Mrs. PIE

Unlocking Divine Purpose: Embracing Your Spiritual Gifts and Talents Through Faith and Grace

• Shelley Jeffcoat • Season 3 • Episode 71

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Unlock your God-given gifts and transform your spiritual journey with our latest episode. What if the talents you’ve honed are only one piece of the divine puzzle meant for your life’s purpose? We promise to enlighten you on how to distinguish between your inherent skills and the spiritual gifts bestowed upon you, highlighting their unique roles through scripture references like Romans 12:3-8. Our discussion shines a light on the importance of faith and grace in nurturing these gifts and aims to inspire practical application in your daily life. By the end, you’ll be equipped with a renewed perspective on walking confidently in your anointing, fully embracing the theme of SOAR—Spirit-led, Obedient, Anointed, and Renewed.

As we explore the spiritual gifts outlined in 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, discover how these divine endowments serve a greater, common good. We delve into the intricacies of gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, and discernment, while emphasizing the five-fold ministry's role in nurturing a vibrant spiritual community. With a focus on self-awareness and reflection, we encourage listeners to seek clarity and understanding through personal reflection and Holy Spirit guidance. Wrap up your year by aligning your actions with higher purpose, responding to divine promptings with acts of mercy, and creating a positive impact both personally and professionally. This episode is your guide to recognizing the harmony between your talents and spiritual gifts, setting you on a path toward a fulfilling and spiritually aligned life.

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Speaker 1:

no-transcript.

Speaker 2:

Y'all, we made it. I'm always so happy to be on here Made it. I'm always so happy to be on here this week. This is week three and we're continuing our series where we were in the book of Isaiah. I wanted to work through the book of Isaiah and then, just in really practical terms, link it back to our theme. Our theme for this year is SOAR. So SOAR S-O-A-R stands for being spirit-led, obedient, anointed and renewed, and so if you've been watching us over the past few weeks or past couple of weeks in October, you see we've kind of stuck closely, kind of no, we have. We've stuck closely to the theme.

Speaker 2:

Good morning, everybody who is watching on Facebook and LinkedIn and not X I can't get it together on X, youtube and Parade Deck TV and those who listen to us on all the audio version and all the platforms and the audibles and the buzz sprouts and the Spotify's and the everything y'all. Hello, I'm really happy to be here. So good morning, faithful Tracy. I'm sorry, tracy, one day, one day, I'll stop saying that, but right now I can't. So today we're going to talk about walking in your anointing and how to use God's gifts in your daily life, and just, we're going to keep it very practical. Good morning, jessica. Going to keep it very practical for those of y'all who are on the social media streets please don't forget to like and share the video, because this is how we get more people to watch it and learn, right? I don't want to just be talking to myself, but what we're going to do is talk a little bit more about anointing and gifts.

Speaker 2:

So there is a scripture, that kind of our foundational scripture, and I'll touch on that last, I think. But I think that what I want to do this morning. First of all, thank you, lord, for giving us this opportunity to come again before you, and I ask that you will give me the wisdom and the understanding so that I can translate, if you will, what you're sharing with me. And I pray that every person under the sound of my voice, who's looking to be stretched, to go deeper in your word, to learn more about you and learn how to apply in really practical ways your scriptures, that you'll give that to us this morning, that you show up in a mighty powerful way. Maybe you'll reveal to them something that they've been longing to hear so they can take the next step in their walk with you. And I ask our God, as always, that you'll bless every person under the sound of my voice so that they'll come closer, have a relationship with you. Amen, all right, you got to start out right.

Speaker 2:

So, as I mentioned our foundation, we have a scripture, it's actually Isaiah 61, one through three, and I'll share that at the end, but I thought it would be really helpful if I started with just explaining, if you will, the difference between a talent and a gift. You ever watch some people and it just seemed like they can just do certain certain things. Naturally seems like it doesn't really take much work. And you know, maybe you yourself, you have certain talents. So the best way I can explain a talent is a talent is something that you're, you're born with it, but it requires work. Right, it's something that you improve upon. So, for example, people in your family, or maybe this is you you're talented in sports, you're a talented speaker, You're a talented caregiver. You know you're talented in coding, you're talented in presenting, you're talented in solving certain complex problems. So someone with talent, our talents, we're born with it, but it does require work.

Speaker 2:

A gift is sorry, how do I put this? Don't be mad at me. Y'all Gifts come from God, but gifts require faith and grace. So there are people who are gifted in certain areas and you can't figure out, like how they're making it happen. That gift requires their faith and God's grace, them believing in God, gracing, so it increases over time. It's not. You know, there are things that I'm gifted with that require no work, but you, if you try to do it, you know it requires work for you because it might, for you, be a talent, but for me, be a gift, okay. So so, when you have a gift versus having a talent, how do you use God's gifts in your daily life, so that we that's what we're going to talk about this morning.

Speaker 2:

So the first thing I want to do is I'm going to go through three different scriptures and talk about what these God-given gifts are, just so we can understand what they are, and then I'm going to share a scripture that shows you how to apply in your daily life. All right, that's what we're going to do. So I think the first one I'm just going to look at my cheat notes real quickly. I think the first one, just so we because this could be a multiple, you know, multiple podcast situation I'm trying to, like you know, keep it very, keep it very tight, succinct, so that we don't you know, I don't go off script because I could talk about this all day, y'all for real.

Speaker 2:

So Romans 12, I'm going to share my screen on this one. Romans 12, verses three to eight, help me. Lord talks about the gifts of grace and it says for by the grace given to me. So remember I talked about gifts. We receive these gifts through grace. So this is grace, so that by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, and it talks more about, you know, not thinking more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. There are folks around us y'all we know them who are so puffed up because they have these gifts and the word just starts out by saying simmer down y'all, sober judgment, because the grace and the gifts, they're alignment with a measure. God measures them out. And so sometimes you run into trouble where maybe you think I have the gift of prophecy, but it says comma, in proportion to your faith, in proportion to your belief. And so you know, here are all of the gifts. And it says differ according to the grace given to us right, so let us use them.

Speaker 2:

So this is in verse six. So it talks about if it's in, if it's prophecy, in proportion to our faith, if in service, in our serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts in his exhortation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. So let me pull out these gifts. Again we're in Romans 12, verse six. These are the gifts according to the grace. God kind of measures it out. It does increase over time and these are just, you know the things that again, it's just the gift that he gives us. So I'm highlighting them so that we can kind of follow it along a little bit better than I'm probably doing it right now Prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, the one who can contribute.

Speaker 2:

So generosity, some of you have just that heart to give and contribute, not just money, y'all, I mean also your time and your talent. That's just something you're like. I've always been that person, I've always been the one to contribute. Maybe your thing has always been to teach, and then the one who leads, a strong leader. And then the other thing I want to call out is it's not from the way that I've watched this work out in my life with the Lord it's not that you just get one gift.

Speaker 2:

Remember it says according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Remember it says that, again, differ according to the grace given to us. So you might have the gift of prophecy and lead, right, or maybe you have, you're the generous spirit. You know that person was very generous or philanthropic and that's it, or maybe it's. You have the gift of. You know the one who contributes but also service, right, that you're serving others through the way that you contribute. So these are gifts of grace. These are great again, gifts that are given to us believers. It is something that, without the power of the Holy Spirit, we really mangle this thing. You know that when it talks about according to the grace given to us, that's coming from the Holy Spirit. It's not something that we can manufacture on our own and it is in proportion to our faith and our belief. Obviously, you have to have a relationship with the Lord, right? So that's the gifts of grace.

Speaker 2:

Now the next one I want to share, to just keep on, for those of y'all, I'm going to drop the verses in the chat so that y'all can go back, and I really want to encourage you to go back and read this for yourself. Don't struggle so much with trying to figure out like which gift I have. What I want you to do is open your heart and have the Holy Spirit show you what it is, because, as I said, it changes in proportion to your faith. Everybody ain't a prophet, everybody isn't a teacher, everybody don't lead right. It changes in a proportion to your faith and it does happen over time. So the next one I'm going to go to is gifts from the Holy Spirit. This is 1 Corinthians 12. So I'm gonna share my screen. It's just faster and easier for me to do this y'all. So 1 Corinthians 12, seven through 11.

Speaker 2:

So now it tells us about to each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. So now we're. Now we're starting to talk about you know where, and the wise Right. So why did God give us these gifts and what are we supposed to do with it? And it talks about for the common good, for to one is given, to the spirit of the utterance of wisdom. So that's the spirit, wisdom. There's also the utterance of knowledge. Again, it's saying, according to the same person Are we talking about the Holy Spirit? For those of y'all who are watching me on social media asking, like, what spirit are you talking about?

Speaker 2:

Talking about the Holy Spirit it talks about to another faith, right, by the gifts, by the same spirit. There's a gift of the spirit. It talks about the gift of healing, right, same, still again, lining back. It's coming from the Holy Spirit, another one working of miracles. So for those of y'all, again, you see things happening. You see, you know the Holy Spirit using people, if you will, to perform miracles. And you know and y'all are you know again, being so either misinformed, that that this is still possible. It's the power of the Holy Spirit working through us doing these things. But it still actually happens, right, clearly, because it's also in the word.

Speaker 2:

Then it also says to another prophecy, and then the other one is the ability to distinguish, or discernment is the best way to say it Distinguish between spirits. That's again, that's a gift. Everybody don't have that gift. There's so many people that misinterpret what spiritual things are because they think they have discernment, your discernment based on your experience and what you might've seen before, and not basing that. If it's not the Holy Spirit discerning, you could confuse things that are happening because God has his hand in it and everything becomes okay. That's demonic, that's the mind. Because you don't understand and you can't frame spiritual things, you might end up misinterpreting what that spirit is, right. So anyway, so that's the gift.

Speaker 2:

I just want to call it out. Another one is tongues, and then the and then the final one is the interpretation of those tongues, right? So these again, these are spirits, these are gifts, and it talks about for the common good. So we're getting these gifts and it's not just for us to just get them and be puffed up that we have them. There is a common good. Now I'm going somewhere, I promise. I just want to get all and every bit of the word out so that you can see it for yourself. I want you to go back and, like I said, I'm going to drop these in the chat because I want y'all to go back and read what these are. Also because I think there's so much. There's a hunger to hear the word. There's a hunger to learn more about our standing in the kingdom there's such a hunger but there's so much confusion about these gifts.

Speaker 2:

When you see people stand on stage and you know it seems like they're in a whole realm and you want to be, you know you want, you want to have that kind of gift. And sometimes I got to tell y'all, please like, bear with me, don't be mad at me. Sometimes, um, when some, uh, sometimes my girlfriends will send me uh, videos of, uh you know, very successful speakers, if you will, of very successful speakers, if you will, and I don't watch those things. I'm not that girl. I don't watch those things because sometimes I'm watching and it's like, yeah, that person has the gift of teaching or exhortation, but you're taking in what they're saying as if they have the gift of prophecy and they don't. And so, because I have the gift of discernment, I know I can understand through the Holy Spirit, he shows me right, don't watch this one. This one is conflating my word. Right, go watch this one, or go read this, or come back in the word right. So, anyway, so that's how it operates.

Speaker 2:

So, ephesians 4, verse 10 through 12, again, now we're talking about this one. This is the one that gets a lot of us in trouble. This is a five-fold ministry and for those of y'all who maybe you're in a certain denominations, you didn't even know this existed. I'm going to introduce it to you now. So Ephesians 4, verses 10 through 12, it talks about he who is descended as the one who also ascended far above the heavens. These are the gifts from God. These are not gifts that. This is where it's again. It's God anointing you. It's him anointing and appointing you. I know that there are a lot of people who go to folks who train them If you have the gift, for example, if you have the gift of prophecy and they have prophetic school, and the intention I believe there is to help you hone that gifting so that you don't misinterpret how to use it.

Speaker 2:

One of the things that I learned also for me, just being honest y'all One of the things that I learned also for me, just being honest y'all is I went through a time period where I was trying to figure out which where I fit in within these five. I just I wanted to know which one I was. I was treating it like a job and a job description, like Lord, which one you know because, again, I know I'm equipped to do the work of ministry. So you tell me which one I'm supposed to be. Equipped to do the work of ministry. So you tell me which one I'm supposed to be.

Speaker 2:

So the fivefold apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers and again, comma to equip the saints for the work of ministry, these gifts are assigned by God. So you would have gone through some kind of I call it almost like a reckoning or a calling on your life. You know how people say I had a call on to to preach. I had a call on my life to teach shepherds or pastors, right, I have a call on my life as an apostle. But I want you to watch verse 12. There is a reason. It's not just to be, you know, I call it pocket profits, where they throw up on social media and they tell you this is your month, you're going to be rich. That's not prophecy, right? Okay, comma, it says to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. So these fivefold ministry, they have very specific reason is for building up the body of Christ, to equip the saints. It's not just to draw people to us, right, it's to equip for the work of ministry. Equip so that those of you who've been called into service or those of you have been called into all the other gifts that I rolled out, right, service and teaching and acts of mercy and contributing exhortation is so that we can draw you into that. It's building up the church so that we equipped the church, we are in alignment with the body of Christ.

Speaker 2:

Right, not just you know, not just dropping a. I'm an apostle. You know, simon, I'm a. You know saying I'm prophet, prophetess, blah, blah, blah. Right, not just dropping a. I'm an apostle, simon, I'm a. You know what I'm saying. I'm prophetess, blah, blah, blah. Right, I literally run from the titles, y'all, because there is a weight and an accountability that, though you might not see it on this side of life, you will catch it on the other side if you corrupt it. So don't be so worried about which title you have, okay, just focus on the gifts and how you use them in your daily life, all right, so I hope that helps you Now.

Speaker 2:

Now we're going to talk about again. I'm only doing this specifically according to the word, because I want you to start in the word first, and then the Holy Spirit, according to his grace, right, he will talk to you about how you show up, okay, he'll talk to you about how you do this on the job, all right. So you got to have a foundation in scripture first and then you build on it. That's why I'm starting right here. So y'all need to go back and catch the video. Now I am going to show you my favorite of all time, and also the. And, by the way, what am I doing here? I'm equipping y'all Part of my role, right, part of my job, equipped in y'all, all right, my favorite of all time and just sharing personally because we're going on this journey together, you and me. This was part of my call. This was my call, right?

Speaker 2:

So Isaiah 61, verses 1 to 3, and I love this, this is the ESV version and it says the year of the Lord's favor. So, thank you, lord. So the year of the Lord's favor, so, thank you, lord. So the spirit of the Lord, god is upon me. That's the Holy Spirit, because the Lord has anointed me. Remember we're talking about, we're in the A version of Sur, right? So anointing? Now, here's why he's anointed me. So, regardless of what gifts you've been given, right, whether you five fold or not, whatever gift, spiritual gift, these spiritual gifts require faith and they require his grace, right? Not talking about talent right now. So he's anointed you to one.

Speaker 2:

Bring good news to the poor. A lot of us have forgotten that we're supposed to be serving the poor and needy. Right, bring good news. What's the good news? It's not just bringing the good news of. You know, poor people need to know that God is God and that'll just know. There's something that the Lord. I would go back to the Lord and be like look Lord, hungry bellies don't hear you. So what do we need to do? We've got to feed them as well, right? So bring good news to the poor, the good news of the gospel of God. But you also have to bring good news of reconciliation and hope and joy. That's all good news, right? So bring good news to the poor.

Speaker 2:

The second part is binding up the brokenhearted. So think about people who are hurting around you. People have been brokenhearted and down and depressed, and you might be a lawyer and that has become you, using your talent as a lawyer to work within justice, right, and so that's how you've used your talent and your gifts, right. But I'm also talking about when you open in the prison. It's a mindset A lot of folks are still bound to what they've been told many years ago and they're locked into negative thoughts and they can't come out of the negative thinking. So proclaiming liberty to those who have been bound up in that way.

Speaker 2:

Right Verse two. It talks about proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. Proclaim you, open your mouth, so proclaim. Now I'm talking about teaching again, going back, exhortation, and and it talks about comforting all who mourn. So this is mercy.

Speaker 2:

If you have that acts of mercy, gift where you're, you're naturally. Are you those people You're like? Naturally, you're the one who's like if, if, if things are going down, you know people call you because they want, they need you know you're the one they lean on. Or maybe they ask you. You're the prayer warrior they reach out to. So that is your operating of your gift to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes. To me, it's giving people opportunity to come out of the pits that they're in. You're not the one that's piling things on, so that, so, so again, isaiah 61, one, two, three, come in here after you're done today and you start saying Lord, maybe you don't know exactly what your gifts are.

Speaker 2:

It's kind of easier to understand your talent, because people will look at you and be like, hey, she's a good speaker, she's a good leader, maybe you're on the job, she's a good business person, she's a great doctor. And now you couple your gifts right Along with your talent and that's that's how you make it work. That's how you use his gifts in your daily life, right? The other thing is that I want to leave you guys with is I'm always encouraging other people. That is a part of my gift, but it's also just a part of my heart and my talent, right.

Speaker 2:

I am an uber confident person. There is nothing that you can tell me. That's not true about me, because I absolutely know who I am. That's a part of my gifting, right? So my confidence comes from who I am and knowing whose I am right. So, as a leader, though I have a talent for leading, I still have to work on it, right. You can't just show up and just be talented. I might be born with a talent to lead, but it's still something that I've got to work on. But because I also understand the gifts that I carry, I'm coupling those gifts with my talent and that's what makes me happy and successful and productive. So I hope that helps you.

Speaker 2:

I know I've dropped a lot of things for those of y'all who are coming on a little bit late, where y'all been Just kidding. But I talked about the gifts of grace and I'm going to drop them in the chat now so that you know, so that you guys can go back. I want you to go back and read for yourself. Never, ever, come on anyone's platform and just take their word for it. I don't care who it is, I don't care if it's your favorite pastor from you know, however long you've been in that church, I don't care. You know what, who they are, what they've done, any of those things. I'm giving you the scriptures because I want to encourage you to go back and ask the Lord what is my gift and how do you want me to use it this season?

Speaker 2:

We're not finishing this year the same way we started. Right, we are absolutely not finishing the year we started. So anything that any ideas or books or you know, maybe it's a new project or you know, maybe you started out go back and we're in October, in the same way we do in business, where we start to reflect on the year and some of the things that we've achieved. Go back and look at if you did resolutions what were the resolutions you had at the beginning of the year? And come now in October and say, what have I done so far? What have the resolutions you had at the beginning of the year? And come now in October and say, what have I done so far? What have I done with the gifts that I've been given? What have I done with the opportunities that were handed to me? Did I miss an opportunity because I wasn't in tune with what the Lord was telling me? That happens right.

Speaker 2:

So go back and do that, go back into the word and then say, lord, I don't really know what my gifts are. That's your thing. If that's what's going on, I'm not really sure what my gifts are, but this is something I did. I give it all back to you. Every single gift and talent that I have, lord, I give it back to you so that you could use it to your glory. That's my prayer and that's my hope for you. It's not about selfish right? I'm not gatekeeping anything that I learn in scripture. I'm sharing literally everything that he well, not everything. Some things I can't, some things I do right, some things I can't, but I'm sharing. As he teaches me to teach y'all, I teach y'all right. So I'm not hoarding any gifts. I'm not hoarding his, I'm not doing any.

Speaker 2:

Are you doing that when he puts someone's name on your heart? Maybe it's somebody you work with and you don't particularly like them, but you can't. The whole weekend's going by, you can't get them out of your mind and you're running the playbook of how you can't stand working with so and so right. Well, what is your actual response is to pray for that person. Lord, why are you showing me so-and-so? There's probably a reason why that keeps bubbling up. So, lord, I want to show an act of mercy. Am I supposed to serve in a different way? What do you want me to do with this Lord? And that's what you do, right, Leading back to him. Me to do with this Lord, and that's that's what you do, right, leading back to him. So I hope this blessed y'all Again. This was walking in your anointing.

Speaker 2:

How to use God's gifts in your daily life is listen. This, this life is already difficult, but it is made easier with the power of the Holy spirit, when you lean on your gifts, when you lean on the talent, when you work in partnership with the Lord and let him use you so that you can carry out your assignment. Whether your assignment is a mom or a doctor or a dad, or whatever your assignment grandma, auntie, whatever your teacher, businessman, salesperson, analyst whatever your assignment is is making sure that you're doing it in alignment with him, and I promise you you're going to make so much impact and influence. People around you are watching, especially if you're calling yourself Christians and believers. People around you are watching whether you're squandering your gifts or you're wasting your talent, and he will use every one of us. So I pray that.

Speaker 2:

So, lord, I just thank you for every person under the sound of my voice who is seeking you out this morning, every person who is just waiting to hear from you, regardless of what situation they're in, and I ask that you'll just open their eyes and show them for those who don't know what their gifts are, separated from their talents, that you'll use them in such a mighty and powerful way. As I always ask our God, I ask that you will bless them so that they will be the blessing, not just for themselves, but for their families and for the generations of households represented, that they will be a blessing in their community. They'll be a blessing on the job. They'll be the breakthrough in the store, at the market and in the in the store, at the market and in the marketplace. That you'll bless every single person who is, you know, waiting to hear from you what to do with their gifts. I thank you that this is the right time and we have not missed our assignment, and that you're drawing us back to you that you'll bless them. I pray that they every, every, everything that they touch, anything that they touch today, that they will be productive, lord god, that they'll be blessed. And when they touch today, that they will be productive, lord God, that they'll be blessed. And when they close their eyes tonight, they will be able to look back on this day, on this Thursday, and know that you truly were in it with them and thank you, lord, for blessing them. Thank you for blessing me and glorifying yourself through me, lord God, so that I can speak your word.

Speaker 2:

Amen. Y'all. Isn't that awesome? So that I can speak your word. Amen. Y'all, isn't it awesome. You are so welcome. I always miss the chat. Y'all, I always miss the chat. But thank you so much for those of you who are here Again, if you don't mind sharing this out, especially on the YouTube, so that or Facebook, I believe so that we can encourage other people. We're not gonna gatekeep good information. We're not gonna to gatekeep good information. We're not going to gatekeep prayers. So I pray this helped y'all and I will be back next week. Y'all have a good, amazing Thursday. Please be kind to yourself and be kind to the people you work with. All right, I love y'all. Bye.