quesions

I was saved and baptized in 1996, but I lost my way and over a year ago I re dedicated my life to the Lord again, and very thankful for Him. I pray alot and I find myself thinking of Him throughout the day. I ask Him all the time to lead my life and guide me and I pray for wisdom and understanding and strength. I feel my knowledge of the word has increased. I believe we that follow Christ have gifts, whether it be prophecy, speakings in tongues, etc. How do you know which gift/s you have? I have been wondering if I may have discernment of the spirits. There has been times I have had a VERY strong "feeling" of a demon near me. One time I felt an angel in the car with me to. I get "vibes" sometimes when I talk to someone, especially a false teacher. But I can't say if this is a gift or just me wanting it to be....know what I mean?

I wouldn't mess around with trying to sense "vibes." Complete waste of time & no purpose served for Christians.

If you really want to be effective, then start by volunteering. Try out, say helping out with teaching Sunday school, or working in the soup kitchen, or serving as an usher, or feeding the homeless. I wouldn't so much wonder about what "gifts" one has so much as I would look for needs & meet them.

True --guessing about gifts is not shown in the Bible. One should work at what they have a real exercise to do, prayerfully and trusting God, and in accord with His Word. The Word of God is our only authority for the Faith.

Paul wrote in 1 Cor. after charity, desire spiritual gifts... and also: the Spirit "and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines". There's nothing wrong with desiring to have a spiritual gift.

God gives gifts that will help someone else. If a person needs encouragement, He sends someone else to give an encouraging word. If healing, then He builds faith in someone else to pray for healing. It is always about building up someone else's life.

So try to picture it like you are the delivery person. God has a gift for someone else, that He is asking you to deliver. It may look different each time, because the needs are always different.

Being faithful with a little, He will give you more to do.
If you choose not to do more, He will let someone else handle it. The point is not what we're doing, but how others' needs are met.

Ask God to work through you, to help others.

How do you know which gift/s you have? I have been wondering if I may have discernment of the spirits. There has been times I have had a VERY strong "feeling" of a demon near me. One time I felt an angel in the car with me to. I get "vibes" sometimes when I talk to someone, especially a false teacher. But I can't say if this is a gift or just me wanting it to be....know what I mean?

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While some people can sense spirits more, I believe we're all supposed to be alert to what's going on in the spiritual realm. For what purpose?
Pay attention to when you feel dark presences, and prevent them from doing further damage. When you feel God's presence close, thank Him for the encouragement.

It seems that some of the discernment gift is natural personality, and some is situation-based, and some is a broader Spiritual Gift. You are aware of what's going on at that level. It's not much different from another person noticing who was in church last week, or whose cars were in the parking lot. Different strengths, different interests.

If you have a real gift, you can have counterfeits of it; so you need to be able to tell the difference.

For example, I have thought I had the gift of teaching, and I would feel I should be on world TV because I was the one everyone in the world needed to hear. But my real teaching gift, all along, was teaching me . . . correcting me to become humble and teaching me how to love

Everyone needs discernment, so we can tell the difference between when we are operating in a real gift and when we could be getting into some counterfeit thing.

So, a real gift of discernment is for ministering for all of us to have discernment; each gift ministers its grace "to one another" (1 Peter 4:9-10). The gift is good and perfect (James 1:17), but others grow in its grace. One may have a gift, while others have growth in the ability that it ministers.

A real gift will minister to you, yourself. God's love is in His gifts. So, there will be the love result. You will not get isolated, and boasting about your gift, then!! But you will become more and more in unity with other Christians, as "members of one another" (Romans 12:5, Ephesians 4:25). The grace ministered by gifts is God's own effect of His love which has us grow in Jesus and how He makes us intimate with God and obeying our Father.

As we live and minister in His love, we grow "in all things" that we share in Jesus > Ephesians 4:15-16. "So, the attention is not to glorifying our gifts, then."

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment." (Philippians 1:9)

So, real discernment is in God's love. Ones may have the gift . . . while all of us grow in how love has us discerning In His love, we have His light for seeing people the way He has us seeing them; so discernment is not only a "tattle-tale" ability to see who is really who, but we discern how God wants us to understand people and know the good which He wants us to do to love each person. "So it is not about status."

Healing, of course, can be faked. There can be a lot of money connected with "healing". So, ones can try to fool a person into thinking he or she has healing in one's ministry. Even if the minister is honest, others can set up false healings. One might have the real gift, but others might try to jump on the bandwagon, claiming and producing false healings, in order to get attention or in order to keep the attention and money coming. There is medical fraud, also; ones can switch x-rays, maybe, so a person thinks one had cancer but it disappeared.

So . . . in this evil world, yes there are Satanic people and their things; so make sure with God. We do need discernment!!!

We have seen how even high-up religious leaders have ordained con artists and predators. With discernment, with God, we can discern who is really who and not go along with the fakes. God makes us able. Just because we have not been able to tell the difference, this does not prove there is no such thing as real discernment. If we have fooled our own selves into trusting the wrong person, this does not mean we should be in denial and say we can't have God's discernment about who to trust and how. In His love, we care about people, and He makes us able to know how to love each person. So, if He does let you know about a person, you are being trusted to love that person!!! If we find out the real truth about someone, will we still love him or her?

Ginger14 said:

Paul wrote in 1 Cor. after charity, desire spiritual gifts... and also: the Spirit "and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines". There's nothing wrong with desiring to have a spiritual gift.

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St. Paul was addressing specific concerns of a specific congregation. There is one thing every Christian is called to: love. To love God & love one's neighbor is the whole for each of us. So go start doing something in love, fulfilling a need ( I.e helping in the soup kitchen), & soon enough you may find where you can be most effective. Good luck.

Dear Ginger 14. To want to know our gifts, we keep asking the Lord. In
Matthew 7: 7:10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive," we ask for Love and Joy, then we thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour;
all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends. We keep asking and receiving, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour.
God will see our loving efforts, and God will bless us. We might stumble and forget same time, but then we ask God to forgive us, and carry on loving and receiving.
The Bible tells us to " Repent and to be Born Again," we give up our wishes and wants, and concentrate on loving and caring. We will find that people around us will do the same, and gradually we will change into the sons and daughters which our Heavenly Father wants us to become. Our lives will become more and more enjoyable. Love is a Christian`s great weapon, with love we can overcome anger and all wrong behaviour, and love is very catching. Everything we say or do, everything we advice and stand for, should
be from love and compassion. Our lives will become more enjoyable, and we end up as sign-post to God. God is Love, and God wants loving men and women. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour will lead us all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY. I say this with love, Ginger.
Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

I was saved and baptized in 1996, but I lost my way and over a year ago I re dedicated my life to the Lord again, and very thankful for Him. I pray alot and I find myself thinking of Him throughout the day. I ask Him all the time to lead my life and guide me and I pray for wisdom and understanding and strength.

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I feel my knowledge of the word has increased. I believe we that follow Christ have gifts, whether it be prophecy, speakings in tongues, etc. How do you know which gift/s you have? I have been wondering if I may have discernment of the spirits.

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There is no such gift mentioned in Scripture. We are told to discern spirits by testing them (1Jn. 4:1-3). This is not something unique to spiritual gifting but a method any believer can employ to discern the nature of a given spirit.

There has been times I have had a VERY strong "feeling" of a demon near me. One time I felt an angel in the car with me to. I get "vibes" sometimes when I talk to someone, especially a false teacher. But I can't say if this is a gift or just me wanting it to be....know what I mean?

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Feelings are the devil's playground. Beware. You have a spiritual gift, as a every believer does, but I don't think discernment of spirits is it.

Selah.

Ginger14 said:

I was saved and baptized in 1996, but I lost my way and over a year ago I re dedicated my life to the Lord again, and very thankful for Him. I pray alot and I find myself thinking of Him throughout the day. I ask Him all the time to lead my life and guide me and I pray for wisdom and understanding and strength. I feel my knowledge of the word has increased. I believe we that follow Christ have gifts, whether it be prophecy, speakings in tongues, etc. How do you know which gift/s you have(?**1**) I have been wondering if I may have discernment of the spirits. There has been times I have had a VERY strong "feeling" of a demon near me. One time I felt an angel in the car with me to. I get "vibes" sometimes when I talk to someone, especially a false teacher(**3**). But I can't say if this is a gift or just me wanting it to be....know what I mean?(**2**)

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(**1**) be content with the gift of Yahushua and all things in Him, abide in Him and be full of joy, peace and the set apart spirit as it is Written in His Word. (don't take any man's word for it)

(**2**) yes

(**3**) trust your 'vibes' only in Yahushua, rest also in Him, trust HIM -- and definitely test everyone who seems to be a teacher, false or not - test test test- most are false, and don't be surprised if it's a long hard struggle to find anyone true. this is accepted among ekklesia, simply what the world is like.

i.e call on Yahushua, daily, constantly, talking to Him and seeking ABBA's face to know what He wants. read the bible as often as you are able, just read read read and keep reading all while in prayer and seeking ABBA. He will be delighted in you as you delight in Him ! (according to His Word, as you can verify by reading it)

I think that one of the ways we can know that we have a gift, is if we have a desire to do something specific for God. Here, the motivation for our desire is most important. If we desire to do something for God, and the reason is, just because we want to do that specific thing for God, and there is no other motivation for that, then it ispossible that the desire is given from God. For example, if someone wants to preach the Word of God, or to be a preacher, and the only motivation is because he has a desire to preach and see how the Word of God will bless and help people to understand better the Word of God, than, that desire is most likely from God.

“You take people, you put them on a journey, you give them peril, you find out who they really are.”
― Joss Whedon

Over the past four years I struggle to grasp who I was in Christ and my purpose in life was. What I learned it no amount of analyzation could ever answer that question. I found the answers came as I walked along my journey with the Lord. A peril would arise or happen, and something within me would also arise to the challenge.

Genesis starts out by stating, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." If God is a creator, then you and I are the created. We create things all the time, chair out of wood to sit down on, bowls out of clay, clothes out of wool. Each being a solution to a problem we have on this earth. We are no different. You and I are...

"I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." -Psalm 139:14 ESV

What you are created to do, you do it every day because it's built into you. When empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Lord will do amazing things through you.

Know this, the journey is a discovery process. You can only find what God put in you, not what you wish it could be. Second the Lord works best in our weakness, so that he can be glorified. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) Just keep praying that the Lord would reveal to you what he has placed in you, and put yourself out there. Find a place to start to serve, see where it leads.

Ginger14 said:

I was saved and baptized in 1996, but I lost my way and over a year ago I re dedicated my life to the Lord again, and very thankful for Him. I pray alot and I find myself thinking of Him throughout the day. I ask Him all the time to lead my life and guide me and I pray for wisdom and understanding and strength. I feel my knowledge of the word has increased. I believe we that follow Christ have gifts, whether it be prophecy, speakings in tongues, etc. How do you know which gift/s you have? I have been wondering if I may have discernment of the spirits. There has been times I have had a VERY strong "feeling" of a demon near me. One time I felt an angel in the car with me to. I get "vibes" sometimes when I talk to someone, especially a false teacher. But I can't say if this is a gift or just me wanting it to be....know what I mean?

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Spirits do exist