A Gift you can Open again and again.
- Christine DiGiacomo
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
We have been discussing the all-important subject of the Holy Spirit for the last couple weeks; tap the 'past Morning Briefings' tab above to access those teachings, if you just joined us ...
Howdy, and Welcome, new friends!
Last night my youngest son, Danny, had a ‘barn burner’ of a baseball game. His team squeaked out a hard-fought 3-2 win. Oh, man, I love baseball! Danny pitches, plays 2nd base and Short Stop. His team depended on his ‘bringing it’ in last night's game, playing well especially when he was on the mound for three of six innings. If you know anything about baseball, you know it takes a minimum of nine players to field a team; each player has a unique role to fulfill. If any one of them lets down, the whole team suffers; on the other hand, when everyone is playing their individual positions well, the team thrives. (This is a blast from the past, but the illustration holds up--and team play is a picture of how the church or Christian community is meant to function)
As we have established, when an individual comes to put her trust in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within. And at that time, she is endowed with a spiritual gift, which is meant to be shared with the people of God.
 ->You know, for many years now, I have given a lot of thought, much study, and a considerable amount of prayer on several subjects, including the vital topic of how to Know our Purpose, and live it out. Â
When we know our purpose, and step into it each day, we come to live fully the lives God means for us to live. One of the key elements in living out our purpose, is knowing and exercising the gift(s) the Holy Spirit has given us. It is in the exercising of these, we not only grow, but live fully from our best selves, infused by the power of the Holy Spirit. A math equation might look like this:
 Salvation > filled with the Spirit + gift utilized = dynamic, purposeful life
Now do not confuse gifts of the Spirit with fruit of the Spirit. When Paul spoke of the fruit of the Spirit in the letter he wrote to the church at Galatia, he was describing the character qualities that ought be embodied by we who belong to Jesus Christ.1  And you know, if there were ever a compelling case to follow Jesus, wouldn't this be it?! In relationship with him, we grow to have these nine things:
-->love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
hmmm.... 'lacking peace? Get to know the Author of peace, Jesus Christ.
'Struggling with self control? You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.2Â Get the idea?
Besides his letter to the Galatians, Paul wrote two letters to the believers in Corinth, which was a bustling, wealthy city that was also morally decadent and perverse. [Think Las Vegas, NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tel Aviv.] Sometimes we think our world is worse than it has ever been...wrong-o, Kimosabe. Mankind has been disgustingly sinful for all of history; we just find out about it quicker now.
The Corinthian church was seeing the gifts of the Spirit at work in their midst. In chapter 12, Paul describes these gifts. He writes:
Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God is active in everyone and everything. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:
>for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit
----------spiritual insight which is informed by God
>to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit
----------insight to take that spiritual wisdom and apply it
>to another, faith by the same Spirit
----------more than saving faith, this is faith which produces miraculous results
>to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit
-----------the ability to heal/faith to ask for physical healing
>to another, the working of miraclesÂ
----------faith to pray for and receive miracles of various kinds
>to another, prophecy
----------includes foretelling – prediction of future events and forthtelling – exhortation about God’s will for present circumstances
>to another, discerning of spirits
----------the ability to discern what is truly of the Holy Spirit or counterfeit
>to another, different kinds of tongues
----------speaking in unknown languages
>to another, interpretation of languages or tongues
----------interpretation of unknown language
But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.3 (The arrow points to Scripture; the italicized line beneath the explanation)
Is that it, in terms of spiritual gifts? Nope.
When Paul wrote his letter to the Roman Christians, he also outlined further gifts:
>service, teaching, exhortation, generosity, leadership and mercy.3
Believer, you are gifted . . . did you know that? This is fascinating stuff, if we understand the import of what this means to us as individuals, as well as to the Christian community to which we belong! Paul makes it clear—each redeemed person is given a gift (or gifts); it is the Holy Spirit who determines the gift. No one gift is meant for all to have.
Let me ask you, ‘do you play your position on the baseball team?’ Do you know your spiritual gift, and ‘play’ with it? The health of the team depends on you—and how well you live out your purpose depends on it too.
Sometimes when folks read of the various spiritual gifts, they know immediately which gift(s) they have; other times, they aren't sure at all. What to do? Sometimes a discussion with your closest Christian friends will be helpful, but then, taking a spiritual gifts test is informative and advantageous as well. One caveat: there is no perfect, definitive, Holy-Spirit inspired test; they are just way-pointers, not divinely inspired, like Scripture.
Options:
1) Spiritual Gifts Assessment, Lifeway4 - *I am most familiar with this one. Very clear.
2) Spiritual Gifts Test5
3) Quick and Honest Spiritual Gifts - Rock Church, San Diego6
The links to the assessments are below and they are unique. Take a few minutes - very interesting.
I pray that you will take to heart this magnanimous gift given to you by God - a spiritual gift that is uniquely yours - a gift that can be opened and expressed again and again.
God knows you, he knows you so well.
Listen: He Knows My Name, Tasha Cobbs Leonard
Love being on the journey with you,
Christine
Holy Spirit: who or what? no.8
1 - Galatians 5.22-23
2 - Paul, Philippians 4.13
3 - 1 Corinthians 12.4-11:Â https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2012.4-11&version=ESV;NKJV
5 - https://s7d9.scene7.com/is/content/LifeWayChristianResources/Spiritual%5FGifts%5FAssessmentpdf.pdf