By The Spirit I

1Cor.12:³¹ “But earnestly desire (covet) the best gifts…” (emphasis added, KJV paraphrased]

There are nine gifts of the Holy Spirit and twelve fruit of the Holy Spirit. We are focusing first on the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit enumerated in 1 Corinthians 12. I encourage you to sit with, read, and study 1 Corinthians 12 again and again. 1Cor.12:⁸ “for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit.” (NKJV, emphasis added). The first is the gift of the Word of Wisdom. This gift is the utterance of wisdom. The ability to take facts [what is known] and get a solution. The ability to unravel some very difficult mysteries. You can find yourself, or your life group, or your department, or your family in a very tight spot. The gift of the Word of Wisdom will help you arrive at a solution.

It could be that somebody comes to you with a challenge, something that has put him or her in a tight situation. So, he or she wants to know what you think he or she should do next. As you stir up the gift, the gift of the Word of Wisdom will say, “Do this or do that”. The person does it and his or her problem is solved, and the person is blown away. You know in yourself that it is not because you were smart; it is the gift of the Word of Wisdom. That is, the ability to give accurate wise counsel and advice. The ability to look at the situation and facts from the scripture [most of the time], take knowledge from scriptures, making sense out of it to arrive at a direction that is from God. That is the gift of the Word of Wisdom.

The second is the gift of the Word of Knowledge. The Word of Knowledge is so interesting because it reveals facts that can only be spiritually known. It reveals things that there is no way on earth any human being can know. Word of Knowledge can be so uncomfortable for some people because the Word of Knowledge is very direct. Like we see in the case of Elisha in 2 Kings 6. The gift of the Word of Knowledge is one of the gifts that God has used to help shape my life. Let me tell you when I first started operating in the gift of the Word of Knowledge. I had a friend that operated in the gift and he was so super accurate. He could look at you and say, “Why did you wear a yellow shirt yesterday?” even though he did not see you yesterday.

I knew he loved Jesus and he was a child of God, so what he was operating in was from God. In my room one day, I said to the Lord that I want to operate in the gift of the Word of Knowledge, to help people. Then I got deliberately close to my friend because that is the safest way to contact the gift. I began to do life with him. I deliberately bump into him, so that there is physical contact. One day, I gave him a cheque [sowed a seed] and he did not know what I was doing. I do not think it was immediately and I also cannot say how long after that but I was ministering one day and there it was. I said, ‘God, is this You?’

Prayer: Lord, I earnestly desire the gifts of the Word of Wisdom and the Word of Knowledge, so that Your church and nations will be helped through me, in Jesus Name. Amen!