John Bevere - How to Discover Your Supernatural Gifts

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Hey, welcome to lesson three of Gifted. I hope you’re getting a lot out of this course, but we have so much more to share—so much from the Word of God that I really believe is going to equip and empower you to flourish in life because you are now moving in your gifting.

So, a quick review: each of us has a calling upon our lives. Number two, God has given us the tools, which He calls giftings, to be able to accomplish that call. That call is beyond your natural ability; that’s why we need His supernatural equipping. Remember, gifts are sometimes obvious; they are supernatural. Other times, they seem natural, but they are truly extraordinary. Here’s the bottom line: all supernatural giftings from God will exceed mainstream natural ability.

There are two major categories of gifts that God gives to His people. The Apostle Peter talks about them in 1 Peter 4:10–11. He says, «God has given each of you,» remember, not just five-fold ministers but everyone. I don’t care if you’re in the marketplace, you’re a stay-at-home mom, if you’re in healthcare, education, government, or athletics. God has given each of us gifts from His great variety. The Bible doesn’t exaggerate when it says «great"—that means the gifts are numerous. «Of spiritual gifts, use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God Himself were speaking through you.» Speaking comes with a leadership gift. Your gift of speaking may be used in government settings, or it may be employed in a high school where you’re teaching calculus or something like that. That is a gift from God. You can rise above all the unbelievers in your high school because you have the supernatural ability to teach.

It’s so amazing! I’m thinking back to when I was a student at Purdue University, studying mechanical engineering—completely out of what I was called to do, by the way, and I’ll talk about that later. We had this professor who was unbelievable in terms of knowledge and discovery. He was our materials professor; he wrote a book we actually used in the class. I was in this lecture hall with 500 students, and that guy literally put me to sleep. I could barely understand what he was talking about. He was gifted as a researcher and a writer, but he was not gifted as a teacher. He didn’t have that speaking gift. I don’t know why they tormented us students with it, but anyway, «speak as though God Himself were speaking through you.»

Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with the strength and energy that God supplies. All the gifts can be categorized as oracle and serving. Let me give you another example from Scripture regarding the serving gift. This comes from the book of Exodus, chapter 31, verses 1-6. «Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Look, I have already done this. Observe what you’re looking at, I have already done it.' God didn’t say, 'Moses, go lay your hands on this guy and impart it.' He said, 'Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel, son of Uri, from the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving, mounting gemstones, and carving wood. He is a master at every craft, and I have personally appointed Oholiab, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, now listen—this is really important—I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so that they can make the things I have commanded you to make.'» What was God commanding them to make? The Tabernacle. It was a physical dwelling place for the presence of God.

Let’s bring this into the New Testament: where is the Tabernacle? It’s His church. You are the temple of the living God. Paul speaks to the church collectively. God has given us special gifts to build up His church, and you get to choose whether you will use those supernatural gifts that He has placed in you. Remember, everyone who is listening to me has a gift.

So how does that apply today? Today, the Tabernacle is the church. Remember, Paul said to the church collectively, «You are the temple of the living God.» God has given us skills and supernatural tools, supernatural giftings, to build up His dwelling place, His church, and we can use those gifts to accomplish that calling or to build ourselves. We will talk more about that in future lessons, but let me show you an example of this gift being perverted.

In Exodus 32:2-4, we read, «So Aaron said, 'Take the gold rings from your ears, your wives' ears, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.' All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron. Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf.» Now, it says Aaron did it, but let me tell you something: the Bible says Moses built the Tabernacle, but Moses didn’t physically build the Tabernacle. It was Bezalel and the skilled craftsmen who built it. Aaron didn’t have the knowledge to melt down and mold gold; it was these craftsmen that God gave the ability to do so. Some of them obviously listened to their leadership and made this idol. Isn’t it amazing how crucial it is to have wise leaders in the church? To have people in our lives that direct us to use our gifts because this calf became an idol and led the children of Israel astray, grieving the heart of God.

So, you have to remember you get to choose how you are going to use the gift, and I will talk more about that in the next lesson. We can pervert the gifts of God by using them to draw people to our own agenda, or we can properly use the gifts that God has given us to do what He intended them to be used for—and that is to build the church for the glory of Jesus Christ.

All right, so two ways gifts are given or received: number one, they are given at birth; number two, they are given at a specific time by an impartation from the Word of God. Let’s give examples right from birth. Let’s talk about conception. I want to share with you a story about a worship leader. Back when I was in my 20s, there was a worship leader who performed for a world-renowned evangelist in the 20th century. This guy was known by everybody. If I said his name now, some of you wouldn’t know, but in 1980, everyone would have known who he was. This worship leader started his own ministry after that evangelist passed away in the 1970s. Our church had this worship leader come in several times, and it was amazing. He would get on that piano, and within minutes, 250 or 200 people were on their feet, dancing and singing. It was supernatural how he could capture an auditorium of 2,500 people and have them all dancing within minutes.

I remember after a couple of years of him frequently coming, I was put in charge of taking care of the guests. I was so excited because I sometimes just stared at his gift. He was in the vehicle, either from the airport or from the hotel to the church. I said, «Tell me, how long did it take you to learn how to play the piano like that?» He said, «I didn’t learn.» I said, «What are you talking about?» He said, «My mom was a very strong woman of God. She would pray for hours a day. When I was in my mother’s womb, a man came to our house one day. My mom and dad had never seen him before, and they to this day believe he was an angel. This man sat in the living room and said, 'Woman, the child you are pregnant with will lead millions into the presence of God, ' and he left.» They never saw him again. He said, «When I was a toddler, I sat down at my parent’s piano and started playing a complex piece. It wasn’t 'Chopsticks'; it was something that would have taken others years to play. I’ve never read any sheet music. I can hear a song and almost instantly begin playing it.»

This guy obviously got a gift from his mother’s womb. If you look at another example, Akiane Kramarik is one of my favorite painters. At 4 years old, she started drawing beautiful pieces. At 6 years old, she began painting complex paintings, and at 8 years old, she painted the famous portrait of Jesus that hangs right behind me on my desk. She obviously has a gift.

Let me give you another example; this one’s scriptural. If you look at John the Baptist, he had the gift to recognize Christ. Nobody else could recognize Him, but he was going to be the first. When Mary came to see Elizabeth, John leapt when Mary walked into the room. Why? Because he recognized Jesus. That gift was in him from his mother’s womb. When he was around 30 years old, here comes Jesus. Remember, there were multitudes, huge crowds. Out of all the crowds, John said, «There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.» He had the supernatural gift to recognize the Messiah when others couldn’t.

So, that’s an example of gifts that are given at conception. Now let’s talk about gifts given by impartation. Romans 1:11 says, «For I long to see you that I might impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established.» These are not people in the womb; they are adults. Paul said, «I want to impart to you a spiritual gift that will help you as a church become established.» Gifts can be imparted.

Here are some examples: If you look at Saul—King Saul of the Old Testament—he wasn’t born and raised as a young man who prophesied, but in 1 Samuel 10:6, the prophet Samuel said to this young man Saul, «At that time, the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with a group of men. You will be changed into a different person.» When that ability to prophesy came upon Saul, he was changed into a different person. This is what happens when gifts are imparted. Before that gift of writing was given to me, I was one kind of person; afterward, I was another. I was a person who hated writing.

Later, in 1 Samuel 19:23, Saul was actually demonized and was trying to kill young David, an innocent man, but that gift was still on his life. We read that on the way to Naioth in Ramah, the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and he began to prophesy. He did it all day and night. Remember, the gifts and callings of God are without repentance; they are irrevocable. Even though Saul was completely demonized, he was still prophesying.

If you look at Timothy, Paul made the statement to Timothy, «Do not neglect the gift that is in you.» The gift can be neglected, underestimated, or ignored, which was given to Timothy by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. There was an impartation given to Timothy in his young adult life. In 2 Timothy 1:6, Paul said, «Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God.» This is what is happening in this course. As you are hearing the Word of the Lord, your gifts are being stirred up. It is possible that a gift cannot be operating.

As an example, the worst subject in high school for me was English and creative writing. Then God spoke to me in prayer in the summer of 1991 and said, «Son, I want you to write.» I remember thinking, «I can’t write,» so I did nothing with it. I want you to listen carefully: I did nothing because I was living in my past experience of being a horrible writer, making terrible grades in English, and going into engineering to avoid English classes. I remember only one person I’ve met in my lifetime scored lower than me on the English SAT. I was living off that knowledge. But when God speaks to me and says, «Son, I want you to write,» a gift was imparted. I did nothing for 10 months because I was living off my past experience.

Then I remember two women came up to me from two different states in the U.S. with the same message: «John, if you don’t write what God’s giving you, He’ll give the message to someone else, and one day you’ll have to give an account of it.» When the second woman said it, two weeks after the first, the fear of God hit me. I wrote a contract on a piece of paper. We didn’t have iPads back then; this was in 1992. I wrote «Contract» at the top and penned a prayer, saying, «God, I think You’re making a terrible mistake. You have far better writers in the church. I don’t know how to write, so I need grace.» I signed the contract. Now, today, the books are in the tens of millions and in languages all over the world—why? Because of the gift of grace.

Look at my speaking ability. You know how terrible I was when my wife first heard me speak? Then all of a sudden, when I spoke at that church as a youth pastor, the Spirit of God fell on the congregation. I was launched into what I’m doing now, speaking all over the world. About six years after I became a youth pastor, we were spring cleaning and cleaning out the garage. I found a cassette tape of when I put my wife to sleep. I was about to throw it away, and the Holy Spirit said, «Don’t throw it away.»

I said, «God, nobody should ever hear that; it’s horrific.» He said, «Son, don’t throw it away.» I replied, «Okay, but I need understanding. Why would You want me to keep that message?» I’ll never forget what He said: «Because I want you to always know how bad of a speaker you are without Me.» I realized God was keeping me protected from pride. I’d seen so many services where the Spirit of God fell, and I realized that God was making it clear to me: «Son, this isn’t you; it’s My gift upon your life. You have the ability to go beyond your natural ability.»

It is so important that you understand this. Let me close this lesson out with this: you determine your gift’s effectiveness. Listen to me: you determine how effective it is. Remember Paul said to Timothy, «Stir it up.» I want to give you some scriptures. Proverbs 9:11–12 says, «Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise, you will become the one that benefits.» What are we getting right now in this course? The wisdom of God. What’s it going to do? It’s going to multiply your days and add years to your life.

What does «multiply your days» mean? Obviously, it can’t mean adding years to your life since He wouldn’t say it again. It means it will make you more effective than you were in one day. If I have a dull axe, I can chop down maybe one tree a day. But if I have a sharp axe, I can chop down five trees a day using the same amount of energy. When we move in the supernatural giftings of God, we can accomplish much more because Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, «If the axe is dull and one doesn’t sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength, but wisdom brings success.» We need the supernatural wisdom of God to operate successfully in our gifts.

Quick story: you need to hear this. A friend of mine who pastors a large church does a conference once a year where pastors come from all around the world. He was walking through the auditorium before the conference started and saw a doctor, a member of his church, putting pamphlets on the seats. My friend, the senior pastor, rushed over and said, «Hey doc, don’t do this! We’ve got volunteers and interns to do this.» The doctor rebuked him nicely, saying, «Pastor, I take one week off a year from my medical practice to serve God. Don’t take away my one week a year that I get to serve Him.»

When I heard this, I was deeply grieved and troubled because this doctor didn’t have the wisdom of God. He didn’t connect the dots, just like Stan didn’t connect the dots. God has gifted this doctor in the realm of medicine to save lives. What would happen if a minister of the gospel was bringing people to the Lord but his life was cut short because there was no one who understood medicine and had the gift that God gave them? He lacked the wisdom of God.

And this is what you are getting; you’re realizing that the Bible says this for a reason: whatever you do, whatever your calling is, do it for the glory of God. Why? Because God orchestrates. He’s given people gifts for building things, athletics, medicine, teaching, and sciences to promote the kingdom of God. It all works. He is the master craftsman, or rather, the master planner who understands how it all fits together. Your and my responsibility is to get the wisdom of God on why our gift is important, to stir up that gift, and to operate in that gift for the glory of God. As far as how it works in the picture of everything, God has that wisdom, and He’ll reveal it to you as He sees fit. That is why we read in Proverbs 4:7, «Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do,» and that’s why you’re taking this Gifted course. You’re gaining the wisdom of God that will strengthen you to stir up, operate in, and develop your gift.