Acts 11:27-28 “And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. (28) Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.”
The above quoted account in scripture gives us some insight into how each individual carries a unique anointing from God to operate in the various gifts of the Spirit. This is an account of the prophet Agabus giving a prophecy in the church at Antioch. The point that I wanted to highlight from this passage is the wording that the Holy Spirit uses to record this prophecy, for the Holy Spirit says that Agabus “stood up and showed by the Spirit”. In other words Agabus did not merely speak forth the prophetic word given to him by the Spirit, but he also demonstrated with corresponding actions, what God was saying through him. Another account of the way Agabus operated in the gift of prophecy is recorded for us when he took Paul’s belt and bound his own hands with Paul’s belt and then prophesied how the Jews would bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him to the Gentiles (Acts 21:10-11). And so we see that Agabus was very demonstrative in the way he delivered his prophetic utterances. Most prophets are not used by the Spirit in this manner but the reason it was recorded for us in scripture is so that we can learn to operate in our gifts in whichever way the Holy Spirit chooses to use us.
Acts 8:5-8 “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. (6) And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. (8) And there was great joy in that city.”
In the above account in scripture we see Philip being used by the Holy Spirit to heal many paralyzed and lame people in the city of Samaria. I’m sure that there were blind and deaf people in the crowds at Philip’s meetings, but the bible mentions nothing about them being healed. So why is that? The reason is because Philip was not anointed in that area, for his anointing was for the specific area of healing those who were paralyzed and lame. I’m sure that Philip prayed for the deaf and blind in his meetings and it may be that some may have been healed, but he obviously had greater success in praying for the lame and paralyzed because that is where his anointing lay. And so we see from these examples that when it comes to us laying hands on people to minister to them, it is very important that firstly, we know what our gifting is, and then secondly, how or what method the Holy Spirit wants us to employ in ministering the gifts that He has given us. When we do this we will see greater results in our laying on of hands. We will also see that we will be able to more easily release our faith in the operation of our gifts, for each one of us receives the measure of faith according to the measure of the gift that we have received from the Lord (Romans 12:3-6).
Michael E.B. Maher
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