Last week I shared about how you don’t need a spiritual gift to be a supernatural Christian. And I asked the question, ‘What spiritual gifts do you know that you DON’T have?
But what about the spiritual gifts that you DO have? Can they be expressed in your everyday life?
The Mantle of My Father’s Favour
In Genesis 37, Jacob had a richly ornamented robe made for his favourite son Joseph. Joseph’s coat set him apart and caused him to stand out from the crowd.
Everywhere Joseph went, he wore the mantle that represented his father’s favour.
In God’s Kingdom, each of us is the Father’s favoured son or daughter (Gal 3:26-29). The unique mix of spiritual gifts He has given to us individually is like Joseph’s richly ornamented robe.
‘We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.’ (Rom 12:6)
I want to live an undivided Christian life—where I am the same person in my daily life that I am in my church life and devotional life with God—not confining my faith to set times and places.
In the Gospels, wherever Jesus went, He was simply Himself, and His prayer life and spiritual gifts were on display for all to see. No matter where He was, He was always ready to impart healing, teach, set someone free or share a word of knowledge.
This challenges me.
Lately, I have become more conscious of not holding back my faith and who I am before others, and this includes being open about the spiritual gifts God has given me.
For a start, this is a matter of personal integrity. As I grow in gifts of prophecy, or prayer, for example, why should I be one way with Christian friends or in meetings, and then shut that part of my life down when I am out and about?
And yet (let’s be honest) many times, this is exactly what we do.
Too often, our spiritual gifts are like a coat that we pull out of our wardrobes when we are heading to church or to any place where we are meeting with our Christian friends. But then, when we leave church, we take the coat off as we walk out the door.
What would happen if we started ‘wearing’ our spiritual gifts everywhere we went—in our homes, workplaces, schools, shops and neighbourhoods?
I want to be like Joseph, unashamed to wear the mantle that my Father has given to me. I want to freely display who I am in Christ, as well as the Holy Spirit and His unique expression and anointing on my life.
Embracing Our Unique Giftedness
The Hunk has a ‘missionary’ gift. Wherever we go he delights in talking to people from other cultures, befriending them and discovering where they are from. (This occurs frequently in restaurants, when I want to have a private, romantic moment).
Whilst the focus of this blog is primarily on prophetic and prayer gifts [1], there are many more spiritual gifts that can be expressed in our everyday lives. For example, I have often admired people who have gifts of hospitality, like Mary and Martha did. (Luke 10:38)
Like the colours in Joseph’s robe, we have different many and varied gifts. Even when we have spiritual gifts that are similar to those of others, the expression and strength of those gifts will be unique to us.
We should never compare ourselves with others or feel inferior in our spiritual gifts.
I hear many people express doubt about having a gift, even though they have used it in church life, have seen others helped and brought closer to Jesus by it, and had its presence confirmed by Christian leaders.
Why does it seem more spiritual and humble to downplay or even deny the presence of a spiritual gift in our lives?
Are You Wearing Your Mantle?
If Joseph had hidden away the mantle of his father’s favour, his brothers may have been more accepting of him.
He may have experienced fewer trials. But he would never have been sent ahead of God’s people to Egypt, or have been used of God to save the nations of that region from perishing through famine.
So take ownership of your unique spiritual gifts. Throw the mantle of your Father’s favour around your shoulders for all to see, and give yourself—and your spiritual gifts—permission to shine.
As I go on this journey, here are some things I am starting to do more of:
- Sharing openly with others—regardless of their beliefs—about activities that I am involved with that are to do with my spiritual gifts
- Being honest about interests I have and values I carry that relate to my spiritual gifts
- Being open to the Holy Spirit to use me wherever I am in my everyday life
- Using my spiritual gifts, whatever they are, when opportunities arise for Jesus’ love to be expressed through them to people
- Working on expressing my spiritual gifts (especially those of a revelatory nature like prophecy) in a natural, non-religious way
‘For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.’ (2 Tim 1:6-7)
Questions to Consider:
- What spiritual gift(s) do I know that I have—that have been affirmed and used in the life of my church?
- What would it look like for me to live an undivided Christian life in relation to my spiritual gifts? Am I doing so?
Do you have any thoughts or experiences to share on this topic? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment below. If the comments section is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.
Notes:
[1] To learn more about spiritual gifts and how to develop your prophetic or prayer gifts, read my e-Book, ‘Grow Your Prophetic And Prayer Gifts.’
Related Posts:
The Secret of Living An Undivided Christian Life
You Don’t Need A Special Gift To Be A Supernatural Christian
Spiritual Gift Questionnaires and Courses: Can We Do Better?
© Helen Calder 2010 Enliven Blog
Now on team with David McCracken Ministries
Recently, I calculated that there are 168 hours in a week.
Then I wondered—how many of those hours does the average Christian spend in church activities?
- Maybe 2- 3 for a weekend service
- Another 3 for a small group activity
If you and I are extra busy, we may spend 8 hours of our week in church meetings.
That leaves 160 hours of our lives in every week.
160 hours of sleep time and wake time… between 50 and 60 hours of sleep and at least 100 waking hours.
SHOULDN’T ALL OF THAT TIME BE GOD’S? And, ‘What would it look like if we lived our daily life with Jesus?’
This is a question I ask regularly, and one that I grapple with in my book, ‘How To Be A Supernatural Christian In Your Everyday World.’
Compartmentalised Christianity
I learned early on in my life that Christianity was best kept in compartments, or boxes. Before long, I had my ‘Church-On-Sunday’ compartment, my ‘Christian Friends’ compartment, my ‘School Christian Fellowship’ compartment, my private ‘Devotional Life’ compartment—and so on.
Compartments are safe. They offend few and are acceptable to the world in general.
But compartmentalised Christianity is powerless. It doesn’t transform lives, challenge ungodly mindsets or reach desperate and lonely people with the good news about Jesus.
It’s time to explode the box.
The Undivided Christian Life
Something happened to me when I was around 13 years old that changed my perspective on life and faith.
I met a couple called Bob and Joan Leach. Bob and Joan were grandparents of a school friend. They had encountered the miraculous healing power of Jesus through the ministry of Kathryn Kuhlman and they were saved, on fire and spent their lives telling the story of what Jesus had done for them.
The most remarkable thing about Bob and Joan was that they lived an undivided Christian life.
They simply lived their daily life with Jesus.
Jesus was as present in their home as any one of us who was with them. If there was a need or a problem, it was a natural thing to pause in the moment and address Him in prayer.
Bob and Joan had remarkable spiritual gifts of healing and words of knowledge that they were as comfortable using in their home, street or supermarket as they were in church meetings.
Their example inspired me.
Jesus Lived An Undivided Life
Jesus lived the perfect example of an undivided life. He lived out of His relationship with the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit, every moment of every day.
The Gospels tell us stories of His life and ministry set against the backdrop of homes, roadsides, celebrations and in public places. When people encountered Him, their lives were changed.
I have an old journal with yellowed pages in which I wrote a summary from A.W. Tozer’s wonderful book, ‘The Pursuit of God.’ [1] In it, he wrote:
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life…God accepted the offering of His total life, and made no distinction between act and act. “I do always the things that please him,” was His brief summary of His own life as it related to the Father.
How To Live An Undivided Christian Life
‘So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.’ (Rom 12:1, MSG)
It’s time to break down the divide between the sacred and the secular, between the church and the world, between our spiritual life and the ‘rest of our life.’
How can we do this? How do we explode the box and put a stop to compartmentalised Christian living?
I’m still on the journey, but here are some keys that I have discovered along the way:
1. Stop rating some aspects of your life as ‘more spiritual’ than others.
Tozer reminds us that the divide between sacred and secular, holy and unholy was instituted in the OLD TESTAMENT. Its purpose was to teach Israel of the holiness of God.
However Jesus demonstrated a different way of living, and when He died on the cross, the veil that separated humanity from the holy of holies was torn in two. [1]
The Apostle Paul said, do EVERYTHING, even eating and drinking … to the glory of GOD. (1 Cor 10:31)
2. Include God in your daily conversations.
The Hunk and I are probably like many married couples in that we find it hard to make a set time to sit down and pray together.
But we have started to develop an intentional lifestyle of including God in our everyday life. For example, if we are talking about something that is causing concern, we pause to pray about it—while we’re in the moment.
We want to break down the divide and let God loose in our everyday lives, and amazing things are happening as we do.
Maybe you don’t have a partner you can do this with, but you can do it yourself, or you might have a close friend you are journeying with who can encourage you in this.
3. Reflect on the truth that you are pleasing to the Father
Deal with the hook that keeps you trapped in compartmentalised living: the need to be accepted by people. You don’t have to perform to please people when your confidence is based in your heavenly Father’s complete acceptance.
Here are some more keys on living an undivided Christian life that I will be reflecting upon in the coming weeks as I continue discussions on ‘Paradigm Shifts That Will Rock Your World’:
4. Look for God at work in the lives of people around you every day—and partner with Him in what He is doing.
5. Take your spiritual gifts wherever you go—they are given to you, not just for ministry, but also for mission—to make a difference in your everyday world.
6. Realise that you don’t have to have a special gift to be a supernatural Christian.
Do you have any more ideas or thoughts on this topic? I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment in the box below. If the comments box is not visible, click on this link and scroll down.
[1] A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
For the chapter referenced in this discussion, see:
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/tozer/5f00.0888/5f00.0888.10.htm
Related Posts:
Give Yourself (And Your Gifts) Permission To Shine
Pentecost: How God Exploded My Box
How Your Perspective Can Impact Your Destiny
No Longer An Orphan: How I Discovered The Father’s Love
© Helen Calder 2010 Enliven Publishing
Now on team with David McCracken Ministries
Last week I shared about how you don’t need a spiritual gift to be a supernatural Christian. And I asked the question, ‘What spiritual gifts do you know that you DON’T have?
