WEDNESDAY - 24TH JULY, 2024
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL - Olusola ADEJUMO
LEVERAGING YOUR GIFTS - Your Baby Series 024
Acts 16:16, KJV
"And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying."
Don't emphasise gifts at the expense of character, vice versa. However, gift is powerful. Your gift is your leverage to greatness. Succeeding and becoming prominent is often by one's gift. That's why the Bible says, "the gift of a man will make a room for him and bring him before kings or prominent men" (Prov.18:16). Only that you may need character to keep such open door. Gift is your aid and God's resources to you to excel where He has set you. It is what makes someone supernatural when functioning in it and natural when out of it. Gift excels skill though you might need to still be trained in your gifting. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, no one can do ministry and be successful. Jesus says, "but you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem...and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
Until the Holy Spirit comes first, we're unqualified for ministry because ministry can't be by human power or might but by God's Spirit. Until then, you're not sent.
That's why every minister needs empowerment of the Holy Ghost from on high. Then, the Holy Ghost do bring gifts into our lives. I know a young adolescent of 15 years old who's very good with dates and history. He could tell you the atrocities of King Leopold of Belgium in Congo and chronicle the road to independence of many nations with the mentioning of names, facts and exact locations. History just interests him. Thanks to his aptitude for study also. No wonder, he excels in the arts/humanities. I believe God gifted him in that line especially. He even once sought launching a blog on African history and politics while forecasting studying History and Diplomatic Studies later on. Imagine that!
The young lady here surprisingly knows things by divination. Instead of leveraging God's revelatory gifts and discernment by the Holy Spirit, she fetches information supernaturally and illegally through aids of a demon by diving into the spirit realm. Divination is what Joseph refers to when he plans the detaining of his younger brother, Benjamin. He told them, "don't you know a man like me can surely divine" (Gen.44:15). That is, find things out supernaturally.
I basically want to teach on your leveraging your gifts. Through divination, this damsel has access to accurate and truthful information. She keeps harassing the apostles with their identity and work. A foolish fellow could have taken her for a prophetess but Paul by discernment rebuked that spirit of divination by which she soothsays things. When that happens, there's no little stir because the hope of gains of those who owns her is gone. They have been making money through the supernaturalness (though demonic) of this damsel. That lady became a nobody after the authority of Christ stripped her of that special ability. That special ability while it was retained however made her a sort of 'god.' It made the gullible (who don't know she was soothsaying) give her a lot of respect because of her supposed divinity - of being godlike or heroic. But it took another person in his own gift to arrest her and bring her to judgement. You can't pick the devil with your head. Your leverage are your gifts: discernment, word of knowledge etc.
Same way this girl is special, functioning optimally, extraordinarily and surprisingly in her special ability, so also is how God's gifts make potent anyone who has it. I once heard of a child who prophesies and was baffled. A child prophesying is nothing short of the supernatural. No one could have fed her with such information because they were even beyond her exposure. However, a gift makes her do that effortlessly and intricately. The Bible also talks of Philip the evangelist (a gifted man himself) having four daughters who prophesies (Acts 21:9).
Leverage your gift and you can fulfill your calling. Every calling is a bundle of gifts in manifestation. That's why "gifts and calling" appear as a pair in a place like Romans 11:29.
"For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance."
Don't be ashamed of flowing in your gift. If you're thinking you're exhibiting a gift that's strange to you or unusual, seek counsel and you'll be encouraged to know you aren't operating by a familiar spirit etc. Your gift will power your calling and through this, you can serve the will of God in your generation and attract "all these things (Matt.6:33)" that people are dying to have.
PRAYER: We pray for the free flow of the Holy Ghost in all institutions of our world. When He hovers on something, repair is brought to it soonest.
1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
Acts 28:17-31 & Psalms 30-31
Powered by Morning Wings Ministries. Share and tag others. Enquire or counsel through +234 80 77 63 85 50 or +234 8137 04 68 12 II morningwingministry@gmail.com & Blog @ www.morningwingsministry.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment