Mar 15, 2011

Accepting Spiritual Gifts

Every person who comes to know God personally will be blessed by Him with certain spiritual gifts to be used for His kingdom purposes. The bible tells us that He gives many to some, fewer or one to others, but we can all rest assured that He equips us with the gifts we need to fulfill our specific mission in this life. Only now, at age fifty, have I come to terms with and graciously accepted my own spiritual gifts, which happen to be those of knowledge, prophecy and discernment. I have to say, these gifts can be extremely difficult to bear at times, and especially when they're most at work. At those times, there will inevitably be a communicative action required on my part in regard to another individual, who may or may not know me, may or may not be receptive. There's a lot of mental and emotional wrestling involved. I had to learn the hard way that holding and bottling up what I receive is the absolute wrong way to go. Intense depression, anxiety, and immune system disturbances were the resulting fallout for over a decade. I thank God for the beautiful, mature women of God He's placed in my life to affirm my gifts, and provide support and encouragement. Using their own spiritual gifts, they have helped me to appreciate what I've been given and to start getting beyond my natural reticence with strangers. But there's no better encouragement than delivering a message to one it's intended for, and then seeing the joy or fruits of that discovery. Obedience can be hard at times, but when God chooses you for a task, He expects you to carry it out. But He also promises to be right there with you!

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