ARTICLE: DUST OFF '"THE GIFTS" AND LET'S GET TO WORK

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 says:

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

If you are an authentic, born-again, Spirit-filled Christian then you are not clueless to the "signs of the times" my beloved. I am not a bible scholar by any means, but I do personally know the Spirit of Truth - the Holy Spirit- who resides in each believer in Christ. He reveals, instructs and directs God's people in the ways of truth. It is through the divine revelations I receive through the Holy Spirit that I am able to discern the events that were prophesied in the Book of Revelation are ALL coming to pass before our very eyes. We are truly living in the last days and I believe Jesus could come back anytime soon.

The aforementioned scripture (1 Corinthian 12:7-11) speaks of the Gifts of the Spirit -- these "gifts" are distributed out to every man in various measures. ALL of these gifts are to be used to further advance the Kingdom of God. With these gifts, the Body of Christ is responsible for using these spiritual gifts to share and reveal the very heart of the Father. They are also used to produce miracles, signs and wonders -- these amazing holy tools are used to spotlight TRUTH and serve as proof of the power of the One True Living God and His abilities and existence.

Now to the meat of this article. Father has laid it on my heart immensely lately that there are MANY of His children who have been given "spiritual gifts" and there was a time when you operated in these gifts and have laid them on a shelf and the dust of time passing how covers up these divine gifts that were given to you to use for "such a time as this". What God is saying is it is time to dust off the "gifts" and get to work. God is about to rekindle a holy fire in those who have been sitting on a shelf and feeling that the "gifts" you had in yesterday's season is no longer activated and needed anymore. If you believe this you are sadly mistaken my beloved. It is time to step up, grab a hold of those gifts again and get ready to move forward in all that God has you to do in the end times. There is coming the greatest revival this world has ever seen or experienced before. These "gifts" are desperately needed and the Holy Spirit has (and is) distributing these gifts out to God's people.

Allow me to share on the spiritual gifts God has given to me and the challenge I personally face in stepping out and using these gifts:

1) When I first came out of the gay lifestyle, God blessed me with the privilege of being dropped in the center of a Spirit-led, sanctuary of "miracles, signs and wonders". As a little Baptist Boy this was a whole new experience for me. One Sunday morning, while the Pastor had called for an altar call, I was called up to pray for some of the congregants. There I stood, asking the individual what she needed for prayer and the Holy Spirit told me to pray for a healing that this woman needed. Initially I wasn't sure how to step into the Gift of Healing, but the Holy Spirit began to instruct me and I was simply being obedient. I prayed with the authority we have in Jesus Christ and I felt intense heat pouring out of my hands. After laying hands on the area of her infirmity, she walked away from the prayer line completely healed. Praise God! I knew this was not something that came from me and my intellect or creativity-- it was the power of the Spirit of God - the Gift of Healing.

2) I will share one other story of what happened when I attended a large Church service of about 500 members. The praise and worship service was glorious and after the worship team ended, I found myself still singing, but this time my singing shifted into singing in the Spirit-- mind you, I was a new babe in the Lord so I really wasn't sure what was going on. All I knew was I had the choice to go silent, but my heart was beating out of my chest and the spiritual language just kept coming forth like a fountain. I sang in the spirit and suddenly I realized out of the 500 attendees, I was the only one singing (loudly) a lovely tune in my spiritual language. My friend who had invited me to this service, began nudging me with her elbow - I knew she was trying to let me know that perhaps I should stop, but the Holy Spirit continued to inspire me to continue with this spiritual song. It was a surreal experience as my voice began to reach many octaves higher than I thought I could sing -- almost angelic is the best way to describe it. Then I went from the song into compete silence. And believe me the silence seemed to last for a long time and it was awkward- and the enemy began whispering in my ear that I had "missed the mark" and missed what the Holy Spirit was intending to do. Then a precious petite woman walked up the center aisle and to the center stage-- she opened her mouth and began singing the exact song (tune) as I did in the spirit, and she was now singing in english and the interpretation of what I was singing came forth. Everyone was amazed, but I stood there overwhelmed with shock. This was the first time the Holy Spirit had ever used me in the gift of Singing in Tongues (bringing forth a Word of God is often used as a person speaks a Prophetic Word or a Word of Knowledge, but God has used me many times to prophesize in song. My point in these two stories is that you do feel like you are going to the edge and jumping off. You get concerned on whether what you are doing or saying is coming from you- but then, an indication of confirmation comes from the person you have prayed for. They usually begin to cry and eventually share with you of how it was God speaking things that confirmed other Words she had received in the past.

Let's get real --there are times when you feel like your heart is going to explode out of your chest if you don't speak what the Holy Spirit has placed on your heart to share with another person. Or you feel like a gushing water bubbling up inside of you and as you are obedient to the Holy Spirit's instructions, and you go to the person to share a Word of Knowledge or Prophesy to the person, that inner fountain comes forth with a powerful,life-changing message that will bless the person beyond words. God is calling His children to dust off the Spiritual Gifts and get moving--He is commanding His Children to take ahold of the Gifts He has distributed and to get in the position of readiness to begin to operate in these "gifts". The world needs our obedience my beloved. I once wrote a one line lyric to a song that says this:

"Beyond our obedience, lost souls are crying out, "be obedient" and lead us out...in truth" Folks are waiting for us to be obedient to the leading and instruction of the Holy Spirit. Dust off the Gifts and get moving my beloved. We are living in the last days where we are witnesses the enemy (Satan) is pulling out of all his armament and arsenal --let God's people rise up in the Spiritual Gifts and position ourselves for the coming Great Revival.

Note: To the Believer who has had a "Spiritual Gift" in the past and there was a time you operated in this gift, for the Glory of God, but for some reason you laid the gift(s) aside and was told there was no longer a need for this gift any longer. Well,my precious beloved, it is time to dust it off and position yourself because God is about to call on you again to use these gifts.

The greatest advice this Prophet of God can give you right now is BE OBEDIENT to the instruction of the Holy Spirit my beloved. If you are willing to do as Father has been saying in this article, you will step into a sphere that will make room for your gifts. People in the world are searching for" truth" and "proof" and what better way to reveal the heart of God than to use these precious Gifts of the Spirit" to advance the Kingdom of God.

I love you so much my beloved. Be strong, courageous, and bold in this last days. There are many things to be done for the Kingdom, but don't forget to stop, listen to the leading and instruction of the Holy Spirit and THEN BE OBEDIENT. God bless you all my beloved.

09-12-15 J.