Moving in the gifts vs Moving in the Spirit

Believers gravitate towards Spiritual gifts for different reasons. Many are excited at the idea of getting people healed, seeing miracles performed and people added to the church. However, moving in the gifts does not equate to moving in the Spirit. One who is focused on doing ministry may exhibit a form of spirituality, but there is no power to transform lives. Such keep people hooked on their miraculous acts that do not imbue Spirit-filled living. Their followers listen to the same cleverly phrased teachings and attend numerous conferences but did not receive what they desired. How did Jesus “train” people to operate in the gifts? In Luke 9:1-2,

Jesus called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.

Jesus delegated power and authority to his disciples and sent them out. Therefore, Spiritual gifts cannot be learned per se, they are imparted by the Holy Spirit. Jesus in Luke 10:1 appointed another seventy disciples giving them power and authority as the first twelve. Jesus gave His anointing to His disciples; He grants His power to those who are trustworthy and mature. In order to receive His power, we must be discipled by a gifted minister according to the ways of Christ. Jesus emphasized two traits: faith and knowledge of God’s will; one who possesses the knowledge of God’s will, thinks like God. And God will anoint a disciple according to the level of his faith and knowledge of God’s will.

Faith is not confidence, but obedience!

I see ministers take great effort to instill confidence into people to work miracles and yet they do not try to help them fix their unbelief in their personal life. If a person do not display obedience and discipline in his prayer life, can God entrust bigger things to him? If a person is not faithful in tithes and offerings, how can God bless him with more resources?

Jesus said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, ’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:20-21

When the disciples could not cast out the demon from a boy, Jesus chided them for their lack of faith. The mustard seed represents personal discipline and the Lordship of Christ over one’s life. Jesus said faith is demonstrated in the mundane and seemingly insignificant disciplines of prayer and fasting. If a person hears and obeys exactly what God said despite inconveniences, he has faith! For such will also be consistent in preaching the gospel and in putting the interest of others before his own. Such believers have faith to move in the Spirit and in the gifts as well!

Put in a nutshell, if God cannot trust you to execute His plans in your personal life, how can he trust you with greater anointing over all things?

If we don’t know God’s will, we can’t do God’s will

Although there are many occasions, that God’s will is accomplished without our expressed knowledge. But it is God’s desire to communicate to His servants His plans before He executes them (Amos 3:7). Moving in the power of the Spirit involves a clear knowledge of God’s will.

Just as we do not give money to anyone who is poor, we do not heal anyone who is sick. Immature people seek opportunities to use their gifts without first consulting God’s will. Therefore, believers must increase in the ability to discern the mind of God in any circumstance. The more clarity we have concerning God’s will, the more confident we get and the more predictable the results become. The apostle John wrote,

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 1 John 5:14

How do we increase clarity concerning God’s will? By living one day at a time in obedience without worrying about tomorrow. Jesus said, “I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.” John 14:31. Jesus did what was required of Him concerning the cross and left the disciples in the care of the Father.

The healing gift facilitates healing of the WHOLE person towards the perfection of Christ

Concerning the operation of the gifts of healing, we saw whole congregations healed during our crusades. Healing cloths were handed out as God’s power came out of them healing those who touched them. We saw a significant drop in numbers of sick people when we made a second trip to the cities. Such effectiveness is due to our emphasis on healing the whole person as opposed to the physical body.

We must bear in mind the Spirit’s mission and not become fixated on the needs of the physical body. We must administer healing with the wisdom of God and not with blind compassion. The healing gift is one part of the ministry of the Spirit which must lead to the sanctification of the whole person – the spirit, mind, heart and body. A person who does not love God or His laws may experience physical healing, but will again fall into disobedience and sickness. When operating in the Spiritual gifts (especially the prophetic gift), the goal is to regenerate the mind according to the mind of Christ. Healing the physical body is an important part of Christ’s ministry. However, healing the inner man and repentance is the key that will bring permanent healing and eternal life. The physical body will eventually waste away, but the spirit of man lives forever. Therefore, the prophetic and the power gifts must work together to build up the whole person. That being said, demons must be cast out in order for people to progress towards sustainable health and sanctification. Healing is for all including non-believers. But deliverance is only for those who acknowledge Christ as Lord.

Moving in the healing gift by being sensitive to the flow of the Spirit

One way to help believers operate in the healing gift is to help them sense the flow of the Holy Spirit. The intensity and the “texture” of the flow can help us understand the spiritual condition of the sick person, the specific location of the sickness as well as the person’s level of faith.

Jesus sensed the flow of the Spirit’s power on several occasions and He talked openly about it. By sensing the tangible flow of the Spirit, we may understand the Spirit’s ways and cooperate with Him. During the incident when Jesus healed the haemophilic woman, Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me.” (Luke 8:46). In another occasion while Jesus was teaching, and He sensed “…the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing.” (Luke 5:17). In Luke 6:19, it is recorded, “And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.” Sensing the tangible power of the Spirit was a commonly accepted phenomenon during those days. This is an acceptable way to monitor what the Spirit is doing at a certain moment so that we can flow with Him.