The Holy Spirit is your director for bringing the life and ministry of Jesus into your life and ministry.

1 Cor 12:27-31 (NIV) Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

Up to now we found ourselves limited by our training. We couldn’t give what we didn’t have; and, we didn’t have it because the Holy Spirit hadn’t trained us in that area yet. As long as we were studying the general areas of living out Christianity, mentoring, and sharing our breakthroughs, we just needed to increase our opportunities to help hurting people by yielding more and more to God. But, now we are looking at ministerial limitations that don’t have anything to do with a need for more training and breakthroughs. In the ministry, there are things God may never use you in.

Rom 12:3-8 (NIV) For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith GOD HAS GIVEN YOU. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

You can see from this Scripture that it is a simple process of doing what you have been made capable of doing. Jesus will give you a gift of service, the Holy Spirit will give you various gifts of power, and your heavenly Father will send you out to meet people who need these things. You will be able to allow various aspects of Jesus and the Holy Spirit flow through you into the lives of these people. Just like your physical talents may make it possible for you to sing well or run well, these spiritual gifts will empower you to lead well, teach well, or do something else in a powerful way. These things of God will come “natural” for you.

If you come across a need that isn’t a part of your gifts from God, you will still be able to help them. Because of your attitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) and your character (Galatians 5:22-23) from Jesus, you will be able to have close relationships with other ministers of Jesus. These will be people who have gifts you don’t have. You will be able to refer to other ministers, people who have different needs than you are able to minister to. Some ministers will be a part of your own personal team; and others will be ministers you have simply met and know their spiritual condition.

1 Pet 1:22 (NIV) Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

It will take every bit of the power and training of God for us to get along with the other members of Jesus’ body. We humans struggle with relationships. That is why our priority has to be in the areas of spiritual growth (sanctification). If we only have righteousness credited to our record with God and don’t have righteousness being lived out in our relationships with people, the members of the body of Jesus will be fighting and competing. His body won’t have coordination, cooperation, and functionality.

1 John 4:7 (NIV) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Love is the flow of Jesus in and through us. When we yield to Jesus, we yield to love. When we yield to Jesus’ love, we are empowered to work together with the members of His body. When we work together with the other members of His body, we change the world with Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is then able to flow through all of us and do greater things than He did when He was physically on this planet.

John 13:34-35 (NIV) A new command I [Jesus] give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.

As Jesus is working though us, people have to see it working in our relationships with other people and other Christians. If we are arguing, fighting, resisting one another, and not working together, it destroys Jesus’ efforts in the lives of those around us. People get the impression that Christianity doesn’t work. The more we love one another, the more it verifies Jesus’ message through us.