What it is…

What a spiritual gift isn't:

1. It isn't the fruit of the Spirit written about in Galatians 5. Every Christian should have the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith – these are the fruit of the Spirit we should all exercise and utilize daily as Christians. They are developed as we mature in our faith.
2. It isn't natural ability. Even though natural ability is also given by God. (Boy, am I thankful it's not natural ability!) There are days when I forget more than I remember. There are times when walking on my own two feet seems challenging.
3. It's not the next big thing in designer wear. Just checking to see if you're paying attention, but it's true. A spiritual gift isn't the next big thing with a designer label on it. This gift is made by the ORIGINAL DESIGNER, and you can have an original!
4. It's not something you receive through heredity. (Anyone else thankful for that? My gene pool is so shallow we had to adopt!)
5. It cannot be bequeathed from your next of kin. I'm thankful for that because my luck my daddy would try to bequeath something out of his shed.

What a spiritual gift is:

1. It's a grace gift given by the Father to all those who call on Him and believe in His name and have confessed that He is Lord.
2. It is to help give you identity and purpose in the Father's kingdom. Want to know your purpose in life? Learn about your spiritual gift(s) and then exercise them.
3. It is about the Giver and not the recipient. He chooses what is best for you, and He chose it for you before the world began for you. That is how precious you are to Him.
4. It can't be swapped for another.
5. One size does not fit all. It is tailored made for the recipient based on their alottment of faith.
6. It is to benefit the body of Christ, to further God's kingdom.

The ladies in my Sunday school class all received a small, wrapped gift this past Sunday. I've encouraged them to take it to work and to church and wherever their day may take them. After a while of seeing these ladies carrying these gifts, people will get curious and ask them about it. Their response is to be something along the lines of, "I've been told I have a spiritual gift that I've been walking around with unopened since the day I asked Jesus in my heart. I'm going to be learning about it over the next weeks at church. Do you know your spiritual gift?" It opens a door for a conversation that they prepared for this past week during our small group time. Our small group time this past week was phenomenal. You could feel the presence of the Spirit moving. Two young ladies shared their stories and then numbers were drawn by all the ladies. From those numbers the ladies were matched into pairs to engage in a conversation to see how they could weave God into their stories. At 5 till 11, they were still sharing their stories, their lives and their hearts with each other. It was an amazing sight and sound as I left that room. Women sharing what God had done in their lives.

Do you know the purpose of preparing your story? In 1 Peter it says we are to be able to give an answer for the hope that is in you. God sends people into our lives every day, and we have an opportunity to weave God into the conversation as He is the intricle part of our lives. It's an opportunity to lead others to Christ, so they too can receive this free grace gift.I can't wait for the weeks to come. I'm so excited. It will be a few weeks before they are allowed to open their presents, and yes, there is something in there. It's going to be awesome. Hope you come along for the ride.


His Daughter,


Kristy