Monday, January 2, 2017

Skilling Us Softly

UV 2163/10000 Skilling Us Softly
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Exodus 31 v 3

The manger leader or manager is supernaturally gifted. In this uni-verse, God says emphatically, “ I have filled him..” The filling is not an accident or a natural event but a conscious, volitional act of God. Being invested with the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity who is sent by the Father and the Son to those who entrust their lives to Him, the manger leader or manager is filled and overshadowed by the Spirit. One such was Bezalel, the skilled craftsman who carried out the work of building the Tabernacle as per the design of God given to Moses. The name “Bezalel” means overshadowed by God. When Mary was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, the God child Jesus was conceived in her womb. When Samson was overshadowed, he was filled with awesome physical strength. When Solomon was anointed by the Spirit, he was filled with amazing wisdom to discern good from evil, truth from untruth. Whenever a person is overshadowed by God, the Holy Spirit, he or she is transformed. They are prepared or made competent to fulfil God’s will on earth. The gifting of the Holy Spirit is versatile. Spirit-filled or overshadowed leaders are by definition versatile. They reflect and manifest the unparalleled genius of God. A relentless, persistent, enthusiastic seeking and soaking in the presence of God leads to the filling and the spiritual gifting.

Under the new covenant signed with the blood of the Lamb Jesus, the Holy Spirit imparts diverse gifts: the word of wisdom or counsel, the word of knowledge of the Word, the word of prophecy, healing, the exercise of faith in specific real life situations is itself a gift, working miracles, gift of tongues –unknown as well as heavenly. In the early church setting, the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire that rested on the gathered apostles in fulfilment of the promise of Jesus that they shall receive power from above. The appearance as tongues of fire is an indication that the mouths or communication of the manger leader or manager is most vital. No longer was the tongue to be filled with wickedness, an unruly member of the body that cannot be tamed but a rudder to give direction and balance to the ship called leadership. It was no longer the tiny spark that will set forests on fire but the source of inspiration of faith and good works in the name of Jesus. It was no longer the source of the power of life and death but of life eternal. The gifting of the anointing or filling of the Spirit of God and the consequent impartation of the super soft skills are meant for the perfection, edification, sanctification and enablement of man to fulfil the purpose of God. The Holy Spirit knows our internal wiring and inner being and does the work of building, development and maintenance from deep within our souls. Our weaknesses and blind spots are not challenges for Him but opportunities to manifest His grace and power.

The manger leader is never short of ability or competence as he believes that like St Paul, he “can do all things through Christ who strengthens him” through the overshadowing and the filling of the Holy Spirit. He is omni-competent by grace. He can be all things to all people so that he may win some for Christ and save them for eternity. A friend of mine humourously summed up the gifts as PhD or Preaching, healing and Deliverance. The gifts are to be administered and operated in close conjunction with the nine fruit of the spirit, chiefly in humility, self control, love, joy, peace, patience. A failure to do so would lead to non use, misuse, abuse, human pride, selfishness, jealousy, rivalry and such other divisive spirits, actions and attitudes. A person may not receive, exercise or manifest all the gifts of the Spirit but need to exercise and manifest increasingly all the fruit of the Spirit as adornments and clothing of character. The intuitive, problem solving and creative abilities of the manger leader are of a far higher order than can be naturally explained or understood. The manger leader or manager gives priority and precedence to consideration of character over ability for he knows that when a person is available to God, He can make him able but if he loses these spiritual qualities, he will be like salt that has lost its saltiness, that needs to be thrown on the rubbish heap and cannot be of use to the kingdom of God.

Prateep V Philip

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