Monday, November 26, 2012

How Did You Know That?--Unwrapping the Gifts of the Spirit Part 2


We are continuing our series on the understanding of the gifts of the Spirit — specifically word of Knowledge.   This involves having supernatural knowledge for ourselves or to impart to someone else.  In 1 Corinthians 12:1 Paul exhorts us to not be ignorant of the gifts. Ignorance can be a lack of knowledge and it can also be misunderstanding. Misunderstanding can cause us to shy away from the gifts or it can cause us to misuse the gifts. We don't want to have either type of ignorance.

 

 First we need to understand the meaning of “word of knowledge.”  Word (Logos in Greek) means a word uttered by a human voice, not just a written word or thought.  Knowledge in the Greek means knowledge of the thing.  When we add the gift of the Spirit to it, we come up with this definition “received from the Holy Spirit in you, enabling you to more effectively minister to the needs of people; to know or understand situations, circumstances, and strategies of the enemy; it enables you to know how and what to speak with a knowledge that can surprise, baffle or disarm, bringing answers, healing or understanding.”

 

Keys to Operating in Word of Knowledge:

  1. Have a desire to do so--God will not make you do things He wants you to do, but if you are a willing vessel, He will use you.
  2. Recognize His voice (which comes by knowing His Word)--If a “Word” does not line up with the Word, it is not God.
  3. Understand timing (not all words are for right now but some are).--Pray and find out when to share it.
  4. Desire to edify the body through this gift.  Our desire and motivation should always be to edify, exhort, and comfort and never to tear down, embarrass, or condemn.
  5. Be open to fine-tuning, teaching and correction from those over you in the Lord (the Spirit is perfect, but we're not!  Sometimes we’ll make a mistake—just apologize, ask for forgiveness, and move on). 

A note, with Word of Knowledge, you usually will not know what you are talking about.  It is not wisdom into something you know about, but only God and the person will know what it is about.  We also can’t imitate others.  We need to be ourselves.  We can learn from what others do, but we have to let God flow uniquely through us. 

A major factor in effectively flowing in any Spiritual gift is doing so through love. 1 Corinthians chapters 12 and 14 both deal with operating in these gift. But chapter 13 is all about love and how, without it, the power of the gifts is totally useless.  1 John 4 is another good reference.

 

Remember also that your role in delivering a word of Knowledge is simply that of a postman. You have nothing to do with the message, understanding it, adding to it or taking away from it. You simply deliver it. I find that in almost every case, the deliverer of the message knows nothing about its significance or its meaning. You are simply delivering a message.  We can confuse or delay or cause misunderstanding if we add or take away from God’s clear message.  The errors I have made in this gift has either been not doing it or not telling the complete message I am given.

 

Ways We Receive a Word of Knowledge (not the ONLY ways — just some ways):

  1. In your own prayer time (a person or situation comes to mind)
  2. You may get a sudden witness in your spirit
  3. You are shown something as you study the Word
  4. Seeing or hearing something moves you (Jesus was moved by compassion to see a need in people that was not naturally perceivable in Matthew 9:36)
  5. In a vision (sometimes a complete picture and sometimes simply a single word)

We must learn to discern when we are receiving a word of knowledge and when it is something else. If you could have perceived it on your own, then it probably is not. Not every random thought or dream is a vision or word of knowledge. They may be, but they may not be.  

 

What to do when you believe you've received a word of knowledge:

  1. PRAY – ask God if it is a Word from Him
  2. PRAY — If it is, ask Him what He wants you to do with it

                                - is it a simply prompt for me to pray?

                                - is it something to be shared with an individual?

                                - is it something to be shared with the congregation?

 

Finally, what should you do if someone shares a word of knowledge with you — to ensure it truly IS a word from God:

  1. PRAY – ask God if it is from Him.  Remember, God, like in the Word will confirm more than once (two or three witnesses often).
  2. Does it line up with His Word and His character? (should not be condemning or exposing sin – it should edify)
  3. Does it confirm something God has told or shown me or has been trying to tell me? Does it confirm a question I had?
  4. Could the individual have known what the significance of what they told me was (were they simply stating something based on what they see) or was it clearly God-revealed knowledge?

Always confirm any word by 2 or 3 witnesses (your own spirit being one). Most times the word is confirming something God has already shown you. Very rarely is it something totally out of left field. If it is, then be very diligent to pray and confirm before acting on that word.

 

There are many great examples of how God uses this gift to do amazing things (John 4:4-42, Acts 9:10-18, Acts 10:1-8, Acts 10:9-17)

 

Understand the gift and allow yourself to be used to be powerful. Remember, Jesus wasn't weird or fruity. He was powerful!

 

 

To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/ and click on online media. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.