THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT: A BIBLE STUDY WITH GOD WITHIN HER MINISTRIES-ASHLEY ROBBINS
WEEK 1
Thank you so much for joining along with me for our Bible Study on The Gifts of the Holy Spirit! I’m so glad you’re here. I pray that as you walk through this study with me that it is a blessing to you and brings greater understanding on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
As a believer, God has given these gifts to us so that we may be a blessing to others, and to assist us in waging effective combat against the enemy. Without these gifts in operation in our lives, we are missing a vital part of the armor that God has supplied us with. I think we can all agree that we need to utilize every weapon God has given to us, especially during the times we are living in. Ephesians 6:10-18 in the Message Bible says this:
Ephesians 6:10-18 (MSG)
And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.
God desires for us to have knowledge concerning the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we have knowledge from the Word of God, we can operate in what He has provided for us.
1 Corinthians 12:1 says this, “Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.” (BSB)
God does not want us uninformed about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, how the gifts operate and their administration.
God has given us everything we have need of to live a Godly life here on the earth, and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are a vital part of that.
2 Peter 1:3 (BSB)
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
So how do we possess all that God has already given to us? By faith and through our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Another way to say this is, we take possession of what God has already given to us through mixing our faith with our knowledge of the Word of God.
The greater our knowledge of the Word of God, the greater we can walk in all of His benefits.
The greater knowledge we have on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and how these gifts operate, the greater we are positioned for the gifts to function through us.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are vital.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit functioning are necessary.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are spiritual weapons given to The Body of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4 tells us, “The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (BSB)
The Gifts of The Holy Spirit are a part of the weapons God has given to the Body of Christ. They help us to gain ascendancy over the attacks that the enemy would endeavor to launch against the Body of Christ.
God’s will is for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to function in each of our lives.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit functioning in each of our lives position us, the Body of Christ, for complete and total victory.
All of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit were in manifestation in the Old Testament, except for two. Two of these gifts were added in the Age of Grace.
This week we will introduce the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and then we will explore each one in detail over the next few weeks.
- The Gift of The Word of Wisdom
- The Gift of The Word of Knowledge
- The Gift of Discerning of Spirits
- The Gift of Special Faith
- The Gift of Working of Miracles
- The Gifts of Healings
- The Gift of Prophecy
- The Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues
- The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
We find that the first 7 gifts listed above functioned throughout the Old Testament. In the New Testament, 2 gifts were added on the day of Pentecost. Those two gifts were The Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues and The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues. These gifts can operate through any Spirit Filled believer.
By God’s grace and design, all of these supernatural gifts have been given to the Body of Christ. They are spiritual weapons meant to build up and profit the Body of Christ as we see in 1 Corinthians 12:7.
1 Corinthians 12:7 (BLB): Now to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit, for the common profiting.
These gifts flowing are meant for the common good of everyone.
The Holy Spirit Himself knows which gifts are necessary at any particular moment, and He is the one Who manifests these gifts.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (KJV): But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.
1 Corinthians 12:31 encourages us to earnestly desire the manifestation of these gifts. That is our part.
1 Corinthians 12:31 (NLT):
So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
In the above scripture we are encouraged to desire the most helpful gifts.
All of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are helpful and important, but the most helpful gifts are the gifts needed at that particular time.
For example, if an individual needs the Gift of The Word of Knowledge to operate in their behalf in order find a lost possession, the Gifts of Healings manifesting would not be helpful at that time.
So the most important or helpful gift is the gift needed at that time.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit operating in an individual’s life do not make them more spiritual or any more special than any other member of the Body of Christ, nor is it any indication that a person is walking closely with The Lord.
The litmus test of if a believer is maturing spiritually and walking closely with the Lord is their character and conduct, or the fruit of the Holy Spirit operating in their lives.
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, meekness, faithfulness and self control (Galatians 5:22).
These are the indicators we can utilize to observe if we are growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ. We should possess these qualities in increasing measure according to 2 Peter 1:8.
It is possible for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to function in a person’s life while that person has very little evidence of the fruit of the spirit in their life.
We see this in the Church at Corinth. These believers were spiritually immature. Their conduct towards one another was quite reprehensible in some cases, yet the gifts were functioning and operating within that church.
Paul admonished them about their immature conduct. He instructed them to quit acting like spiritual babies and grow up spiritually by feeding on the Word of God. This is the primary way of how a believer comes to maturity in Christ, through continually feeding upon the Word of God for themselves.
If we are gossiping, quarreling, walking in strife and division, being cliquish, then we know we have some work to do.
2 Peter 1:5-8 (NLT): In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice we are to possess these qualities in increasing measure. This means there is a growth process. We arm ourselves with the Word of God on particular subjects so we can make the proper choice when the opportunity arises.
Our conduct is of the utmost importance to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be an example to the world in our conversation, conduct and deeds.
We can arm ourselves to make the right decision in every situation is to be full of the Word, and sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
For example, if the opportunity to gossip comes and we don’t know specifically what the Word of God has to say about gossiping, we may fall prey to that temptation, but when we know that Proverbs 10:18 says that the person who utters a slander (or gossips) is a fool, then we will be empowered by the Word of God not to utter gossip.
When we walk in the light of what The Word says, that is a blessing to us and to others.
I say all of this in order to bring greater clarity and understanding that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit functioning in the Body of Christ are necessary and very profitable, but the Gifts functioning in a believer’s life cannot be used to determine how spiritually mature a person is.
There are steps we can take to position ourselves for the Gifts to flow and operate through us.
- Desire their operation in our lives (1 Corinthians 12:31)
- Walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). Just like everything else we receive from God is by faith, so are the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Faith is not begging or pleading with God to manifest the Gifts. That’s not faith, that’s desperation. Faith is simply our positive response to what God has already made available to us through His Word.
- Let our motivation be love (1 Corinthians 13:1-2). God’s love in us, is not selfish or focused on self. It is not self-promoting, nor does it desire theses things for vainglory. God’s kind of love is focused on helping people so that the heart of our Father can be demonstrated toward them.
- As we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we place ourselves in a position for the gifts to flow. God desires their operation in the Body of Christ even more than we do because He wants every need met. For example, The Lord may lead us to pray with someone. As we step out in faith and obedience to His leading, we position ourselves for one or more of the Gifts of The Holy Spirit to flow through us.
We do not need to try to make something happen or work something up in the flesh, again, this would be vainglory. Our part is simply to live a life of faith, and should He choose to reveal something to us, then we obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. In this way we position ourselves for the Gifts to flow in a greater measure.
I pray that this week’s study has been a blessing to you, and that it has brought greater understanding and appreciation for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Next week we will begin to explore these gifts in greater detail.
With Love,
Ashley Robbins
God Within Her Ministries
The Lord began to use her mom’s testimony to open up Ashley’s heart to His goodness and Grace.For years, Ashley’s mom had ministered to her about how much God loved her, but it never really penetrated her heart until one particular morning in 2004.Ashley had come to the end of her rope, and was tired of trying to do life her way.She was addicted to alcohol, and did not see a light at the end of the tunnel.She felt that she just did not want to go on with life anymore.As she sat in her bedroom and reflected over the course of her life, her mom’s words about God’s Love began to echo in her heart.Out of depression, defeat and despair she said, “God if you are real, I just ask you to take my life from me.I don’t want to be here any longer.”When she spoke those words, instead of death invading her room, God’s overwhelming love saturated her room.She slid onto her knees, overwhelmed by His love, and surrendered her life to Christ.At that moment, The Love of God burst forth into her heart.That moment marked her and changed the very course of her life forever.
In March 2017, as Ashley was worshipping The Lord, He told her to begin God Within Her Ministries, and to start by writing devotionals and bible studies to encourage and help women grow in their faith in Christ. She stepped out in faith and obeyed.
From that moment on, The Lord has been expanding and increasing the vision for what He wants to accomplish through a yielded and willing vessel.Today, God Within Her Ministries is ministering to women throughout the world via online communications, and also locally through local Bible Studies, fellowships and outreach events.
Ashley prays that each devotional helps to strengthen, encourage and establish you in the faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
- The Gifts of The Holy Spirit - April 8, 2021
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