Keeping the Word Alive—The Giver Gift

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23

On the fifth day, God created the birds and fish, who Nurturers by nature. Fish live in schools of fish, and birds nest when they reproduce. Givers have wide spread interests and are involved in many things. They are usually concerned about the preservation of life, and being prepared for old age. People with the giver gift have a need for safety, they have strong desire to care for their family, and they desire to leave a legacy.

The giver gift has a heart for sharing faith but does not do it personally. The giver empowers others to do it. The giver has a strong resistance to being canned, manipulated or guilt tripped into action. The giver gift desires to keep private life private, and tends to find favor in terms of money.  The giver often likes to keep all options open. Yet, some of the weaknesses of the giver is that this person tends to be very independent and does not need others, which might result in this person not acknowledging needs to God. This person also falls on hypocrisy because the giver may appear to do the right things, but may not deeply pursue holiness.  The giver gift’s weakness is also control and manipulation. This person desires control based on fear of the unknown and risk, and therefore, tries to manipulate God and people.

Biblical Example of the Giver redemptive gift—Job. 

Keeping the Word Alive—The Exhorter Gift

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,  and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.  God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Genesis 1:14-19

The fourth day of creation parallels the exhorter gift. On the fourth day of creation, God created the sun, the moon, and the stars. He gave them two commands: First, to mark the day and the night and the seasons of the year, and second, to rule over them. The exhorter s designed by God to have dominion over time and timing, but because of the assault of the enemy, most exhorters do not live in dominion over time. Most exhorters are defeated in time and do not maintain a schedule or arrive on time or start and end on time. These guys talk a lot! God designed them to be prolific in their use of words to express eloquently and extensively the things God gives them to express. They are known for fair their worldliness. 

Exhorters have often been teased, ridiculed and harassed for their words. They also have the ability to cross any kind of barrier (social, racial, economic, and religious). Exhorters enjoy being around other people, they are not intimidated by new truth, and they tend to start things and move on quickly. Their weaknesses are that they are people pleasers, they are unwilling to confront because they also fear rejection. They have poor management skills, and tend to take in too much, and they are also compromising, they might settle for doing what is good, instead of God’s best.

Keeping the Word Alive—The Teacher Gift

And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day
Genesis 1:9-13
On the third day, God planted trees, herbs and seed bearing pants. Plants drew nutrients from the earth and converted them into wood, food, and herbs for nourishment. The seed uses the inert life of the earth and transforms it into a usable form. That is also the role of a teacher, yet the seed that the teacher uses is truth.  They might not seem to have a lot of life, but they have the ability to unleash the potential in people and make them fruitful. People with the teacher gift have an unquenchable thirst for truth. The teacher operates under the principle of responsibility and battles selective responsibility. The teacher gift has authority over generational blessing, as they bring forth fruit. The birthright of the teacher gift is to know God’s deep truths, to know him experientially, and to reveal the presence of God to others. Often, the teacher gift’s major weaknesses are passiveness, selective responsibility, a battle between sight and faith, as well as a battle between doctrine and intimacy.
The teacher has a compulsion to validate the truth, a truth that this gift often validates by firsthand investigation. The teacher tends to validate new truth with an established truth. For this gift, the details of historical accuracy are important.
Biblical Example of the servant redemptive gift—Luke.

Keeping the Word Alive--The Servant Gift.

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

Genesis 1:6-8

On the second day, God separated the waters above from the waters below. The waters and the atmosphere are pictures of the servant. The atmosphere, in most cases, is invisible. The primary functions of air and water are the cleansing of impurities and the dilution of toxins. Likewise, a servant has a low profile; they prefer to be invisible and in the background. The term servant carries a negative connotation in our culture, but that is not how God sees the servant. Oxygen is the most critical component to sustain life. Metaphorically speaking, the servant gives spiritual oxygen and cleansing. The servant sees external needs of contact and food and is quick to meet these needs. The servant is also a team player, very practical, and with few enemies because of his or her tendency to see the best in others, loyalty and hard work. They have special authority when praying for a restoration in the family, for the sick, especially in threatened premature death, for nature and weather, and for land issues. They also have a great gift for loving the unlovable, the hard cases.

However, servants tend to work so hard that it can sometimes become detrimental for their own health. They also battle against the victim mindset and against self-worth issues. They tend to tolerate indignity and shaming, especially in their families. They also have a habit of believing lies about themselves that cause them not to feel legitimate or adequate for spiritual responsibilities or positions of authority, thinking always that someone else is more qualified. They suffer from worry and anxiety, and they tend to be enablers, doing tasks themselves in order not to importunate others.

The servant’s principle is authority, and the battlefield is a mindset of victimization. Yet, most importantly, the servant’s birthright is to be a life-giver to others, especially leaders. Servants must provide the cleansing and authority others require for their destiny.

Biblical Example of the servant redemptive gift—Esther. 

Keeping the Word Alive--The Prophet Gift.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.  Genesis 1:3-5

On the first day, God spoke to darkness and said let there be light. The first day of creation represents the prophet gift, which is the ability to discern the mind of God and call it faith. The prophet gift operates under a design principle, and its battlefield tends to be fractured relationships. The prophet’s principles are for the speaking of life, light, and the truth that calls forth destiny. The birthright of the prophet gift is to help others live in their destiny by providing vision on God’s design. Note, however, that the redemptive gift of prophet does not necessarily have the manifestation gift of prophesy listed in Corinthians 12 or the office of prophet in Ephesians 4. 

The prophet’s weaknesses lead him or her to be non-relational because he or she tends to value principles and truth as more important than relationships. This person is also judgmental. A person with the prophet gift is more critical toward others and even more critical of self. The prophet gift is also inclined to bitterness, which is very destructive. Not having the ability to forgive easily is also another weakness, especially because the prophet gift tends to have a difficult time overlooking the failures and weaknesses of others.

Biblical Example of Prophet—Peter. 

Celebrating God’s Provision at Pentecost

We are on the verge of a major move of the Holy Spirit! We live in days when Pentecost is important because Pentecost is the feast of the open Heavens. Just as Passover is God’s time to deliver His people (See Exod3:8), Pentecost is the Appointed time for the Heavens to Open! This Sunday, I will be sharing a powerful word on Pentecost, and Chuck Pierce will also be here that night to release the sound of provision. But, before that, I thought I would share with you a little bit of what Pentecost really means and what it can do for you, as we draw to the end of our fifty days of freedom. First of all, it is important to understand Pentecost, for which I will share with you what Chuck Pierce shares with all of us in his book, “A Time to Prosper.”

When most Christians think about Pentecost, they think only about the outpouring of the holy Spirit described in Acts 2, but Pentecost is also a feast instituted in the Old Testament as described in Leviticus 23:15-16, Numbers 28:26-31, and Deuteronomy16:9-12. Chuck illustrates that there are three significant dimensions of Pentecost, and each represents a new expression of God’s blessing. The three dimensions are a direct reflection of the three things that God wants to accomplish in our lives. Each one involves a doorway we must pass through in order to enter into the full release of God’s blessing.

Provision is the first dimension because it celebrates God’s blessing of abundant provision. In Old Testament times, from the first sheaf of every new harvest, each year the Jews would bring a thanksgiving offering to the Temple.  This was a praise offering that was offered by faith before the full harvest was gathered. The Israelites would express their praise by bringing burnt offerings, drink offerings, sin offerings, fellowship offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, etc. It was a massive out poring of giving, and this is what the disciples would have done the evening before “Pentecost morning.” The night before the Spirit fell, they would have brought offerings to the temple to thank God for His physical Provision.

Revelation is the second dimension because Pentecost was the day that God opened the heavens to reveal His word. After being rescued from Egypt, God did not guide his people directly to the Promised Land. He had things to show them! Fifty days after Passover, God directed Moses to come to the top of Mount Sinai, and it was there that the Heavens opened, and God gave Him the Torah. Some people call the Torah the “Law” but the word Torah really means “the teaching of God.” It is the revelation of God’s will, God’s love, and God’s character to His people, and even though the word “Torah” is most specifically used for the first five books of the bible, in reality, all Scripture is “Torah.” At the time Jesus lived, part of the celebration of Pentecost included staying up all night studying receiving God’s revelation through scriptures because it was a way of receiving God’s Word again. As they filled their minds with God’s word, I believe God prepared them for the third dimension of Pentecost. We know that Jesus had recently promised the release of God’s power, so it is fitting to think that at the disciples would have stayed up all night Scriptures that described the outpouring of God’s power.  

Power is the third dimension of Pentecost. The bible says that it was in Pentecost that the Holy Ghost came and gave the disciples power. The power that Jesus promised fell upon them, and in turn, it then empowered men and women to proclaim the gospel. Just as power had come down on Mt. Sinai in Moses’ time, the fire of God’s glory now came to clothe those who had gathered in the Upper Room. With this power, the gifts of the Spirit were energized, and the anointing of God equipped them to see the sick healed, the oppressed delivered, the gospel boldly proclaimed, and the world changed! Come on Jesus!

We know that this is what the church longs for! The church all over is crying for a new Pentecost; however, because we don’t understand Pentecost, we don’t know how to prepare for it. The apostles understood Pentecost, and they positioned themselves to receive it. So, it is when we fully understand what Pentecost is about, that it moves us into a better understanding of the time of Pentecost in which God wants to lead us through: the release of provision, power and revelation in our lives.

Yet, perhaps the best way to celebrate Pentecost is to follow the example of the apostles who set apart an extended time to be with God. It is important to acknowledge and celebrate the fact that God’s provision is plentiful. He is constantly bringing bread from the earth. Gaining a mind to prosper involves developing a thankful heart by giving to the poor and bringing first fruits offerings. We must also be thankful to God for His desire to reveal Himself to us because He wants us to know His mind and heart. If you meditate in His word day and night, you will prosper (as psalm 1 promises), so be prepared to receive His revelation afresh. Last, you should be prepared to step in with God and obey His directives. We need to begin walking by faith, and meditate on His promises.

             So, this Sunday, be prepared to celebrate Pentecost by bringing first fruits offerings to position ourselves in a place of abundance and provision, and come anticipating to receive revelation from the Word. We expect to be filled with strength and joy as we release the sound of abundance through radical praise and worship. 

Sunday services are at 9:00am and 11:00am

Chuck Pierce will be here releasing the sounds of abundance at 6:00pm

Kent.