THERE IS something about Holy Spirit Ministry that enables Christianity and the life of faith to be so much more adventurous, exciting, impacting -  and yet secure. Far too often we are only caught up in “the moment,” “the now,” rather than seeing that the Holy Spirit is interested in much more than that. He is interested in our future and giving us a security for that which is ahead for those who will obey Him. Last year the Holy Spirit encouraged me to continue ministering to people via the word of knowledge. He said to me, “If you will continue to minister to people by the word of knowledge, I will set your future up for you. In the past you have not realized the significance of what you were doing when you gave words of knowledge to people. But I have used them to open doors of ministry to you.”  Then I began to remember certain words I had given over people in times past and I saw how God had used them to open up doors and nations to me.

• He reminded me that a word I gave to a woman in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, in 1994 opened the door for me to go to Bougainville in 1998 (there we saw a wonderful breakthrough in the lives of a number of Pastors when the peace treaty was signed after nine years of war).

Since then I’ve observed how God has been setting up my future for me. For example:

• A word of knowledge on what to speak at a Conference in Columbus, Georgia, USA, in 1995 opened the door for me to be the Conference speaker in Enterprise, Alabama, USA, in 1997.

• A word given to a man in York, England, in 2000 opened the door for me to minister in Italy, 2001.

• A word given in Tonga, South Pacific, in 2001 opened a new door for me to minister in Nausori, Fiji Islands, in 2002.

• A word given in Seattle, USA, in 1995 opened the door for me to minister in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, in 2002.

And so I could go on. To become aware of God’s “bigger picture” for my life is indeed exciting. We have discovered the life of faith to be very secure as we continue to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and minister His gifts to the people. God certainly knew what He was doing when He gave us the nine beautiful gifts of the Holy Spirit. There is much more to them than we have realized. We miss out on so much of God’s purposes when we ignore or neglect the importance of them. 

“Neglect not (“don’t be careless with”) the gift that is in you, which was given you by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders. Meditate upon (“to care for, take care for anything, so as to be able to perform it”) these things; give yourself wholly (“completely, exclusively”) to them; that your profiting (“forward progress”) may be seen by all” (1 Timothy 4:14-15).

The receivers benefit, and so do the givers of these precious gifts – when they are exercised in a loving and edifying way. Spiritual Gifts are like keys in that they open up and unlock situations for us in the spirit realm.

GOD wants to set your future up for you! I know that one of the powerful ways He does that is in our faithfulness in using that which He has already given us – the Spiritual Gifts. There is now a greater inner knowing, a greater inner joy, a greater inner security, a greater inner understanding that I am an ambassador of Jesus Christ – one who has been given power and authority to speak and act on behalf of the King of the Kingdom of Heaven! So, let’s speak and act on His behalf! Let’s do it as people who know who they are, what they’ve got, and what God has invested in them! We are not “accidents going somewhere to happen”!

Now, for me, part of the joy of ministering in the word of knowledge to others, is to observe what God is going to bring out of it for my future. In the past the emphasis has been on my being able to bless the recipient. That still is my emphasis, but I now know there is a bigger purpose, a bigger picture as far as God is concerned.

It is therefore not surprising that the devil has been quite successful in muzzling the operation of Spiritual Gifts amongst the Christians. He knows that the Church can never come to maturity without them, and the Christians miss out so much on securing their future through the lack of them being exercised. This is a day when every Spirit-filled Church and Christian believer needs to get serious about exercising Spiritual Gifts. There is no substitute, and every church needs them (see 1 Corinthians 12:1-11). It is time to do away with weak, negative excuses as to why they are not encouraged, and not in evidence in our churches, and to recognize that God never gives us anything that is not important. Let us be reminded that it was God Himself Who gave Spiritual Gifts to the Church!

Spiritual Gifts are not in the “take it or leave it” category. They are God’s gifts to the Spirit-filled believer to function to the glory of God. People’s needs cannot ever be fully met by preaching, praying and meetings alone. There has to be the dimension of the Holy Spirit released to build the body of Christ up. The true operation of Spiritual Gifts really builds people up, because they bring confirmation, wisdom, revelation, understanding, guidance, breakthroughs, healings and miracles into our lives. They reveal God’s heart that He is for us, and wants the very best for us!

Tragically, far too often, these things are missing from the lives of numbers of Christians, including Pentecostal believers. Let us face up to the fact that God has given the Holy Spirit Gifts to build, mature and extend the Kingdom of God here on earth! In recent years I’ve had the joy of giving words of knowledge to non-Christians and within 24 hours they are born-again! The Holy Spirit enables us to get right to the core of people’s being, so that they are left dealing with God rather than some words we’ve tried to convince them with.

EVERY Christian desires a secure future! This is especially so in today’s world where events are happening at such an alarming rate, and so much uncertainty and vulnerability abounds. What is the answer to this? Our calling is the same as it has always been – to obey Jesus Christ: “Whatever He tells you to do, do it” (John 2:5). The Holy Spirit has been sent to us so we can do just that. We need to consciously yield ourselves more and more to Him. He is speaking all the time, but are we listening? Are we hearing? I now know the Holy Spirit is setting my future up for me as I continue to obey Him in the exercising of Spiritual Gifts and loving people. This has given me a new sense of security that God is vitally interested in me and in my future. But more than that, He is totally committed to me as I am committed to Him. Now that’s real security.

Let Him set your future up for you, in a way you are conscious of what He is doing! Step out of your boat and out to where Jesus is calling. That’s called faith – which is obedience to the word of Jesus – and that pleases God immensely.