THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Power Gifts: The Gifts of Healing - 3

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When this gift is in operation, physical, psychological and emotional conditions are being ministered to supernaturally. The Holy Spirit knows what needs to be restored, recovered and quickened in a person and will supernaturally direct you in what to do or say as you minister healing to them.

As we operate in this gift, the key is being faithful and obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading as we will often be given very specific instructions. I've read of Smith Wigglesworth and Kenneth Hagin sometimes punching people as they operated in the Gifts of Healing and the people got healed. Now don’t think of doing that unless the Holy Spirit tells you, otherwise you’ll most likely find yourself behind bars charged with assault. 

I remember a little while ago my wife was told by the Holy Spirit to drink more water and that took care of a physical ailment that had haunted her for quite some time. Now it would be absurd to make a formula of such a specific situation; the key is flowing in obedience and faithfulness to the Holy Spirit’s directives.

We must also remember that some physical conditions as well as some emotional/psychological disorders can be the direct result of demonic oppression. In such cases the Holy Spirit through the gift of Discerning of Spirits will often reveal the source of the problem and once the intruders are evicted in the Name of Jesus, the Gifts of Healing will bring restoration to the affected areas. In the Gospels we read of Jesus casting out demons and the mute speaking or the crazy man from Gadara who was set free from demonic possession and was found sitting at Jesus’ feet clothed and “in his right mind” – he wasn't crazy anymore, he was healed of that mental condition.

The Gifts of Healing many times operates in tandem with the gift of the Word of Knowledge. Many times, ministers get a word about a condition being healed or what is termed as “sympathetic pain”. You could suddenly experience pain in an area of your body that is otherwise perfectly fine, that could very well be the Holy Spirit revealing to you that He wants to minister to people with that kind of pain in that gathering. Be bold enough to step out and share what you are experiencing and be encouraged as you see people being healed by the power of God through you.

Just a little over a month ago, on my way into work I bumped into a co-worker who was on her way out. We met at the entrance, exchanged hi’s briefly then she quickly told me that she had been diagnosed with a faulty valve and a partly damaged heart and was afraid of another test that she was scheduled for.

I immediately felt prompted by the Spirit to pray for her right there at the entrance with people milling about – coming in and going out. So naturally I started thinking… she’s not even a Christian, how’s this going to look? What will she think? What will everyone around think…all those scenarios swirling around in my mind…But I quickly decided to go with the Holy Spirit’s prompting – took her hand and said “let’s pray”, she stood there quietly not knowing what to do (did I mention she’s not a believer in Christ…yet). I then told her that the test she was schedule for will confirm her heart is fine and all the valves are fine! Bold statement, wouldn't you say?! That’s the Holy Spirit in action, I simply went along for the ride and boy am I glad I did!

Guess what happened! – They didn't find anything wrong and they were even more confused as their earlier tests and diagnoses had showed a partly damaged heart and faulty valve. She is now scheduled for a series of what the

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doctors described as “more tests”. I told her Jesus has already healed her and all the other subsequent tests will only prove that. At first she didn't believe anything would happen but thought that my praying for her was just a nice, good gesture of showing support and she didn't even mention it to the doctors, she left them flabbergasted at the contradictory results. As you can imagine, she’s now more open to the Gospel than she’s ever been. She’s been tagged by the Holy Spirit! God is so good! Blessed be the Name of the Lord!  

As we continue to fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to quickly discern His promptings and specific instructions should He choose to use us in any of His gifts and let me assure you, He will for He desires to use us more than we think or know! 

Be open to flowing in the Gifts of Healing today.

Blessings beloved,

I am your brother,

Patrick

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Power Gifts: The Gifts of Healing - 2

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Beloved, healing is part and parcel of our salvation, paid for in full by Jesus Christ our Lord. I’m fully convinced that it is in the atonement. Jesus called healing – “the children’s bread”. 

In Matthew 15 there is the story of this woman from Canaan who wanted healing for her daughter and came calling Jesus by His Messianic title “Son of David”, trying to sound Jewish hoping that would impress Jesus and get Him to respond to her favorably…she was that desperate… but to her amazement and perhaps a little disappointment, Jesus ignored her and when He finally responded, His response implied that healing is the children’s bread and since she wasn't Jewish, though she acted like she was, she wasn't included. She came clean and continued persisting for her daughter’s healing and eventually Jesus granted her request. 

Now I’m sure there is a teaching about being real with God or something along those lines in there somewhere…but that’s not the scope of what I’m sharing in this installment – healing as the children’s bread is... Anyway I digress…

As a Child of God, healing is your right and privilege, remember you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ and that’s not the result of anything we have done but it’s because of everything Jesus has already done for us. Let us now get to the practical side of things as far as the Gifts of Healing go.

You see, the Holy Spirit’s commentary through Matthew, quoting from Isaiah, settles the matter of our healing being included in our redemption, Jesus took our sicknesses and infirmities – all of them:

¹⁶ When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

¹⁷ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. – Matthew 8:16-17 KJV

How to Flow in the Gifts of Healing

Again, this gift operates as the Holy Spirit wills; we cannot operate in it at will. We are to be open to the Holy Spirit and should He choose to manifest this gift to bless others through us, we respond in love and obedience to His promptings.

Many times when this gift is in operation, it will be in tandem with the other gifts, such as the Word of Knowledge, Faith, Discerning of Spirits etc.

Today we can minister healing through the Gifts of Healing or through the word of faith. We have God’s sure word of healing and so we can minister on the authority of His Word. I've personally ministered healing this way countless times. The Word of God says:

¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they^[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” – Mark16:17-18 NKJV (emphasis added)

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Every believer can minister healing to those who are sick by simply standing on the authority of this Scripture in Mark 16. That’s what I call healing by the word of faith or prayer of faith. Since you believe in Jesus, you can lay your hands on the sick and expect them to recover. That’s acting out your faith, you believe the Word and you express your belief by doing exactly what the Word says. And James reminds us that faith without works is dead, so there!

Then there is healing through the operation of the Gifts of Healing...

TO BE CONTINUED>>>

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Power Gifts: The Gifts of Healing - 1

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Power Gifts: Gifts of Healing

...to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit - 1 Corinthians 12:9b KJV

This gift of the Spirit is restorative. It supernaturally restores people’s health without the aid of medical science. The Gifts of Healing supernaturally correct malfunctioning or non-functioning components of a person's body and soul, restoring them to “The Manufacturer’s” original specifications, as it were.     

As we examine this gift of the Spirit, one thing we notice from the onset is the fact that it is described in plural terms, unlike all the other gifts. Obviously, the logical question that follows is – why the plurality?

I've heard many explanations and one common one goes along these lines:

The Gifts of Healing is plural because there is a different gift for each physical ailment that’s out there, in other words there’s as many different gifts of healing as there are diseases.

However, I don’t think that explanation, as plausible as it may sound at face value, cuts it. You see, why only limit that explanation to the Gifts of Healing? Why not go ahead and call the Gift of Prophecy -  "Gifts of Prophecy" – I mean there are many diverse situations that require different prophetic utterances, right?! After all each of all the other gifts do cater to a myriad of diverse situations. So you see beloved, that explanation is woefully inadequate at best.

Well, let me fill you in on what I think:

The Gifts of Healing is plural because it deals with both the physical and soulish part of man. Our spirits do not need healing, they are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We become Born Again, sealed and joined to the Lord – we actually become one spirit with God! So as you can tell, the recreated spirit part of us does not need healing – it is forever joined to God Himself!

¹⁷ But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. – 1 Corinthians 6:17 AMP

However, our souls and our bodies need to be healed, renewed and restored. Doesn't the Word tell us that the Holy Spirit quickens our mortal bodies? That quickening, may I humbly submit to you includes and involves healing and restoration. Notice what the Word says:

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¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. – Romans8:11 NIV

As for our souls, David had a revelation of the Spirit’s restoration work on our souls, and he testifies to it saying:

³ He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake. – Psalm 23:3 NKJV

TO BE CONTINUED>>>

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Power Gifts: The Gift of Faith - 3

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I remember a dear brother whose visa application was turned down and he was visibly disappointed. He had just come from the embassy when we met and right after he told me his application was declined, the Holy Spirit immediately rose up in me and I found myself saying to him “go back on Friday, you will get your visa”. He said something about not having any other documents to add to what he already had and a few things along those lines, but I repeated the same thing, “go back on Friday, you will get your visa”.   

As soon as we parted, the enemy started bombarding my mind “look at you”, “ what were you thinking?”, “that’s unheard of”, “you just made a fool of yourself”. Then I started thinking “why did I say that?”, “why did I tell him to go back on Friday?”. “what will I say when I see him again?” and on and on all these questions were swirling in my head but the thing is, as I was talking to this brother, I was so confident, it was like I was almost ordering him to go back to that embassy on Friday to get his visa.

Well, what do you know…the brother sought me out on Friday with the good news, he went and was given his visa without a hassle! Glory to God! Now that beloved, was the Gift of Faith in operation. Had I chosen to be “logical”, “reasonable” and/or “realistic” – good human qualities to have – I wouldn't have been much help to that brother and I doubt I would've been used by God to bless him.

See beloved, when you flow in the Gifts of the Spirit, don’t expect the enemy to stand applaud you, he will oppose you, he will use others to criticize you, sadly he will use even fellow believers to discourage you, should they let him. He will bombard your mind with all kinds of thoughts, he will always point you to yourself – “how could YOU…”, “what would they think of YOU…”, “YOU will make a fool of YOURSELF”. Keep your focus on Christ, at the end of the day We are His and all these gifts are His, not ours and He uses us as He pleases, not as we please.  

The Gift of Faith cannot be “worked up” by human effort, it operates as the Holy Spirit wills. When a situation warrants it and the Spirit desires to manifest through this gift, then we might get promptings (from the Holy Spirit) to say or do something and it will be with such confidence that isn't naturally ours.

It is always helpful to remember it is never to be about us, it is always to be about Christ Jesus our Lord; when the Spirit desires to use us in this gift we shouldn't shrink back, we should instead avail ourselves of the opportunity

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knowing that God wants to reach and bless someone else through us. Let us keep on loving others with the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is in us (Romans 5:5). And as we do, opportunities to flow in the Gifts of the Spirit, the Gift of Faith included, will present themselves and we will be able to rejoice for being conduits through which others are blessed by this Gift of the Spirit.

Beloved, let us keep on desiring the Gifts of the Spirit while pursuing the Fruit of the Spirit.

I am your brother,

Patrick

         

>>> Up Next: Power Gifts: Gifts of Healings

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Power Gifts: The Gift of Faith - 2

The Gift of Faith and How it Operates

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The Gift of Faith is a supernatural manifestation of a tiny portion of God’s own faith through us to accomplish feats that are beyond our limitations. It is not to be confused with the faith that saves us and neither is it to be confused with “the measure of faith” that God has given each one of us.

The Gift of Faith manifests the love and power of God towards His people. When this gift is in operation, there is usually an unflinching assurance that whatever the circumstance is, it will change and line up with what God says. The boldness that accompanies this gift could sometimes be mistaken for arrogance, it is that bold.

Many times even the person operating in this gift might not even be aware that they are, that’s another testament to how intertwined our spirits are with the Holy Spirit. Have you ever had moments when you came up with a brilliant idea and marveled that you didn't even know you knew that idea? Let me assure you it was the Holy Spirit in you who gave you that idea; same thing with all the gifts and fruit of the Spirit in our lives, so with the Gift of Faith it’s no different.

We can see this gift in operation in the life of Jesus. When you are at sea and there is a storm and the boat you are in is taking up water fast and  everyone

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on board is frantically trying to do everything they can to brave the storm, the logical, reasonable and realistic thing to do is to help get the water out, to help keep the sails up, to help throw the extra cargo weight overboard, to check on your fellow shipmates to make sure everyone is ok – one thing you don’t do in that situation is – Stand up on the deck and rebuke the winds and declare “peace be still”, but that is precisely what my Lord did and guess what? The winds died down, the waves calmed down and the storm ceased. Now that was the Gift of Faith in action. 

>>> TO BE CONTINUED

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: Power Gifts: The Gift of Faith - 1

Power Gifts: Gift of Faith, Gifts of Healings and the Gift of Working of Miracles

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This group of Gifts of the Spirit almost always involves some type of action on the part of the person operating in the gift to release the power of God into a situation. Some people refer to them as Action Gifts or the Doing Gifts.

As we've established earlier on, each one of these Gifts of the Spirit are expressions of God himself in us and through us.

With this as background, let’s now delve into the Power Gifts.

The Gift of Faith

Before we look at what the Gift of Faith is, we need to understand what FAITH is and as is our custom, we will appeal to the authority of Scripture:

¹ Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. – Hebrews 11:1 AMP

That is essentially what FAITH IS, the assurance of the reality of what we hope for and the evidence or proof of what we haven’t yet experienced with our five senses. The Word of God also makes it clear that any attempts at pleasing God are absolutely futile without faith.

⁶ Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him. – Hebrews 11:6 GW

The good news is, every one of us has been given “the measure of faith”. If you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you have faith.

³ For I say to every man that is among you, through the grace given unto me, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. – Romans 12:3 KJ21 (emphasis added)

No wonder when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith? He didn't say “OK sure, I’ll increase your faith” no, He instead told them to use the faith they already had and even if it’s as small as a mustard seed it will still work wonders. (Luke 17:5-6)  Jesus is the one who enables us to have faith. Doesn't the Word rightly declare that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ? (Romans 10:17) One cannot “hear” the Word of Christ and not have faith. Think about it, Jesus is called the Author, Pioneer, Perfecter and Finisher of Faith.

² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. – Hebrews 12:2a NIV

Christ is the source of faith, apart from Him there is no faith.

Just agreeing with the Scriptures isn't faith, it’s a step towards it but if it just ends there then it is simply mental assent and sadly many confuse that with faith. Mental assent is precisely that, mental whereas faith is active, it is alive, that’s why it is always accompanied by relevant corresponding actions.

Having faith in one’s faith is also futile, our faith should always be based on what Christ has spoken to us – His Word, not on our fasting or praying as good and desirable as those two disciplines are. You see beloved,Timothy Keller put it this way:

“It is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you.” 

You can have very strong faith in an idol but that idol won’t save you because it can’t, regardless of how much you believe in it...It’s that simple…really!

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This ties in perfectly well with the Gospel, from John 3:16 all the way to Ephesians 2:8 – Jesus, the object of our faith is the One who saves us. We are saved by the grace of God and that happens through faith in Christ, not only that, the life that we now live, we live by His faith (Galatians 2:20)

Now having established that every believer has faith, what then is this Gift of Faith and how do we operate in it? I’m glad you asked… OK you didn't…but I’d like to share some thoughts I have about that.

>>> TO BE CONTINUED