For we all have them; everyone is equal; it's simply that we have different gifts.
And the more we use the gifts assigned to us from the beginning of time -- the more we exercise the spiritual muscle with which we were endowed -- the more powerful those become and the more grace they shed!
Think of it too as healing, enlightenment, and cleansing: when we have gifts and use them to help others, the power behind those gifts is replenished by the Holy Spirit. It keeps flowing through us! Our angels can help us with this.
The Lord fills and refills and we are refreshed each time that He cycles through us. The replenishment heals. It cleanses. Every time the Holy Spirit comes to renew gifts we have "used up," we benefit because His power of well-being, of insight, of perception is flowing through us. Use your gifts over and again and He will provide new ones and sharpen what you already have!
You see, the Lord multiplies gifts just as He multiplied the loaves -- and in fact a priest named Father Rick Thomas from Texas who fed the poorest of the Mexican poor and often witnessed true modern-day multiplication (of food they served in ghettos and jails) taught that "the whole aim is to do God's Will. He cooperates in what you're doing as you cooperate in what He's doing." Here is something else we can say: when you want something too much, give it to God; just hand it to Him; if it's right for you, He'll return it twofold. If not, it will turn into something else. If there is anxiety, it's rooted in "self."
God is above nature. Don't see Him through natural eyes! As Father Rick also once said, God can "easily supply material resources" -- if the gift you are using is the one He has given to you and if those resources will further your mission.
When He doesn't, He has something else in mind. He has some other plan for your gifts. Often, we don't even realize what our gifts are. We strive elsewhere. We want fame. We want worldliness. We become frustrated. Blessed are those who don't succeed at what they are not supposed to succeed at! The devil can cause good people to do good things that God does not want them to do. He diverts us. Father Rick warned of this also!
When you have a legitimate cause and a legitimate gift, it is something that is not forced; it is not contrived; it is not pretentious; it should be from God, not something you thought up. We all fall into the trap of seeking routes other than those He designed. Follow the flow of the Spirit and what you are designed to do will flow naturally.
We know a man who carves intricate wood clocks and just gives them away without wanting a thing and this is truly a visible way of doing what God wants from all of us: giving freely, without looking for benefit. When he dies, he will revel in feeling all the joy of those who received his terrific work -- months spent on each as he handcarved them!
Somehow, your gifts are tied to your life mission.
If you are being blocked, there could be something hidden that is the obstacle.
It could be sin. It could be a bad habit. It could be a curse.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it.
Then:
Repent. Revoke. Replace.
Get rid of false "gifts."
Don't look for a return on your investment. Do it for the sake of aiding others -- for the sake of doing it -- and ask only for gifts that can be used in a way that's unselfish.
If you are working on something or praying ardently for something, gift it to God with a sincere heart -- hand it over to Him -- and if it's right for you it will return imbued with real power. Then, nothing will stop it!
Cycle. Recycle. Let the power of gifts flow through every part of your being. Exhaust them, and you will never be exhausted. He'll guide you as to the best use of them. He will be there for refills. He will fill you up so much that the devil must leave. A person who smiles: that is a gift. A person who is good at praying: what a gift this is. A person who does carpentry: he builds. A person gifted with money: there are many ways of helping others. A person who works as an accountant can bless each client.
Spend your life trying to make others feel good and you will rejoice with constant augmentation of talent.
See the big in the little. Release what you have to God and the habit of release will soon cause you to release also tension.
Always, proceed with life as if you will one day watch your life like a movie -- for one day you will!
Don't look to "win the lottery." Don't waste your life chasing the brass ring. Forget about accumulating -- hording -- wealth. That is the "way of the world." As Scripture tells us, it will only cause "piercing."
It is hot air. Like a balloon, one day, inevitably, it will be pricked; it will deflate.
Fill yourself instead with the living waters of God, which are without end and which come with joy, peace, and health, when your gifts need to be replenished.
[resources: The Other Side and The God of Miracles]
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