When we become Christians and the Holy Spirit moves into our heart. God imparts spiritual gifts to us to empower our work on his behalf. The bible expresses it like this.
1 Corinthians 12: 4 - 11
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
One of my gifts is the gift of knowledge. I have to say it is a poison chalice at times. I’ve been a Christian for a long time and when I was a child this gift helped to to understand scriptures and the ways of God beyond my ability to read. It helped me to comprehend God in ways that were years beyond my age and level of maturity. Which was awesome actually.
However as I grew up God employed this gift in a different way with me. I remember walking out of school one day and looking at a young man walking beside me and knowing our life paths were intertwined. Don’t ask me how I knew. I just knew with certainty we had a connection in the future. I won’t tell you that story but I can state to you categorically that it was truly a word of knowledge.
From time to time God uses the gift of knowledge to show me someone that is about to pass away. There are signs in the gift and I don’t always recognise them straight away. Sometimes a person will seem really at peace with themselves and they will seem radiantly happy and content with life. Being a migraine sufferer I understand the importance of recognising the symptoms quickly to take medication in time to stop the headache before it’s too late.
So when I see a person looking like peaceful and radiantly happy in the way I described above I seek the Lord to see if he is showing me what I think he might be. (I might add that I get a feeling in this situation that God is bringing this situation to my attention.) I don’t usually talk to them. My way is to pray fervently that God will spare them for their families sakes and that he will save them from their sins in Jesus Christ.
In almost every case, and fortunately there have been few of these instances, the person has passed on soon afterwards. I can only hope that God answered my prayer and acted to save their souls. In a couple of instances a person has shared their current experiences with me and the spirit has laid a great concern for them upon my heart. This is usually about something that the bible warns against or something very reckless that they are doing in their lives. This feeling of concern for them has caused me to warn them of the danger and to pray for them as well.
I have prayed for God not to give me this type of knowledge and to take that part of the gift away but he still brings it to me occasionally. I’ve asked him not to tell me about family and people who are close to me. It is too hard to bare.
So, other than to share with you the somewhat onerous burden of this type of gift of knowledge and to share my personal testimony of having received a spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit. The purpose of this message is to show that God is active and living in the life of his saints. If you’re Christian then God is helping you to participate in the victorious walk of the Christian faith and charging you with real responsibility on his behalf. We are involved in spiritual warfare and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are weapons in this battle for the souls of the lost.
God bless you all and have a great week.
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