for the benefit of others. Just amazing knowledge with this gift one speaks with understanding penetration, but the word of knowledge can also involve supernatural perception, and discernment for the purpose of ministering to others.

This is when God reveals something to someone that they could know in a natural way and by the way, this is one of the most abuse gifts in the body of Christ and the turn on the TV and you'll see how not to do this, but Peter right Ananias and Sapphire come up. Peter doesn't know anything and he says hey we sold the you know the field for this amount of money and and Peter goes Ananias Vaidya conspired to lie to the Holy Spirit. He knew exactly what was happening. He knew his heart he knew the situation will how you got a word knowledge God sometimes to prepare you for ministry may give you insight into things that you could know this is it's now a calendar and got a little limb here. Some of you need to either relax and so you don't get too excited, depending on your background right but you know this is really abuse.

When people get all this God revealed that you're supposed to divorce your wife take this job.

Do this do that, you know what if God wants to speak to you.

He probably will call you on your phone instead of on someone else's and when it's used in these vague I know somewhere, somehow someone someday in some part of America has this issue and God's healing it right now I'm looking at that go on hello but you know sometimes we throw out the baby with the bathwater. What if God needs to prepare you for ministry. It doesn't violate Scripture. It equips you to do what God wants you to do and II think this is Connor. I don't understand this gift. By the way, a lot of these guess I understand and I'm giving you my best explanation. Some of them are just a mystery but I can tell you before I ever heard anything about gifts.

I was a Christian, about three years old and the Lord and I'm down on spring break.

My senior year went down with a couple buddies and and since I was a believer. I just played outdoor basketball every day and really thought I had a good time with the Florida do it in and jumped in the water and then now we we spent some time a member being on the beach completely clear. Just read my Bible, the sons going down about you but I wish that every time I prayed I had this sweet intimate times with God but I don't. But that was one of those times were it was just like I could reach out and touch God and the ocean was there in the sun coming down and was a growing Christian, I just sensed and felt his presence and in the far far distance just I look like a little stick man. He was really far away guy was walking down the beach and this thought comes this clear my mind. The guy walking toward you as a homosexual. He's gonna come and sit down. I want you to tell him about me, and I'm thinking that I have enchiladas last night we went to me what's going on here and I'm thinking while I'm you know this, I'm making stuff up in my mind and so you know I keep reading my Bible. He gets closer and closer and I look up at him again. The guy walking up here is a homosexual. He's in desperate need.

I want you to tell him about my love and I'm going by the way, this is happened to me very rarely understood on a wire. Long story short the guy walks walks walks, he gets right to the edge. I'm thinking you keep going and think about 30 years ago in the sky turns and walks up and I'm going you kid me and then he sits down and you can tell his eyes are all red, and God prepared me and he said you not just broke up with my life partner and I know she had a Bible here and the I just need somebody to talk to in 45 minutes later we both prayed and he received the Lord is a Savior. All I'm saying is I not on how God works all this, but is not for show is not to impress people is not to say all the mystical stuff is really way out there and that is that happen a lot to me since. Not a whole lot now and then I get a prompt you know if you ever been driving and you know just a couple, three, four weeks ago I had a prompt and there's a guy in the rain walking and you know in our day and age thing on the phone pick up the skies, probably an ax murderer, something you know and and you know I drive by my get the strong prompting picking up and taking more needs to go and think and you not get a wife getting kids. Ingram's lying side of the road not really good. You know, and I asked you know and I get to the next exit and came up okay so I get the exit. Turn around go back pull in front of them and he was a guy from a totally different world and background in mind and and I said you need a ride and he looked at me like you know you somewhere.

God is gonna kill make it up and he got in.

I took a my love to say we he prayed, you know.

All I did is I think I did a good work that God prepare me for.

He didn't prayed to receive Christ.

He didn't say all Jesus as he answered all my world. I just got the loving in the name of Jesus and in others happen to be a Bible there and I was listening to something that I needed to listen to. He got here five or 10 fits of it, but a word of knowledge, maybe something God does now and then but you always check with Scripture, but I would say if you ever get what I call a good nudge nudge to love someone care be sacrificial something that lifts someone up and doesn't bring attention to yourself, something that means a sacrifice Christ name is honored is probably not from you. That's a product pretty good.

Tested probably from the Lord, the gift of faith the ability to have a vision for what God wants done, and to believe confidently that will be accomplished in spite of circumstances and appearance to the contrary, the gift of faith transforms vision into reality. But by the wife notice it in those three columns. When someone teaches or preaches motivational here out of a ministry gift, it could be pastor teacher profit as people are listening often, then the gift of faith.

All I get. There's a lady listening on the radio. She was listening and and at the very end we prayed, you need to believe God. God is sovereign God is big, you need to believe him and it's a long story.

Her name is Brooke. She brought not only her, her brother, her husband and her sister-in-law all these witnesses and she said nothing's ever happened like this.

I was listening to on the radio and at the very end.

It was on prayer and you said you need to believe God, you need to ask him and believe that the God is not the God of the past that he answers prayer. Great ones today and she taught this long illness and she could only take about six breasts and they couldn't find a cure and she had to quit her job. She was home and going. You know couldn't even get up and move around and she said I heard that and it was like God gave me faith to believe I prayed I went to the doctor the next day all my symptoms were gone now are we in a healing ministry or you can make. How that happened. I don't have a clue. It's a manifestation see when you are using your motivational gift in the ministry. He's called YouTube when you minister some get a word of wisdom. This is what to do or knowledge about all you mean you're supposed to give the first portion of your money. God I didn't know that.

Get your priorities one yeah or someone gets a word of knowledge. This is what I want you to do, or someone gets like in this case a manifestation she was healed. Can't God do whatever I think when we studied all these gifts we divide camps. This group believes these are this way. This group believes these are that like this group gets over enamored with these and that I think we missed the point. I think you have a grace gift and I think your paintbrush in the hand of God, and I think it you focus on on the left column.

What are you motivated to do and then you discern the outlets of the ministry and you leave the right column up to how God wants to work. Gift of faith distinguishing of spiritual discernment for strengthens 1210 for suitability discern the spirit of truth in the spirit there with this gift, one may distinguish reality versus counterfeits the divine versus the demonic and true versus false teaching. In some cases spiritual versus carnal motives God as you soak your mind in the Scripture as you're doing what he wants you to do will give some people ability to discern when you're in a group I need to make big decisions for a ministry for board for a church for a family you want this gift in the room. Discernment is this from God and these people I mean you know you've had it at ever had that little everything seems right, but you had that little something down deep in your gut that you know this of some smells here, but I can't put my finger on it and then you find out later it really stunk and you cannot put your finger on it. You put your whole hand on it. Often that maybe God teaching your one day there's some discernment here. Check that out. Check that out here the gift of tongues is the ability to receive and impart spiritual message in a language, the recipient is never learned for other members of the body to be.

I debt to be edified. This message must be interpreted either by the recipient or by another person with the gift of interpretation. Now this is one that can take people out the directions the word tongues. Glossolalia it's used also as a dialect and asked to is a known language in a French Swahili. Some known language.

The second thing is is that much of the teaching. The confusion about tongues is taking tongues this gift and then mixing it with spiritual growth or holiness or spiritual power. What I can tell you is the gift of tongues is a known language. The gift of tongues doesn't have anything to do with spiritual growth or sanctification is a gift of a speaking a language you never known a course in the gift of interpretation is someone is speaking French or Swahili. And for some reason, God is gonna supernaturally intervene and give you understanding to translate a language that you have an app. Can God do this as it happened in neutron admissions and some other situations.

Sure did he do it in the early church is a sign for unbelievers as a whole, teaching on tongues, our purposes, let's define what they are with that. Are you ready take a deep breath.

I did talk fast. If you develop your spiritual gift, one you got a get clear really clear about the paradigm and how it works. Second, you need to understand. I think a quick definition and hopefully you know there's more material and a lot that can go under that, but I wanted to give you a quick snapshot of each gift secretly say you know what make now I can do little more research on my own, but the third thing we need to do to develop your spiritual gifts. It demands you exercise them like involvement and want to give you four areas of involvement in them will really develop these as we continue first of all, involvement in people's lives and needs. If you really want to develop your spiritual gift everything we've done so far is the cognitive hasn't made witnesses like watching videos on swimming right this is not okay now we learn this is the free stuff. This is the Baxter uses the breaststroke and you what we have people that have videos on swimming and they got books on swimming what we know you don't get wet. You don't learn to swim. Spiritual gifts are about love and people you have to get involved in people's lives what that mean it needs ministry and even if you're not sure you even if you don't know you to sign up for like five years or like until Jesus comes back.

Go to your church or find a ministry, and say you know something I'm not sure my gifts are but I'll give you three months in this area at the end of three months him to pray, evaluate, and then I need to know I have permission just about it ministry.

But you get your guy get involved in people's lives and needs.

The second level involvement is a small group community. A small group community. You know, authentic relationships, the gifts are what they are designed so that the presence of Christ and the power of Christ and the love of Christ that resides in you through your gift and through the spirit as he works to the word and you touches other people that can't happen if your quote Christian experiences yada church on Sunday I sit in row 73. I listen to the guy he's really good. Listen listen listen sing sing sing leave leave leave.

Then I come back next week. Listen listen listen sing sing sing leave leave leave you. I just don't understand why I don't have joy in my life. I just don't understand why God is using me.

You have to be in some community where people know you. You know them. You understand one another. You share hearts your vulnerable increasingly or you know what you'll never know the people that will recognize your gifts will be people who love you who see you in the context of community and ministry. The third level of involvement is ongoing training and education. Think of a gift is like a muscle. God gives you the gift of the muscle, but there is little muscles, medium-size muscles and big muscles.

And like any gift like a muscle. How does a muscle get stronger and better by practice. So you need to have ongoing training and ongoing education, time, practice, maturity, feedback, training, timing. If you have the gift of teaching you how you know you develop it you teach your read your study I've gone for years on almost never in my car where I'm not listening sometime in the week. The teaching tapes of great teachers that are profoundly impacted my life and the first thing is I'm in my car. It's like wow God how you want me to respond in the next is what makes this guy so good. What in the what is it about how he shares or what he shares, or the preparation of his vulnerability are over how he delivers it because I want to get better in the OME to develop my gift is I want to learn from other people and so you did again and you figure out your read books you go to training you do whatever it takes because your gift is serious business right.

It is the God is in the church final thing is regular risk-taking opportunities. You can look at all these charts you can go for coffee and set others and I think mine is either probably teaching transportation but I'm not really not sure why we sit around and talk over coffee about what we might be someday, somehow, someway. I'll tell you what, after you see what we see, you need to go okay okay I'm really nervous really are some really scared.

What if I fail really insecure like every body else in the whole world. Okay, but I think at this gift may not have the Skippy biotics and jump in the water is not flat and jump in the water and say I know I give for sure. I have done some study, but I'm going to jump in the water of life and people in need and ministry and I'm scared to death. Will God help me and just start loving people and start doing what you feel most passionate about doing and I'm gonna tell you something.

You not only get wet. You get strong, you have joy people get loved and I mean you will no longer be one of those Christians who sit, sit, sing sing leave leave you will be a paintbrush in the hand of the master dipping into the multi colors of grace and in your spiritual lineage you see people's lives. This is the before this is the after, and you will be a part of God's extreme makeover and I'm telling you there's not enough letters behind your name. There's not enough zeros at the end of your portfolio. The can ever match the joy and the fulfillment that comes with doing what God made you to do to walk in the good works that he preordained just right back with his application. This message how to develop your spiritual gift for kingdom impact from a series your divine design. Many of you, nor mission is for Christians to live like Christian and a critical step in accomplishing that is for believers to put their spiritual gifts into practice. The problem is many don't even know what their gifting's are through the series strip explores vital biblical passages that will help you identify your spiritual gifts and how to grow and use them correctly, you're not going to want to miss a single message. For more information about your divine design or our resources go to LivingontheEdge.org the chipping remap or call AAA 333-6003 ships join me in studio now and ship as you continue to talk in this series about spiritual gifts know we can best use them.

I want to mention that you also have a new book out on this topic called your divine design of take a minute and share your heart for helping others identify the unique gifts God's given them, I'd be glad to Dave you know when spiritual gifts come up. I often hear people say wow it's so confusing. And people argue about them and there's just so much to it.

You know, like, why bother. Let me tell you this, when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.

One of the key indicators of his victory over death and Satan and sin was this resurrection in which the text says, and he gave gifts to men. Your spiritual gift.

My spiritual gift is a deposit that is given by the risen Lord Jesus to equip us to follow him and fulfill the work of bringing the kingdom of God on earth today as it's done in heaven, and what I want you to know is it really matters. He paid a huge price. You're his child. You his son, you're his daughter and he's given you a supernatural ability to help other people and as you do, do something dynamic in your life and in your spiritual growth and at your offering to the king of kings and the Lord of lords. So let me encourage you to take your spiritual gifts seriously to get this book to read it to ponder it to study and say Lord I want to know what my gift is and then I want to put into practice fixture to order your copy of your divine design go to LivingontheEdge.org or call AAA 333-6003. Let us help you take the next step in your faith journey discovering your spiritual gifts and understanding how to activate them again to get your hands on Chip's newest book your divine design visit LivingontheEdge.org or call AAA 333-6003 hapless nurse top special offers will before we go. Here's chip with one final word. As we close today's program.

I have a confession. I know I talked really fast. I cram more material than is legal into any program in a half-hour slot but you know something you can become an expert on each of the spiritual gifts know what they mean. Give a definition and absolutely nothing will happen unless you jump into the deep then and begin to test the waters. In other words, you don't have to know for sure what your spiritual gift or gifts are, but they don't do anything unless you start to use them unless you test them out and right now it may be more challenging than ever before.

You know something about that. That makes the presumption that church is a place that you go to and that there is an organization that has to structure things for you to use your spiritual gift and I would remind you and remind me, especially my fellow pastors, church is us. We are the body of Christ. Your spiritual gift, to serve, to love, to care, to exhort to call to pray to give to lead all of those things can happen in your neighborhood with believers and unbelievers. All those things can happen in a small group and it may be harder, but through zoom what I want you to know is the real issue is, are you willing to take some time to explore what are my gifts and then are you willing to say okay Lord if it's exhortation then I guess you want me to encourage people I'm to call three people today work that service. I'm gonna go door to door to three of my neighbors that I don't know that well and say I'm going to the grocery store. What could I get for you if it's leadership I'm gonna call my pastor and say I know you all are overwhelmed. I would like to be a part of maybe helping develop strategy were encouraging you in any way possible.

Here's the deal. The Holy Spirit will show you what to do.

Here's my admonition jump in.

Take a step get moving. God really delights to use your life but you have to be moving so he can direct you do something today. You'll be glad you did. Just before we close.

I which you know that as a staff we ask the Lord to help you take whatever your next brief step is there's a way we could help. We'd love to do that they be give us a call if AAA 333-6003 or connect with us@livingontheedge.org while you're there, take a moment and look through our resources variety of topics. Any of them absolutely free will. Thanks for being with us until next time, this is Dave Drewry saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge