Leon Fontaine - Uncover Your Giftedness
When I was about 19 years of age, I remember my fascination with something I began to notice in the Bible. You see, I had developed a misbelief, a wrong belief. That Christians were kind of somehow a subgroup on the planet. That we were kind of following the world. The world has the best seniors, the best leaders, the best financiers. And the church, we're just kind of this little subgroup and, you know, and we just got to try our best. But the more I began to read the Word, I began to find out that we were to be in lead head position. We were to be the head and not the tail.
As I begin to dive into this topic. I begin to realize that being a born again believer wasn't something that made us a subgroup. It should make us a super human species, and this desire permeates the human race. We see it in the movies that are made whether it's Wolverine, Superman, Supergirl, Batman. They're fascinated that people can have this giftedness that isn't being seen and actually that kind of heart cry that comes out of those who write movies and comics is something that is legitimate. In the garden of Eden, Adam, if you were to go back and watch Adam and Eve, they would not function like the people of today. They did have a physical body. They had five senses but there was another side to them that we predominately rarely see in the human race today.
You see, God created human beings in His likeness and image. He did not create animals in His likeness and image. And so we are to have abilities and function in the God class. That does not mean that you are equal with God. That does not mean that that you and I, but at the same time God calls us children. And we need to understand the supernatural, beyond natural ability that is yours for wisdom, healing, building relationships, companies, leading, etcetera. When I first got into this, I had something that happened to me that just freaked me out. I was new into this that, you know, that I could be a man, a leader, a husband, a dad. I could be an entrepreneur. I could be someone that functioned at a level that what gave me an unfair advantage over the people around me.
One day, I was single and, you know, Dan Johnson one of the pastors here. Him and I lived together for a period of time before we married our, you know, our now wives. But I remember going to bed that night and the first snack I grabbed an orange. I was really tired and I grabbed the serrated bread knife, put it on the orange and I'm sawing back and forth as I'm looking at something. And I went through the orange and I cut my pointing finger on my left hand at the second knuckle, and just kind of cut that whole fat pad muscle and just kind of cut it out. And it just kind of was flapping off my finger, and all the orange juice just flooded into that wound. And I remember, oh, so much pain. I looked and I couldn't believe I was that stupid using a knife incorrectly. But I had this huge flap of meat that was just hanging off this finger.
And I remember just sticking it back in place, grabbing some tape and taping it in back into place on my finger. And it was bed time, now I remember I was just going through and studying in the Word about the spoken Word, about the established heart, about the miraculous that's supposed to be around us, within us. And so I spoke to the finger and I said, "In Jesus' name you just be healed". And I went to bed. It was kind of throbbing and hurting and I went to bed that night. And I woke up in the morning, and I looked around and there was blood all over my sheets. And this fear kind of came upon me. Then I just stopped and I just said, "No, I want to thank You, Father, that in the name of Jesus that finger is healed".
So I walked out of my bedroom and I began to peel this tape off. And it wasn't a band-aid so, you know, it's not really good because it sticks to both pieces and it rips it opened but it didn't. And I looked down on my finger and it was completely healed. And I remember showing Dan and going, "Remember last night, look it wasn't just healing. It was finished. You see a faint scar and it was completely together". And I thought to myself, "This is crazy". It's like the healing process sped up and I became fascinated with, is this even possible? Is this just, does God just do miracles when He wants? And that's the doctrine of many, many, many, many Christians today, is that God parcels out miracles kind of as He wills. And He parcels out miracles if you're good enough, or you've been living right enough. But there are abilities and giftedness and things in a born again believer's life that none of us have stepped across the threshold and learned to walk in.
Now, we can walk in our five senses. We're very, some people have very good visual gifts and they can design and, you know, and they can create. Some have good audio gifts. Man, the sounds they listen to and the music that they write. Some are very tactile with their hands. They can do incredible things. Now all that giftedness is way below still what you and I should be able to do as a born again follower of Jesus Christ. Your human spirit, okay. Your human spirit does not know everything. And so when you gave your life to Jesus Christ, and He forgave your sins, took away the curse. Jesus did that from the across to the throne, but you finally accept this. The Holy Spirit who knows everything and who has all power, resides in your human spirit.
And so you must learn to listen to your human spirit because it is connected to the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches us that for example when we pray in an unknown tongue, like in 1 Corinthians 14:14, it says, "Your spirit prays". He's not saying Holy Spirit is praying. He's saying your spirit prays and it prays the perfect will of God. The mysteries, because Holy Spirit within is communing with you at the spirit level. But the Bible says but your mind can often not even understand what's going on. That's why when as a spirit-filled person, we talk about praying in other tongues, praying in the Spirit. You are praying mysteries to God. You are praying the perfect will of God. It's not a mystery to God. But something begins to happen as you pray the perfect will over your finances, your family, your home, your future. He knows.
You see, we live in a world where the enemy is always attacking. Jesus said in John 10:10, that he is stealing, killing, destroying. He wants to steal your business. He wants to destroy your relationships. He wants to kill you physically and he is doing it in so many Christians' lives. And they all say, "Well, if it happens, Leon, it was God's will". They call it the sovereignty doctrine. It's just ridiculous. Now, when you take a look, I want to talk a little bit about this today. When you take a look at your relationship with God, one group in the ditch, for every mile of truth, there's two miles of ditch. The group in the ditch on one side, when they say God is sovereign, they don't mean all powerful, which is what the Word means. They mean He's in absolute control of everything. Well, that's not true because freewill is completely taught in the Bible that you can do whatever you want.
Ephesians 2:10 in Amplified says God's prepared a path for you to walk and that you should walk in it. He says He's not making you walk in it, that you should. So this freewill allows you to listen to Him or not listen to Him. Say, "Well, Leon, if it's God's will, it happens". No. There's a verse in the Bible that says God's will is that nobody perish. But that all come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. Well, that's His will but it's not happening. And so I begin to look and dive into the Word of God and go, "What's my part? What's God's part"? Because one group says, "Well, just live your life because if it happens, it's God's will".
So that's kind of really hurtful because a 10-year old boy who talked to me one time and was cursing at God because mom died, and a preacher told him that Jesus needed another flower in heaven and it was God's will that his mom died. He watched her died. He hated God because of this. And I told him, "No, it wasn't God's will but we live in a fallen world and stuff happens". And God's trying to cause us to rise up and learn to live and to function with all of this spiritual power and Holy Spirit's guidance to walk out and to win and to overcome the affairs of life. So as I begin to look at this, okay. So then there's the other group. Now, they just believe that you learn the principles. You learn the spiritual laws. You put them into work and they're going to work. So this mechanical Christianity has no relationship. Then the group on the other side, it's all relationship, and God's ultimately in control of every factor of everything in your life. And it's somewhere in the middle, and the Bible's very clear.
The Bible teaches us that as a new creation, that God and His grace, Jesus died for you. He took all your sin. Then He took the curse of the law when He went to hell. He rose again with a new life. So you could be born again and live at a completely higher level on this planet but you've got an enemy. And Jesus went to the right hand of the Father to be your representative to establish and to maintain that He's the only one in heaven with scars, nail holes in His hands, scars on His head, a hole in His side, His feet, to say, "This is the proof". The price has been paid and you get to live even before you get to heaven. His will on earth is as it is in heaven. Yet people don't see that.
So God, He brings into this relationship with you as a born again believer, His grace. Which means His ability comes to you as a favour. Grace, His favour. But it's not just a favour. It's His ability to you as a favour. Well, what's our part? Well, the Bible's very clear that what overcomes this world, 1 John 5:4, is your faith. Well, then the Bible says your faith without works, which means corresponding actions is dead. So God provides His grace. It's a done deal. His ability, His love as a favour to you. But you appropriate this by walking in faith and using corresponding actions. I can know what the spirit of faith is like in you by looking at your talking, your actions, your living.
Now, as you and I learned to get into God's Word, we are to live on this planet like Jesus. Now, there's a picture that people can't wrap their heads around. Jesus said that the things that I do shall he do. He did not say except. So what are the things Jesus did? Well, healing flowed off of Him to others. This healing kept Him healthy His entire life. When storms blew to kill Him, He spoke to them. When He was doing things like paying His taxes. There was supernatural giftedness financially. This Jesus who walked the planet knew things about people was guided by the Holy Spirit. And so you and I are to live our lives just like, and there's a verse in the Bible that says as He is, so are we in this world. So somewhere there has been a great disconnect to the Christian church. And we have been taught be good, work on your sin, one day you'll go to heaven.
And so people love to say, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace". Usually because they just try to make allowances for the things they can't seem to control. They're trying to be humble. But the Bible doesn't say to the saints at Corinth, or to the sinners at Corinth. It says to the saints at Corinth. So then I give you four things in closing that I work on all the time. Four things that, that often I'll tell people about and go, "Oh, yeah". But these are the things that help you as a human being on this planet to walk in supernatural manifestations of health, prosperity, knowing what to do in situations. You see, God's Word will tell you who you are in Christ. It will show what you can do. It will show you who you are. It will touch you, empower you, make you strong. But it will not show you your calling. It will not show you the path specifically prepared for you. That is Holy Spirit's job. So you need the Word and you need Holy Spirit.
So let's run through really quickly some of the things you're going to find it Gods Word. Number one, I meditate in the Word of God daily. Meditate. I don't just read it. I don't read a book or a chapter in the Bible as a story book. I feed on it. I think about it. I allow Holy Spirit to reveal it to me. As you meditate in the Word, something happens to you. As you begin to rise up and live, you literally begin to live and you get better and better at it. Did you know that in Hebrews chapter 5 and chapter 6, there is a stunning thing taught to us there. It says, and Paul the writer is saying, "It's time that you grow up". He said, "Move on from elementary baby-like teachings". Or not baby-like but the primary first teachings about Jesus. Getting born again. You get to go to heaven, you know. And He says there are elementary teachings and it's time to move on. In chapters 5 and in chapter 6 it says things like maturing in the Word will give you an incredible ability to know what to do. The wisdom to understand where to go.
Most Christians tell me, "Leon, the happiest I've been when was when I first got born again. I led more people to Jesus. I prayed and saw miracles and then it go all kind of just wah, wah. And I got into the routine of being a Christian". Well, you missed it because it's supposed to get better. And the light's supposed to grow brighter. You are to rise up. And every year of your life as you mature, you should operate in more of the Holy Spirit's gifts. You should function in the strengths of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5. You should literally be doing greater and better in every area of your life as you mature because supernatural ability is now coming to you.
So number one, meditate in the Word of God daily.
Number two, practice the Word of God. Do you know how many people read and meditate in the Word and have all these great revelations, and they never practice it. I had a friend that I won to the Lord when I was a paramedic. He just loved the Word, the Word, the Word, the Word, but practice none of it. But he liked to debate and argue and think he was smarter but you couldn't see in his life. He didn't practice any of God's Word. He was failing at everything but he always had a deeper excuses to why. We've got to meditate in the Word, and that we've got to practice the Word because faith without works is dead. Faith without corresponding actions. Get up and get moving. Speak the Word. Begin to act on the Word.
The third thing, is give the Word of God first place. God's Word is not 23rd on your list. I have no problem with people giving me wisdom and finances, doctors and health. You know, and whatever I need to grow and flow and move and learn in this world. But I give God's Word first place in my life because He will guide you and He will lead you. You can't let God's Word be somewhere down the list but I'm going to do exactly what this expert say. There is nobody on the planet who's an expert on the human body, an expert on finance, an expert. They know some stuff. But the God of the universe that created the human race knows a billion times more than them. Give the Word of God first place in your life. I am continually learning management and learning leadership, understanding personality types to build teams and groups. Keep, you know, yes, but I give the Word of God first place. And as I dive into God's Word, His Word makes me strong and healthy. And it literally the Holy Spirit begins to bring up the Word in my guidance of it. So give the Word of God first place.
And number four, instantly obey the voice of your spirit. As you renew your mind with God's Word and establish your heart in grace, your spirit, and Holy Spirit is in your spirit. He's continually speaking because you are the spirit. Holy Spirit's in there. And many times your mind will not understand because your mind's designed to contact the physical world. Your spirit's designed to contact the spirit world. So to shut down your spirit, or to never develop it in your heart. And then to develop your five senses is to literally cripple you to the best you could be. Developed these things in the physical world, and then make sure you understand that, Jesus said "the Words that I speak to you are spirit and life". He didn't say flesh and natural life. He said spirit and zoe life. The life that is in heaven. God's will for you on this earth is, as it is in heaven.
One of the things God has so put in my spirit is this world has yet to see a man or a woman who does all that God has placed within them in their lifetime. I feel today so many times and that, you know, I'm just learning. Boy, I wished I knew this 40 years ago, or 28 years ago when I started the church. I wish I've had known this thing, and you could almost get discouraged. But as you begin to grow and mature in God's Word, and in your relationship with Holy Spirit. He will take the Word of God, and He will help to guide you and lead you. Jesus said when Holy Spirit comes, He will show you things to come in your life.
As you fellowship with Him, He begins to place within you. He begins to search your heart. What does that mean? It means that things that shouldn't be there, wrong dreams, wrong beliefs. Doubt is an opposing belief to what God's Word says. That's why He calls doubting an evil report. When you say, "Well, you know, I think this, nothing's ever going to happen". The second you start to say these things. That's called an evil report. You are not saying what God's Word says. You're saying what the enemy wants your mouth to declare.
So he's here to steal, kill, and destroy. But I want you to understand something. I can continue to get better at just the physical side of my life, or I can begin to renew my mind with the Word, establish my heart. That's, I don't mean you're physical heart but that center of your being. This identity of who you are and allow the Holy Spirit to guide me. And I'm going to live in a supernatural way which will affect every area of my life. And it will help me to overcome, to rise up, and to live. The Bible says in the new covenant, you are to live in a constant triumphal procession. Meaning, that you literally are to win in every area. Believe that, dive in, and let's get up this year. Join me. That's my desire and my dream for our life. Let's live in constant victory overall that we're doing.