The spiritual gift list is almost complete. You may
be surprised when you discover your true gifts!
May’s
Awakening, Day 12
Philip
went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the
crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close
attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many,
and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. (deliverance) Acts 8:5–7 NIV
I
wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God;
one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say:
It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control
themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with
passion. (celibacy)
1 Corinthians 7:7–9 NIV
Deliverance.
The gift of deliverance, sometimes referred to as exorcism, is the
distinctive ability to cast out demons and evil spirits, thus releasing Satan’s
control over those afflicted. Deliverance should always be accompanied by the
Gospel message and leading those afflicted to Christ, for without the
indwelling Holy Spirit those same individuals are still exposed to evil
possessing them once again, and maybe even more so (Matthew 12:43–45). Also,
deliverance requires much faith and much prayer and prayer warfare, and even
fasting (Matthew 17:19–20a and Mark 9:28–29 NKJV). The casting out of evil
spirits was very common throughout the ministry of Jesus and later of the
apostles and still is a viable ministry even into today, especially in other
countries where Christianity is minimally present and Satan has his stronghold.
“When
an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking
rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’
When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.
Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and
they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than
the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” Matthew
12:43–45 NIV
Then
the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it
out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Matthew
17:19–20a NIV
And
when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could
we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but
prayer and fasting.” Mark 9:28–29 NKJV
Celibacy.
The gift of celibacy is the distinctive ability to remain single, or not
remarry, and enjoy it as a lifestyle (or possibly for a time or season),
without suffering any undue sexual temptation, usually to commit one’s self
fully and wholly to God and His service. Most notably we of course see this in
the order of monks and nuns. Additionally, along with celibacy among monks and
nuns, we often find volunteer poverty as well, and some scholars include
this as a spiritual gift also. For our purposes, I have not specifically
included this as it is probably not a gift we would eagerly or earnestly
desire, yet it certainly has God’s special use and purpose to again separate
one’s self from the ways of the world and focus solely on Him.
In that same vein of thought, some
scholars would also suggest martyrdom as a spiritual gift too, but for
obvious reasons I have not included that either, but one can see how God could
use that to empower those individuals to persevere to the end. As you research
and study and undertake various spiritual gift assessments to determine your
gifting, you will find a few of these differences in the various explanations
and lists. Tomorrow we will look at the final two spiritual gifts stemming back
from the Old Testament.
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