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The Lawnmower in the Rain from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

When you neglect something, it begins to deteriorate. Whether it is a lawnmower sitting out in the weather, a relationship, or a gift that God has placed in your life. Many will look at themselves now and say, "What gift?" You are not the first. The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth:

(1 Corinthians 12:1 NKJV)  "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:"

Ignorant: "lacking knowledge, uneducated, untaught, unschooled." Every time you learn something new means that you would have been wrong if you were asked about it yesterday. It's not your fault, for you just didn't know.

The Apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Corinth to clear up some of their confusion over spiritual things. The Corinthian church was an economically diverse crowd of people. Some were very rich, while others were poor. Some thought they were better than others because they had a certain gift or office. The body of Christ doesn't work like that. So Paul leveled the field by bringing the haughty down and the lowly up.

(1 Corinthians 12:4–6 NKJV)  "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all."

Paul covers three areas:

1: There are diversities of gifts (charisma), but the same Spirit. Which includes the gift of prophecy, tongues, dream interpretation, healings, intercession, and so many others. It is a dynamic and very diverse list of gifts that the Lord freely distributes throughout His body as He likes. He may create a special one just for you. For example, The Lord worked "unusual miracles" through Paul that He hadn't with the other Apostles:

(Acts 19:11–12 NKJV)  "Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them."

Spiritual gifts like that can be very personalized. The Apostle Paul was a leatherworker, and these handkerchiefs would have been the rags he wiped the sweat off his forehead with. The aprons would have been covered with dust and grime from cleaning animal hides. It was a very personal gift that carried some of Paul with it.

The Lord gave me an understanding of technical things, not to lift me up, but to build up His church. When I was young, I took to technology like a fish to swimming. It seemed easy. I built my first computer from scrap parts I gathered and used a cardboard box for a case. Soon afterward, banks, insurance companies, and law offices started calling me to come and fix theirs. I wasn't looking for computer repair work. Yet, strangers sought me out, and they would beg me to come. I worked in construction but soon found myself with a thriving computer business. His gifting was to prepare me for what we do today.

The Lord has given me prophetic dreams and visions that often expose what is going on behind the scenes. For example, He once revealed to me in a vision that a couple in the praise and worship team I was playing in was having an affair. 48 hours later, it was exposed, and everyone knew. Then He gave me a dream that the praise team was heading for an embarrassing end. We were all in a car fighting over the keys while it rolled backward into a canal ditch. Spectators watching were laughing and shaking their heads at us. A few weeks later, the elders called us upfront and disbanded the entire group. It was an embarrassing end.

Don't neglect the gifts the Lord has put in your life. While praying about this message, I heard the words "Stir up the gifts and fan the flames" repeated seven times. It's time to revive, to spiritually come alive. Spiritual gifts are given to strengthen and build up the church. We are weak and powerless without them. They expose the work of the enemy and prepare us for what is coming. Don't let your gifts sit and rust like a lawnmower in the rain. The Lord leaves no one out but distributes gifts throughout the body for the good of all. We need each other.

2: There are differences of ministries (diakonia), but the same Lord. These are the spiritual offices in the church. The Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. These are people appointed by the Lord Jesus Christ and not a man. Pretenders may claim the title, but believe me, no one teaches like someone in the office of a teacher. And prophets won't have to tell you they are. You'll know.

(Ephesians 4:11–13 NKJV)  "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; "

These people are "given" to the church by the Lord Jesus Christ to build and strengthen the body of Christ, which includes you. If you believe this all passed away with the last apostle, just examine the part, "till we all come to the unity of the faith." Then remember that more than 45,000 Christian denominations disagree on nearly everything today. So why do these spiritual offices exist?

(Ephesians 4:14–16 NKJV)  "that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

3: "And there are diversities of activities (energema), but it is the same God who works all in all."  The Greek word for activities is energema. It's where we get the English words energy, energetic, and energize. It describes the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit flowing through someone. The Apostle Paul continues writing to the Corinthians:

(1 Corinthians 12:7–11 NKJV)  "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills."

It's time to stir up the gifts and fan the flames. Joseph continued to use his gift of dream interpretation while in prison, and it played a vital part in him being released into his destiny. Don't let fear hold you back, for this is a season to revive.

(2 Timothy 1:6–7 NKJV)  Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please stir up the gifts you have put in my life. Teach me to recognize them and use them to their fullest potential. I want to do my part in building up the church. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

This was just a brief overview of spiritual gifts. If you wish to know more, I have done a lengthy series on my Pastor's Corner page here:  https://www.refreshinghope.org/pages/pastors-corner