Using your gifts

I need to divert from the usual lesson. I will finish the Thompson message about heaven later. Right now I need to write down what has happened in my life.

I was with my Tuesday small group. We were following a study on how to live a Gospel centered life. Last week was on being an adopted son/daughter. We had a mixed of men and women, so we split the group by sex for this lesson. All of the men came over to my house to discuss last weeks lesson.

I thought I had an anointing to teach about what the true meaning of Sonship was. I have been taught, and the Holy Spirit has revealed to me, that True Sonship is a process. We must continually strive, like Paul, to perfection. By perfection I mean, living in Christ's will for our lives 100 % of the time.

Then I mentioned the definition of true Sonship, this particular group of men thought that I meant that works were a necessary part of Salvation and they went on the attack. They did not listen to anything else. I lost the anointing to teach them anything.

Over the course of the week God showed me that I was NOT using the gift of teaching. I was trying to show how smarter I was than them when it came to deeper things of God. He also showed me that I was not to try and teach them anymore.

Last Tuesday, we met again at my house. I told them that I did not have the anointing to continue teaching them. They insisted that I explain more - really they wanted to defend their position and never intended to listen to my teaching.

It did not end well. They said that I was arrogant. This was coming from one of the most arrogant people I know! I tried to say that I did not have permission from God to talk to them more about it. But they pushed. Of course my fleshly self decided it was ok to try and explain myself. Nothing I told them made an impression at all. They just said "What about this and what about that." They even told me to never listen to Pastor Thompson again. They forbid it!

The thing that God showed me after is that I, again, did not operated with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. I have now been given the task of never teaching without the anointing of the Holy Spirit - with out God's permission.

We always have choices - to follow God's leading, to be in Christ OR to following our own thoughts, to be in the flesh.

Using your gifts outside of His anointing can have dire consequences. Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, pray more than you use your gifts and never assume that God wants them to learn a lesson because you see a need.

Your brother in Christ,
RBT