John Bevere - Multiply the Gifts in Your Life
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Hey everyone, welcome to the multiplied course! I’m so glad you’re going to go through this course because I know what’s about to happen in your life. Your vision and abilities are about to expand, and it’s going to be God-given and God-blessed. This is actually the third part of a three-course series. Each of the courses is standalone; you don’t have to watch the previous two courses to watch this one. However, it’s highly recommended. The other thing I want to highly recommend is the reading of this book. This course will be drawn from it, called «Multiply Your God-Given Potential.» Much of what I’ve written will be heard in this course, but there is so much more in this book that I highly— and I can’t stress the word highly enough—recommend you journey through it while watching the course. Both are very important.
I want to say this: in our world today, things are getting so chaotic; evil is getting so strong, and darkness is entering our society in an unprecedented way that we need to be built up in the Word of God. This is what I’m seeing with many believers: people are drawing back; they’re shrinking in fear. Instead, we should be multiplying and advancing the kingdom. This is what we are called to do! This course will certainly build your faith to do that. In this time, when the world is drawing back, we believers should stand out. One of the ways we stand out is by being fruitful and multiplying. So, as we enter this course, I want to pray for you. I want to pray that God the Holy Spirit will reveal to you things that will change your life forever, making you more effective in His harvest field.
So, Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for my brother and my sister, the group that is watching this, or the individual watching this. I’m asking, Spirit of God, that every time they turn on one of these lessons, Your presence would fill their home, their office, their living room, their car—wherever they’re watching or listening. You will fill their atmosphere with Your presence, and You will teach them and reveal to them secret hidden truths they have not known before. They will become stronger as a result and more effective, Father, in building Your kingdom. And it’s in Jesus' mighty name I pray. Amen.
Let’s begin our journey in multiplication! Welcome to lesson one of the multiplied course. First of all, let me tell you I’m so excited for you. Why am I saying that? Because I know what God has done in my life and how my life was completely changed when He revealed what I’m about to share with you in this course. My productivity, fruitfulness—whatever you want to call it—changed completely and radically. Now, before we jump in, I want to tell you upfront this is actually the third part of a three-part series we are doing in terms of courses. Each part is standalone, but they are a continuation of each other, and I believe everyone should go through all three. The first course is entitled «Called,» the second course is entitled «Gifted,» and this course, of course, is entitled «Multiplied.»
I want to say this: if you have not gone through «Gifted,» I highly recommend you do. But if you don’t, I’ll review «Gifted» in the first two lessons. However, if you have gone through «Gifted» recently, skip those first two lessons and go right to lesson three in this multiplied course. So let’s jump in, and we’ll begin with the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans, the 12th chapter, the 6th verse. Paul makes this statement: «In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.» Now, at the beginning here, I’m going to identify three very important and crucial words that we’ll build upon throughout this course. Two of the words are located in this verse. The first one is «His grace.» Grace is the first word I want to identify and make sure we’re all on the same page regarding the grace of God.
The reason I say that is that when you say «grace» to most Christians, they will think of forgiveness of sins. They will think of a free gift; they will think of salvation. However, very few Christians I’ve met, when they hear the word «grace,» think of empowerment. If you look at the word throughout scripture, it is defined as empowerment. God Himself made this statement to the Apostle Paul. He said, «My grace is sufficient for you, for my power works best in your weakness or your human inability.» So God, in 2 Corinthians 12:9, identifies the word «grace» as His empowerment.
If you look at Strong’s definition of the Greek word «charis,» it is described as a gift, favorable, beneficial; all the things that most Christians understand. However, Strong’s goes on to define this Greek word as «the divine influence in the heart, with its reflection in the life.» So there’s an outward reflection of the grace of God. If you look at Acts chapter 11, Barnabas came to the churches in Antioch, and he saw the grace of God upon the people. He didn’t hear about it; he saw the empowerment. If you look at Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1, he says, «Grace be multiplied to you as His divine power.» So, Peter identifies God’s grace as His empowerment.
After years of studying Greek words and the New Testament, I’ve come up with a definition for this Greek word. It is God’s empowering presence that gives you and me the ability to go beyond our natural ability. Now, if you think about the call of God upon each one of our lives, I’m going to tell you this right now: what God has called you to do on this earth, it is impossible for you to fulfill it in your own ability. You say, «Then why would He call me to do it?» Because He wants you to depend on His grace. If you don’t understand that grace empowers you to go beyond your natural ability, you’ll never be able to fulfill what you were put on this earth to do. The Bible actually says in Romans chapter 5 that we have access to this grace through faith.
I want you to see faith as the pipeline that brings the empowerment of God’s grace into your life. Now the second word in this verse—I’ll read the whole verse again—"In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.» The second word I want to highlight is the word «gifts.» Now, if you take the Greek word «charis» and you add an «m» and an «a» to it, you get «charisma.» That is the Greek word for gifts. What does this Greek word mean? It means a special endowment of grace that empowers an individual with a special ability.
Okay, I’ll read that again: a specific endowment of grace that empowers you with a special ability. Oh my goodness! Now listen to the verse again; it’s going to make a lot of sense: «In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.» If you look at the charisma on our lives, it may sometimes seem like a natural ability, but it’s still extraordinary. Sometimes it’s obvious; we can see the gift of God on a person’s life, but other times it’s almost hidden. Yet it’s always extraordinary. Let’s just say it like this: the charisma of God gives you and me the ability to go beyond mainstream natural ability.
It’s so important that we understand this: God has placed a gift on every single one of His children. Okay, listen to me: not just pastors, not just missionaries, not just worship leaders—every single child of God has a charisma upon their life, and that may manifest as one gift, even two gifts, or three gifts. If you look at my personal life, the obvious gifts on my life are speaking and writing.
Now, was I always gifted in speaking and writing? The answer is no, because here’s something very important to understand: there are times when God places His gift on a person’s life right from birth. If you look at John the Baptist, he had a specific gift: the gift of recognizing the Messiah. He recognized the Messiah when the Messiah was in Mary’s womb. Remember when Mary came to visit Elizabeth? The baby John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb; he had that gift of recognizing the Messiah from birth. And thirty years later, when Jesus came to the River Jordan to be baptized, John was the first one to recognize Him.
However, this is not always true. There are times when God releases a gift in our lives either by the word of the Lord or by impartation through prayer. This is something that happened to me. If you look at me, obviously one of my gifts is writing. However, what many people don’t understand is that one of my worst subjects in high school was English, creative writing, and foreign languages. I was literally terrified to write a one-page paper! I remember getting assignments to write a one or two-page paper, and I would spend hours before I could complete it. I would write a sentence or two and throw it away. I got very low grades in English, and if you look at our entrance exam, the SATs—at least when I took them—one half was English, the other half was math. I scored a 370 on the English part. In all my travels, I’ve only met one person who scored lower than me on the English section of the SAT.
So when God spoke to me and told me to write in 1991, I kind of laughed inside and said, «God, I think You have so many kids on this earth; You’re getting us mixed up. You don’t want me to write—just ask my English teachers!» I remember doing nothing for ten months. Then, two women from two different states came to me within two weeks of each other, and they both had the exact same word: «John, if you don’t write what God’s giving you to write, He will give the message to someone else, and one day you’ll have to give an account for it.»
When the second woman said it to me from the state of Texas, two weeks after the first woman from Florida, the fear of God hit me. I remember I got a notebook, a piece of paper, and wrote at the top «contract.» I wrote a contract with God: «I think You’re making a huge mistake; I can’t write, so I need grace.» I signed the contract, and now, today, tens of millions of books are all over the world. I’m actually kind of glad I was a horrific writer in English because nobody knows better than me where those books came from. I know that gift, that ability to write, is not mine. It is His ability.
And this is one of the definitions of charisma: it’s not your natural ability; it is His ability. If you look at speaking—another gift of mine is speaking. I remember when Lisa and I were first married. The first time she heard me preach, she was in the front row. Five minutes into my message, she fell sound asleep and slept through the entire message. Her best friend sitting next to her was a girl named Amy, who fell into such a deep sleep that I watched drool come out of the side of her mouth. That was so upsetting to me, but I was a horrific communicator!
I remember when we obeyed God and served in our church for the first four and a half years of our marriage. Then, I was asked to become youth pastor. When we crossed the Florida state line, the first Sunday morning, the pastor asked me to address 200 people in the service. My wife was terrified. She said, «Oh Lord, please don’t let him embarrass us!» I mean, she had every right to be; I was a horrible communicator. I remember getting up, being handed the mic, and within sixty seconds, 2,500 people were on their feet, screaming and shouting. I preached for four more minutes; I remember handing the microphone back to the pastor and going back to my seat, trembling like a leaf—either from the adrenaline or the anointing. I believe it was both.
Lisa told me after the service she was almost scared. She looked at me and said, «Who just inhabited my husband’s body?» She was shocked! I believe at that moment, the gift to be able to speak came on my life. Years later, we were cleaning out our garage, and we came across the master tape of—and I know a lot of you don’t understand what a tape is—what is referred to as a cassette tape. It’s prehistoric; you’ve got to Google it to understand it! But anyway, I found the master of that message that put Lisa and her friend to sleep, and I went to toss it. The Holy Spirit said, «Don’t toss it.»
I said, «Lord, no, no, no! I need to toss this tape. Nobody should hear this message; it’s horrific!» The Holy Spirit said again, «Don’t throw it away.» So, I said, «Okay, God, I need to understand why I can’t throw this horrific message away.» He said, «Son, I want you to keep it because I want you to always know how bad of a communicator you are without Me.»
And can I say this? It has protected me because there have been times when I’m speaking to five, ten, or even twenty thousand people. People get up; they cheer. They get so excited—you can sense what God’s doing in the room. If I were foolish, I might think I had something to do with that. But I remember, believe me, I remember how horrific of a communicator I was before God’s anointing—or God’s gifting of charisma—came on my life to speak the word of God.
Let me tell you, I have gifts I’m not gifted at. Every time I sing at home, everybody either politely or sometimes passionately tells me to please be quiet and sing to myself. Why? Because I’m a horrific singer! I was out praying yesterday morning and started singing «Holy, Holy, Holy.» And I don’t even want to do it; I don’t want to repulse you! I’m sitting there thinking, «Jesus, You must really love me, because I can tell I can’t hold a tune.» Musical instruments—I took piano lessons; my parents made me take them for four years from a professional music teacher. She approached my parents and actually said, «Please, would you have your son quit these lessons?» That’s how bad I was with musical instruments!
I understand where my gifting is. Let me say this to you: happy is the man or woman who knows their gifts and operates in them, and miserable is the man or woman who tries to be somebody else; they try to operate in somebody else’s gifting. I have seen terrible copies of the charisma of God because you will never find, never find—listen to me carefully—an amazing copy of somebody’s gifts. The gifts that God has placed in you are unique, and they are needed for the body of Christ to grow and for the harvest of souls to come into the kingdom of God.
So listen to me carefully: you are gifted! God has placed His grace on your life, and you have the ability to go beyond your natural ability. Specifically, He has put His charisma—that is the specific gifting—on your life. It may be to operate and remove a tumor; that gift may be to sing beautifully in such a way that causes people’s hearts to turn to God. That gift may be in designing some kind of electronic component that has never been invented before. That gifting may be in the marketplace, where you have the ability to see opportunities to bring in revenue for the kingdom of God. The gifts are so vast; there is no exhaustive list in the scripture concerning the gifts of God. But believe me, God has placed at least one gift in your life that allows you to go beyond mainstream ability.
To conclude this first lesson, I want to pray that God reveals to you clearly the gifts He’s placed upon your life. Father, in the name of Jesus, I’m asking You, please Lord God, reveal to my brother, to my sister, what You have placed upon their life—the gifting in order to build Your kingdom and impact lives for eternity. I pray, Holy Spirit, make this clear to them, in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. We’ll go on to the next lesson, and in the next lesson, we’re going to introduce our third word that will set up this entire multiplication course.