Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. 1 Corinthians 12:1.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills. 1 Corinthians 12:5-11.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
My Word is Spirit-breathed, all Scripture comes out of Me, My thoughts, My Words, shared with you by My Spirit. “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1:20-21. And My Spirit testifies to Jesus. So when My Word shares things about the Spirit you know you need to pay attention for this is important for your growth as the Body of Christ and for the testimony of Jesus.
There are three things I tell you that I do not want you unaware of, which means I want you to be aware of them and utilizing them in your life and in your lives together as members of the Body of Christ, the church on earth. And these three things are of primary importance in whether you will live the victorious and abundant life that Jesus died to give you. They also are determinative in whether you will fulfill the work I gave you to do by living a fruitful life, doing the good deeds I prepared for you in advance in Christ Jesus that you walk in them. But it grieves Me and My Spirit that with all this I have made available to you, most people are indifferent to and unaware of these three things. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; but often it is because you have rejected knowledge.
The three are as follows: To be aware that you who believe in My Son are indwelt by My Spirit so that you have constant access to and communication with Me by the Spirit. Your earthly body houses your spirit and soul and they perfectly fit together. So do not despise and abuse your body, it is My temple and the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you. You are a house of God and a gate of Heaven and combined with other believers, the Body of Christ, the church, you are built into an edifice where My Spirit dwells and moves, bestowing gifts with signs, wonders, and miracles for the benefit of all. And that has to do with the second thing I tell you to be aware of. You should not stop at being aware of My indwelling Spirit but you must go on to knowing the gifts He bestows as He wills for the benefit of all at that moment. The gift He bestows depends on the need of the moment. And as to the gifts of the Spirit, I tell you to pursue love and desire earnestly (zéloó: to burn with zeal) the spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 14:1. Do you who profess faith in My Son and that you love Me do this? If not, it is time you did so that your life and the whole corporate Body of Christ can function together at a whole new level. And the third thing? I want you aware of the schemes and tactics of the devil. Otherwise he can catch you off guard and deceive you. And he comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. He will rob you of your prize and ruin your destiny. As he did Judas Iscariot. But if you are aware and moving in the first two things, the third follows with no problem. For My Spirit warns you of the things to come. My Spirit gives you the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge and discerning of spirits. These three revelation gifts bring about My plan and purpose and will overcome the devil easily, catch him in his tracks, every time. Kind of like the word of knowledge I would give to Elisha about the enemy’s battle plans against the king of Israel so that Elisha informed the king of Israel and he and his army escaped every ambush of the enemy.
The gifts of the Spirit are for ministry and the effecting of My plans and purpose in the earth. 1 Corinthians 12:5-11. The fruit of the Spirit, on the other hand, is for your own personal growth and enjoyment as the fruit blesses everyone who comes in contact and eats of the fruit of your lips and of your life. Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit is manifested in you all at the same time, but the gifts are administered by My Spirit as needed, to one this and to another that. They are not your own, they belong to the Spirit. The fruit is your own, produced by your spirit by My Spirit flowing divine life into you. Like the sap of the vine flowing into the branch of the tree to give the characteristics and power of the vine to the branch so that the branch can produce the fruit of the vine, but the fruit belongs to the branch. The ministry gifts flow from My Spirit into your spirit just as they are and return when the need is filled. These gifts are actually My power flowing out from you. You become a steward of information and power directly from My throne, the very Holy of Holies. These gifts cannot be trusted to unbelievers or those who will not cooperate with them. Like Samson, he had finally gone too far off his destiny and the Spirit that was on him left him. The power was withdrawn. It was not his own to flaunt in sin. He forgot that.
Let us look then at 1 Corinthians 12 as our key Scripture, though you will see the gifts operating all through the Bible from beginning to end. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.” 1 Corinthians 12:5-11.
“There are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit.” These all flow from My Spirit into you as endowments of grace. The are supernatural enlightening and empowerment that profit all collectively. “And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.” My Son is Lord of all ministries, for His body is to be doing the works He did and greater and His ministry on earth was one empowered by the Spirit that filled Him without measure. All the gifts operated in Jesus at every moment without hindrance. He was completely yielded to My Spirit. The devil had absolutely no place in Him. “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13. The gifts of the Spirit flow into the offices of ministry that come from My Son but they are also given to every member when needed to minister even if you are not in a ministry office as such. “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all.” 1 Corinthians 12:7. Jesus has released you from your sins and made you all a royal priesthood unto Me. Revelation 1:5-6. This all has to do with your place as a member in the Body of Christ, which is also addressed in 1 Corinthians 12 after the gifts are discussed as flowing together. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:27-28. And this has to do with the effecting of the purpose and desired result, working it through to make the goal. “There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.” I am working all things together for good for those that love Me and are called according to My purpose. And every member has a place, a grace gift and an assignment to do. The body is not complete without all its parts and it is not functioning at its maximum potential if all the parts are not working together in their particular assignment.
Let us begin then with the first gift mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12: the Word of wisdom. “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:8. What is that? It is not worldly wisdom. It is not being unusually intelligent. It is not even a whole paragraph, it is a Word, but it is enough. I give that Word by My Spirit to carry out My purpose and plan in the earth. Wisdom looks forward. Getting a Word of Wisdom is to direct, protect, comfort, or forewarn. Jonah gave a Word of Wisdom to the people of Nineveh that unless they repented and turned from the evil at hand they would be destroyed in 30 days. They took that warning to heart and repented, thus averting an otherwise certain future event. Jeremiah gave a Word of Wisdom when he told the captives of Babylon that in seventy years I would bring them back to Jerusalem and bless and prosper them again. This gave them comfort and hope. And Isaiah gave them a Word of Wisdom about how that would come about and the rebuilding of the temple by the Persian king Cyrus, who at that time was unknown and Persia was not the kingdom in charge of Babylon at that time, but he came to power later and all took place just as the Word the Spirit gave to Isaiah. You can hold fast to that Word and get through dark times. The Word of Wisdom was given by the Spirit to Joseph in a dream when he saw his brothers and father bowing to him.
The Word of wisdom was given to Paul by My Spirit when he was headed for Rome as a prisoner that if they sailed on there would be great loss, notice how he said the warning, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” Acts 27:10. It was only a Word: damage and great loss. It was not particularly about exactly how that would happen. He had just perceived danger ahead in his spirit from My Spirit. He knew the voice of the Spirit. But the worldly minded centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul so they set sail and found it was just as Paul had warned them. Acts 27:11. But My Spirit gave another message to Paul, this time by an angel, in the midst of the storm that Paul had perceived as danger coming. And it was a Word of wisdom that brought comfort. “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on a certain island.” Acts 27:21-25. And this was not the end, when some of the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” Acts 27:31. This time they listened to Paul and the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away. After that Paul gave them another Word of wisdom for their comfort, for the storm kept on another 14 days, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” Acts 27:33-34. Not a hair from the head of any of you will perish. That was amazing in such a violent storm and shipwreck, but that is exactly what took place. And I have every hair on your head counted also.
The Word of wisdom you receive can be less dramatic but nonetheless important in your life and the lives of those to whom you are to deliver it. It can be a perception like it was to Paul at first that you or another should not travel a certain way, go to a certain event, or that you or another should do those things. The Word can also be delivered by an angel, by a vision, by a dream, by a prophet, or by the Spirit Himself. Cornelius had an angel come and tell him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.” Acts 10:4-6. This is actually a Word of knowledge combined with a Word of wisdom. The Word of knowledge is about a present or past fact that you could not otherwise know. And we will discuss the gift of the Word of knowledge tomorrow. Cornelius did not question what the purpose was but sent two of his servants and a devout soldier in his personal attendance to go get Peter. Now at the same time, My Spirit gave Peter a vision and instruction. “While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.” Acts 10:19-20. A Word of knowledge and a Word of wisdom. But do you see? It was a Word, not everything he was to do there and why he was going. Just to go. And the rest came to him as he walked it out. And the result? Salvation for a whole household, that had not been raised in the faith as they were not Jewish, and they all got filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues.
The gifts of the Spirit are for the profit of all.
There is so much more you can find in the treasure of the Bible, but now look for the gifts in the Old and New Testament and you will see My Spirit is at work all the time. You just have to get on the right channel to tune in. A SIGN. “Spirit is giving news.” Daily news.
I love you. Be a blessing in someone’s life next time you get a Word of wisdom for them. You will know for I will keep bringing it to your mind. Like Jonah, no matter how hard he ran from it, he finally went and delivered the Word of wisdom and saved a huge city. And what if Noah had not paid attention to the Word of wisdom My Spirit gave him? You would not be reading this. Selah.