Gifts of the Holy Spirit – The Eyes of the Spirit!

Gifts of the Holy Spirit – The Eyes of the Spirit!

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills” (I Corinthians 12:7-11).

In the description of the nine gifts of the Spirit, there are three that sense, perceive, and discern the mind of the Lord – They are the EYES of the Holy Spirit!

The EYES of the GIFTS (Wisdom, Knowledge & Discernment)!

Word of Wisdom!

Wisdom (Greek ‘Sofiya’) represents “Supreme intelligence, such as belongs to God!”

Here are some Biblical Examples:

·        Noah and the Ark – God preserved Noah from His judgment with the flood by giving him an ingenious design to build an ark: “And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred [h]cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits….But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you’” (Genesis 6:13-15, 18).

·        Elisha and the Syrian plans – Elisha preserved his King from the enemy’s plans of war: “Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, ‘My camp will be in such and such a place.’ And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, ‘Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there.’ Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus, he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. Therefore, the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, ‘Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?’ And one of his servants said, ‘None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom’” (II Kings 6:8-12).

·        King Solomon’s Judgment of the Two Women – Solomon’s wisdom to test the true mother of the living child: “And the king said, ‘The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ‘Then the king said, ‘Bring me a sword.’ So, they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other’” (I Kings 3:23-25).

·        King Hezekiah’s Death Warning – King Hezekiah’s warning of death by Prophet Isaiah: “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live’” (II Kings 20:1).

·        Agabus’s Warning of Paul’s Trial – A prophetic warning to Apostle Paul through God’s servant: “When (Agabus) had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles’” (Acts 21:11).

Some of my personal examples:

·        My Mother’s Vision Before Her Children’s Births (God’s Choosing Before Birth) – Before the birth of any child, my mother was given a promise from God when she was on her knees praying that she would be the mother of four sons, and her firstborn (me) would be God’s servant used around the world. That was quite striking, given her impoverished background and the country she belonged to (India). The vision and the word came to pass as God communicated to her!

·        Hema’s Experience with the Holy Spirit (God Choosing Hema) – A radiant white figure in glory appeared to be praying next to Hema when she was praying in 1974. Her mouth was moving, but her words were coming out of this radiant figure. In this prayer, she found herself thanking God for a husband with the qualities described by the Holy Spirit. Her original wishes were so contrary to that prayer that she walked away from the prayer room without saying, “Amen.” But God later convinced her and revealed His will for her to marry me. It is an amazing vision that came to pass!

·        Move to the South from Northeast – After ministering in Huntingdon, PA, in a hotel ballroom to over 400 people in October 1983, the church did something amazing! They surrounded us and prayed over me and my family. The assistant pastor, Carl, spoke of a vision he had that God was moving us down south the following year, and the proof that it was God speaking would be confirmed by the very first words that our baby, Elizabeth, at that time 8 months old! Elizabeth’s first words came in December of that year, “Ayayooyah (Hallelujah)!”  The following year (1984), we moved from State College to Daytona Beach, Florida!

·        Seeing the Nations God was Sending Me Ahead of Time – I had seen Africa (particularly Njoro, Kenya), Germany, Russia, Australia, and a few other nations ahead of time in a clear vision before God sent me there. God planned to prepare me for the ministry in those nations and also to prepare a group of people equipped on the other side to help me.

Word of Knowledge!

Knowledge (Greek ‘gnosis’) describes “The deeper and more perfect enlarged knowledge, such as belongs to the more advanced!”

·        God showed Pharaoh of Egypt dreams of the future, and Joseph interpreted the Dreams – “This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Indeed, seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land” (Genesis 41:28-30).

·        God established King Nebuchadnezzar for his golden age while at the same time validating Daniel as his prophet – “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these” (Daniel 2:28).

·        Jesus revealed Himself to the Samaritan woman while He revealed her personal life – “Jesus said to (the Samaritan woman), ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly’” (John 4:16-18).

·        Jesus called Zacchaeus by his name: “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste (hurry) and come down, for today I must stay at your house’” (Luke 19:5).

·      Ananias & Saul – “Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, ‘Ananias.’ And he said, ‘Here I am, Lord.’ So the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.’ Then Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake’” (Acts 9:10-16).

My personal examples:

·        1987 Preparation of Prayer for ERAU Meeting – While I was a faculty member at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, I was preparing on a Friday night to bring a message to the students the following day. In my hour of prayer, I heard, “The spirit of pornography, suicide, alcoholism, and witchcraft are bound!” I was perplexed but confessed my sins to the Lord and prayed to Him to sanctify me. As soon as I entered the University Center the following evening, it became clear to me that the four spirits mentioned to me 24 hours prior were present in four different individuals! During the altar call, one student came forward and said, “I was going to kill myself, but something drew me into this meeting. I am going out as a child of God!” Another one said, “I am from Colombia, and my family has been in witchcraft for over 100 years. Tonight, God set me free!” Another student said at the altar, “I come from a family of alcohol intoxication for several decades, but tonight I received my freedom. I am clean, I am clean!” Finally, the fourth student, who was crying vehemently at the altar, said, “I came so addicted to pornography, but God’s flame came upon me tonight and I am a new creation in Christ!” To my surprise, a fifth young man, very tall, was kneeling before me. He told me, “You said that God told you about four people, and the four people came forward. I want this God in my life!” Jim received the Lord that night, and since then, on the first day of every month for over 38 years, I have received an offering and a note from him appreciating what the Lord has done! This is the gift of knowledge that changed the course of my ministry!

·        Home Prayer & Revelation of a Businessman – After resigning from my job as Professor at the university, within six months, I was invited to pray for a businessman whom I had never met. He was living on the oceanfront in a sizable home. As I entered his living room from his personal elevator, he received me with open arms and said, “Brother John, we had never met, but I receive you as a man of God. Could you help me with my business, as I am close to filing for bankruptcy?” While I was thinking in my mind how I could help this businessman without a clue about his business, the Spirit of the Lord admonished me to pray with him. As we prayed, I saw his business with three gates shown to me in a vision, and the Spirit of God pinpointed where he was losing money. I told him what I saw. He was stunned at my explanation because he knew I had never been in his business place. He went to his business and found that everything he heard from the Spirit of God was true to his word. He came back and knelt before me and repented for the way he conducted his life and asked me to bless him. God prospered him that year, and he was the first big donor to the ministry. That time, God revealed the hidden secret to me to establish me in His service and the ministry!

Discerning of the Spirits!

Discerning of the Spirit (Greek “diakrisis’ for ‘discerning) represents “Distinguishing, discerning, and judging!”

·        Jesus Knew the Hearts of Men for His protection and preservation – “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25).

·        Paul Discerning the Woman with the Spirit of Divination – “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’ And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed (distressed), turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour” (Acts 16:16-18”

My personal examples:

·        God Protected Our Children – In the early days of our ministry, one man, a police officer who regularly attended our home prayer meetings, kept saying for weeks, “Brother John and Sister Hema, you are working too hard to feed us spiritually. My wife and I want to give you some respite from your daughters by taking them one day to play with our adult daughters (18,16,14).” Our daughters were 7 and 3 at that time. The man was married to the woman who had her own daughters in his second marriage. I obliged after several weeks of persistence from this man. As the man was coming over to pick up our children one day, the Spirit of God clearly spoke, and I heard: “If you send your children with this man, you will never see them again!” As I was making my decision to say “No” to the man on his way, my telephone rang, and it was a call from his wife.  She was so frantic when she asked if I had already sent my children with the man, and I replied with what I decided to do. She was crying with relief but said, “Brother John, I have called the police on him because I just found out that he violated my three adult daughters for a while!” I was relieved that the Holy Spirit warned me.

·        God Showed the Spirit Behind a Woman – In the early days of our ministry, a couple befriended us from a town an hour away from our place. The man was of Indian descent, and the woman was a Caucasian. They came to visit us regularly, and the man loved us so much. Every time they came in, Hema had to cook two different meals, a vegetarian one for the woman and a non-vegetarian one for the man. Hema did not want to do it, and she also experienced severe body pain when they came in. One day, Hema repented and totally accepted both with Christian love. As soon as she did it, she saw a vision of a goldfish in our foyer. When she went to take it, the fish turned into a snake!  Hema was puzzled and asked me for an explanation. I said to her that the woman was a snake in the form of a goldfish. On a New Year’s Eve, when I was left in the room next to our kitchen, I confronted the woman: “You are married to your husband, not in love with him, but because you are in love with the Indian spirits!” She smiled at me and said, “You figured me out. I indeed married him to take me into a higher dimension in the spirit. I am a New Age priestess, and I am disappointed. Would you please take me to a higher dimension in the spirit by merging with me?” I stood up and asked her to leave with her husband immediately. We felt the disturbance of that spirit for a while longer until we cleansed our home of all the gifts we had received from this couple! God saved us from a corrupting spirit!

Signs that You Carry This Special Gift: D-I-S-C-E-R-N!

1)     D – Discern Where God is at Work and Where He is Not: “Now the Spirit expressly (explicitly) says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (I Timothy 4:1).

2)     I - Intercession and Prayer: Discerning of the spirits without offense demands prayer and intercession from those who carry this gift. Example of Jesus: “And the Lord said, ‘Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren’” (Luke 22:31-32). Not judgmental because it is rooted in prayer and intercession!

3)     S - Spiritual Purity and Holiness: You will be dedicated to holiness: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). “Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law” (Psalm 119:136).

4)     C - Christ is Central for Truth: Christ is your message: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (I John 4:1-3).

5)     E - Enemy’s Deception: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles (scheming) of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:10-12).

6)     R - Recluse and Isolated Most of the Time: You are all alone and identify with Elijah: “And (Elijah) said, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.’ .’Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him’” (I Kings 19:14, 18).

7)     N - Not Self-Seeking but a Watchman Over the Church: Paul’s journey included sufferings and watchman ship over churches: “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches” (II Corinthians 11:24-28). “Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also, from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse (misleading) things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore, watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:28-31). You are a watchman over the church!

Prayer

“Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You. Please equip me with Your eyes, the eyes of Your Holy Spirit, to know, discern, and function for Your glory in all things. In the Precious Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”

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John Jeyaseelan

http://www.globalprayercenter.net