Gifts and Matching Grace

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administration, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal 1 Corinthians 12: 4-7 KJV.

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy to the proportion of faith Romans 12:6.

Every saved member of the body of Christ has a gift (function) from God. Just as no natural body part is without significance, even so it is in the body of Christ. I don’t know what your gift is, but you need to find it. Not only do we need to find our gift, but we need to come to terms with it.

No matter what your gift is, the Anointing is what makes it work. There are countless people (I am not one of them) that have a natural ability to speak. There are others who can sing beautifully, yet have never taken a lesson. They can basically reach any tone effortlessly. Therefore, when they get converted, they may feel led to preach, sing or play an instrument.

Well, it is one thing to have natural ability and another thing to utilize a spiritual gift. You see, the Holy Ghost takes our ability and adds grace. We can never go beyond the grace that God gives us, because the grace is God’s anointing, and the anointing is God. Without God, it’s just us and our natural ability. Some people can accomplish some incredible things this way, but they do it without God.

Many of us are familiar with the story of Joseph. Joseph was his father’s favorite son. In fact, the preference was so obvious, that his brothers were jealous of him. Now let’s be practical; this wasn’t the ideal family setup. There were wives and concubines; one dad and several moms trying to make it together. And the only one considered to be a "real" wife was Joseph’s mom.

Joseph had a gift from God. It was a very beautiful gift. God gave him dreams; I mean really prophetic dreams see Genesis 37:5. But at the time Joseph was having these dreams, he did not understand them. And as a result of his lack of godly insight, he was making his brothers real mad.

There wasn’t anything wrong with Joseph’s gift, but there was a lot wrong with Joseph. He was not ready to use that gift because he did not have the corresponding grace to put God in control. Therefore, all the light was on Joseph. He deliberately exalted himself over his brothers, and it happened in such a way that it made his brothers want to kill him.

Our gifts must begin with God. It cannot be "I did this or that", but "I surrender all to You Lord". In this way the power of God becomes a reality, faith is created, lives are transformed and souls are redeemed.

God had something great in store for Joseph and that gift, but it would be a long time before Joseph could be trusted. God had to prepare him; it would take many long and hard years of learning and disciplining before Joseph would have the humility to realize this dreams purpose.

The dreams that Joseph experienced turned out to be totally accurate. But initially, he did not have the grace to be quiet about it. He lacked patience, gentleness, compassion and other genuine spiritual fruit. Even though the gift worked fine, he made a mess of things.

The gift is the easy part and the grace is the difficult part. We need the fruit of the Spirit alive and working in us, and that is only produced through consistent and purposeful time with God.

Joseph’s brothers got rid of him. They sold him as a slave, and he ended up in Potipher’s house. He had hardly worked a day in his life, and now he was a slave. But he worked hard. He proved to be an efficient leader by cutting his master’s losses and increasing his profits. Pretty soon, Joseph was in control of everything.

As with any success, there also comes temptation. Potipher’s wife flirted with Joseph and tried relentlessly to get him to go to bed with him. When he refused she lied on him, claiming he raped her. So he was thrown in prison.

Joseph’s commitment to God would not allow him to give in to temptation, although he possibly could have gotten by for a while. This didn’t improve Joseph’s gift; it was still the same. But Joseph was changing. He now had within his heart a greater measure of grace to use with his gift.

Even after Joseph interpreted the dream of the cupbearer and baker, he still was not quite ready to go before Pharaoh. You see, he was still holding on to some of his own rights see Genesis 40: 14-15.

The gifts of the Spirit are supposed to edify everyone, not just the person using them. In the case of Joseph, he had to totally forgive his brothers; and God had to elevate him without him having anything to do with it. He had to accept that this situation was all God’s purpose, and he was the instrument that God chose to use.

In this life we sometimes find ourselves in odd places. We end up in situations that we would never have chosen for ourselves. Like Joseph, we have to learn to be patient and longsuffering. What was meant for evil will work out for good. That’s the grace of God.

And that grace will cause us to operate in an anointing that will keep us humble; an anointing that no matter how great the work to perform, we will understand that we don’t deserve any of it.

When I was first called to preach, I had a gift but no grace. Sometimes preaching terrified me. But over the years I have come to understand that this anointing is legitimate. My job is the right job and my gift is the right gift. I have come to terms with my anointing, and I am content to go just where He leads and to do just what He wants me to do. Nothing more; Nothing less.

God set the standard and He never puts it beyond my level of competence. God did not anoint me to be a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Alabama or the Chairman of TBN. He made me the president of Gospel Warriors Ministries. I feel like He is equipping me to do that, and I feel good doing what He equipped me to do.

Do you have a gift from God? Are you moving mountains and pulling down walls? That’s great. Just be certain that you have the grace the match the task at hand. Only then will your gift manifest God’s total purpose for your life.

Edmund Brown