By The Spirit III

1Cor.12:³¹ “But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces) …” (AMPC)

1 Cor. 12:^9-10 “to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.” (NKJV). The third gift is the gift of Faith. There are three types of faith in the scriptures. There is a saving faith. There is the fruit of faith. And there is the gift of faith. The faith that this scripture is talking about is not the saving faith or the fruit of faith. This gift of faith is the faith that can believe God instantaneously for the impossible. It comes upon you. There are things that are impossible, the gift of faith comes upon you and you believe God and it happens. When it happens, you look at yourself and wonder how that happened. It is the gift of Faith.

The fourth is the Gifts of Healings. Take note that the word ‘gifts’ is plural. Different kinds of healings, different kinds of gifts of healings – different kinds. Know this, there are different types of healings and different types of gifts of healings. I know some people that have the gifts of healings for internal organ related problems that God has anointed them for. For some others, it is blood-related issues. Yet for some, it is bone-related issues. The fifth is the Working of Miracles. There is a difference between the gifts of healings and the working of miracles. Healing is a work of restoration, but miracles are creative acts. Miracles are works of creation and healings are works of restoration. Someone used to be healthy, then the person falls sick. The person can be restored and healed – that is healing. Someone has never had eyes, the person got brand new eyes. That is a miracle, that is creative. Miracles happen purely through the Word of God. Ps. 33:⁶ “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”

Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Gift of Faith, Gifts of Healings, Working of Miracles. The sixth is the gift of Prophecy. There are two main parts to prophecy; there is foretelling which is like projecting meaning that sometimes the gift of Prophecy can work prophetically. I told you yesterday about how I saw the scoreline for a football match, that was something in the future – foretelling. The second part of prophecy is forth-telling. Forthtelling is preaching; a lot of preaching is prophecy. You notice that when you listen to forth-telling in preaching, it is like God is prophesying into your life without anybody saying, “Thus says the Lord!” Foretelling and forth-telling work together in the gift of prophecy. The seventh is Discerning of spirits. Discernment of spirits; discerning of spirits simply means recognizing the source of a manifestation. Not everything that is spiritual is from the Holy Spirit. Recognizing the source of a manifestation is the gift of discernment of spirits and God wants to give you this gift.

Prayer: Lord, I pray that I may function in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus Name. Amen!