How are we supposed to know?

[arosenthal708]

How does one know what gift the Lord has given them. I know it bothers me at times not knowing what I was meant to do in this world. I want to be the Lord's servant, but I haven't found anything pointing to what it is that He would want me to do. I can't seem to stop looking at bibli prophecy and concerning myself with the news, but that could just be because I am excited about His hopefully soon return. Is there anyone else out there dealing with this?:confused

[purplelinny]

An old pastors wife once gave me a piece of advice that I keep to this day.

It is impossible to steer a car that is not already moving. When it is moving, if it moves in the wrong direction we can turn the wheel or stop if we have to.

Likewise, God cannot guide us unless we are moving along in our lives. If we take a wrong turn, He will guide us through His Holy spirit or if necessary, bring us to a complete stop. If we are moving in the right direction, no intervention is necessary.

Also, pray without ceasing. The more belief we have in God's awesome power, the more we will witness it in our lives.

While you may not be sure what your gift is and are keen to serve the Lord, be happy in your quest and praise the Lord for every opportunity He gives you for ministry.
:):
--
Lynda

[blitzkreig]

The fruit of the spirit is fairly easy to determine:

Gal 5:22-23
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
(23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

These I personally do not believe the following signs generally belong to our times,... perhaps on an individual miraculous basis, yes, healing and other miracles do indeed occur. But there are different opinions even about that... I'm sure:

Mar 16:17-18
(17) "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
(18) they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

NOTE that one should not attempt the snake thing at home unsupervised :freaked

[Patty T]

There are spiritual gifts administered from the Holy Spirit (See 1 Corin 12)

Then God has given each of us different talents - and they cover a very wide range of things.

What do you like to do? What are you passionate about? What makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up? What area do you really do seem good at? serving? teaching? sports? music? delegation? exhorting others?

I am just learning about all these different areas. I will pray that God will also help you in this area and that you will know, without question, the gifts and talents He has given you.


Patty

[Crescendo]

What about gifts of hospitality, leadership, learning, discernment, et al that I read about from time to time? Where would these fall in, if in fact they do.

[Patty T]

Originally posted by Crescendo
What about gifts of hospitality, leadership, learning, discernment, et al that I read about from time to time? Where would these fall in, if in fact they do.

This list, I think, is endless. God has given every person things just like you mention.

The spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit are:

1. Word of Wisdom
2. Word of Knowledge
3. Faith
4. Healing
5. Miracles
6. Prophecy
7. Discerning of spirits
8. Different tongues
9. Interpretation of tongues


Some believes may have more than one of these gifts. Some may have only one. It's the Holy Spirit to distributes to each one individually as He wills (1 Corin 12:11).

[Joseph Eley]

I know it bothers me at times not knowing what I was meant to do in this world. I want to be the Lord's servant, but I haven't found anything pointing to what it is that He would want me to do.

The bible tells you what to do. Help the needy and the lost, love your neighbours, etc. Do the right thing and follow the teachings of Christ. And if God happens to call you for something more then do that. :):