Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians told them:
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:”
I Corinthians 12:1 NKJV
The Prophet Isaiah also said by the Spirit of the Lord that:
“Therefore my people have gone into captivity, Because they have no knowledge; Their honorable men are famished, And their multitude dried up with thirst.”
Isaiah 5:13 NKJV
It is the ignorance about the workings of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that has put many wonderful Christians in religious bondage today. This is what, as the Prophet Isaiah said above, is “drying them up with (spiritual) thirst”. They are unable to move forward into their destinies in Christ Jesus, because of the lack of cooperation together with the Holy Spirit, Who lives within them.
As a result of this some have resorted to leaning on the arm of the flesh, in navigating their pathway into God’s destinies for their lives. Their involvements with the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), has gotten them entrenched into the stronghold of the devil. This has become a hindrance to their spiritual progress in this new life.
They are thirsty for the presence of God in their lives, but the religious traditional belief system around them is depriving them of it. They are as a consequence of this, unable to tap into the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit for their prosperity.
They are blessed but living in poverty, because their spiritual eye is not opened to seeing, what truly belongs to them in Christ Jesus. They are healed; but yet living like the sick. They are free; but still living like the one in bondage. All these are as a result of the lack of understanding, about the workings of the Holy Spirit through His gifts and fruit in their lives.
Even though it is complex, it’s not difficult
There had been some misunderstandings and misconceptions within the Body of Christ today, about the workings of the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in the life of a Spirit filled believer in Christ. Most of these stems from the complex nature in the functionality, of these gifts and the fruit within the Body of Christ.
But the complexity of the way that the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit do function together, is not an excuse for not being spiritually informed about their workings. It is not a tenable excuse before God, that any child of God is unable to have, what has been made available to him or her by faith in Christ Jesus.
Jesus Himself said:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
John 14:12-14 NKJV
These were the words of Jesus to us as believers in His Name. He had given us the assurance, that immediately we ask anything in His Name, He will begin to work on our behalf to bring the answer to us. And many times He works through the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in our lives to answer those prayers. But it is often the ignorance about the workings, of the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the lives of these believers, that is preventing them from attaining what is truly theirs’ in Christ Jesus.
A lot of Christians will do many things today, just because they see others doing those very things. They are not even aware that there is a whole lot more within them, which God had made available for them, to rule and reign on this earth as kings and queens with Christ Jesus. Ignorance about the purpose of both the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their lives, has rendered their faith ineffective to tap into the riches of the glory, which belongs to them in Christ Jesus.
Apostle Paul in his prayer to God for the Ephesians said:
“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,”
Ephesians 3:16 NKJV
Believers in Christ are strengthened through their knowledge about the workings, of the gifts and the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. The knowledge of the riches of God’s glory strengthens us, by the Spirit who lives inside of us. The Holy Spirit does this through the workings of the fruit and the gifts, inside each believer to lead us into, what God has made available for each one of us.
Let the Holy Spirit flow
It is God’s will that each member of the Body of Christ, should be able to use their individual intelligence for His glory. Intelligence here is described as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills together appropriately. It is a mental exercise that requires reasoning, in understanding the perceived relationship which pertains to the acquired knowledge and skills. This process in the mind requires the ability to analyze, calculate and learn quickly in making wise decisions. But for a child of God it’s impossible to make such wise decisions, without the help from the spirit of the believer in Christ.
The mind of the believer in Christ must be renewed by the word and the spirit for this purpose. This allows the mind which is very active during intelligence gathering, to get realigned with his born again spirit being. This enables his spirit man to easily and actively be involved in the intelligence gathering process also, as the spirit man is empowered by the Holy Spirit in sending inside information, to the mind in making such wise decisions. The fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are actively involved in this. The believer in Christ is therefore stronger, by using the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the Church, as he opens up his heart to this flow from his heart .
It is very important for the Holy Spirit filled believers, to learn how to harness the intelligence from their renewed minds, together with the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their lives. This is how they are able to edify themselves before God, and the Church with them.
Every child of God is gifted in one thing or another, which is delinquent in the lives of others within the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:8). By harnessing the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, with the intelligence of the renewed mind, we are individually empowered to prosper, and the Church is also strengthened.
God designed it this way for the purpose of the interdependency of the Body of Christ on one another. No particular part or person in the Body of Christ has it all. And the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit had been given to us all for mutual edification (Ephesians 4:12-16).
Your intelligence is a gift from God to your mind. But you can’t function effectively as a Christian, without allowing the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in your life, the access into your renewed mind.
Being intelligent makes you smarter than you thought about yourself. But as a child of God you are much more powerful, as you allow the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit in you, free access into the intelligence of your mind. That’s why it’s important to train the human mind in discerning spiritual truth. God wants to use your intelligence to glorify His Name. Will you let Him? Give the Holy Spirit the chance today in your life. Learn how to yield more to Him, instead of the flesh. Pray more and more in tongues (in the spirit), so that the fruit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit may flow more freely in your life.
As Paul once advised the Galatians:
“As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self – life. For your self – life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your old self – life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self – life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit. But when you are brought into the full freedom of the Spirit of grace, you will no longer be living under the domination of the law, but soaring above it!”
Galatians 5:16-18 NLT
