There is a parable that Jesus tells of 10 virgins. Some ran out of oil and some did not. The ones who did were not able to enter heaven. The question is, were all the virgins in the parable Christian? Could it be that some of the Christians ran out of the Holy Spirit, since oil represents the Holy Spirit in the Bible, and so then did not get to enter heaven. Could some have been what Jesus spoke of, branches who did not bear fruit anymore and so they were taken away? Either way it is very key that a Christian bear fruit and continue to bear fruit their whole life.
Devoting Yourself to the Lord
Know that the driving force to release the gifts into your life is the desire to serve God for the Kingdom. Put your heart in the correct place to serve and to receive. Prayerfully enquire of God if He feels your heart is pure in the desire to receive the gifts and surrender the matter to Him. This may have to be done over a period of time depending on your closeness to God and how you personally can hear His voice.
Ask Jesus to guide you to your path. Once you believe your intention is pure, enquire of God in prayer which of your natural talents God wishes to use. He may request you to start a Bible study at home or at work or volunteer on a regular basis at church or a local community centre. If you have a talent with teenagers He may ask you to assist in a youth centre. Tell Him you are willing to help and as you pray and ask of Him over a period of time, wait in the stillness afterwards for a few minutes each time until He lifts up an idea for you to start using your natural talents.
Start working. Once your natural talents have been identified and you have heard from God you must ensure that you are volunteering/serving in the correct place. Having an awareness that the most important aspect is serving Him with your natural talents after a period of time of serving, state in prayer that you are open to receiving any one of the gifts from Him. If you have a particular one that you would prefer, it is acceptable to ask for that one first, although the choice is God's as to which one He gives you first.
Keep your heart clean. Serving God in obedience to what He wants you to allows you to build up your spirit. The more devoted you are the more gifts you receive. This is not a quick way to receive spiritual power as the power of the gifts is given to those that God trusts and who are devoted to working with Him. Once you receive one gift and continue to be obedient and build up your spirit, the more gifts will flow.
Be aware of Gods presence at all times. Always ensure that you are in the presence of God when operating in any of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This will ensure more speedy gifts as you will then be working with the Holy Spirit rather than merely toiling in your own or building up your own spirit which can be futile.
Receiving the Fruit with Virtues
Be a loving person. Paul says in Cor. 13, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." To see how loving you are, try doing a self-assessment and ask yourself if you are all these things. Are you patient? Are you kind? Do you not envy? etc. Also one of the greatest commandments is to love others. "Greater love hath no man that this; that he lay down his life for his friend." Jesus set the example for us of how to love by dying for us. The Bible says, "We love because he first loved us."
Have joy. It is impossible to feel perfectly happy everyday. Life is hard sometimes, and it has a way of making us down at times. But joy is different than happiness. Joy is more like a subdued peace or calm. It is a feeling that everything will be ok despite what happens. The Bible says, "The joy of the Lord is your strength." The more that you are able to have joy, and not let yourself be depressed, the more strength you will have to tackle life. Happiness and joy often times are a choice. We can't control what happens to us, but we can control whether or not we will let things steal our joy. Don't let things steal your joy. Learn to stay relatively happy with life no matter what happens.
Stay at peace. We also can chose to stay at peace no matter what happens. The Bible says that we are not to "take offense." We can chose to let things get to us, or we chose to not let them. Don't let people get under your skin. Don't let people affect you so much. Learn to stay at peace no matter what. Recognize that God will "work all things together" for your good. The more you are able to trust God, the more you will be able to stay at peace. Also there is the verse, "Do not be anxious for anything but in everything, by prayer and petition present your requests to God and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." We are to have peace in Christ. We are to let him "lead us beside still waters" and "restore our soul." God does not want us to run ourselves ragged. He wants us to rest in Him. To be still and know that He is God. The main way to truly have peace is to follow God's commandments. The Holy Spirit will convict us when we stray and this will keep us from being able to have peace. So "fear God and keep his commandments" and you will have His peace "that passes all understanding."
Have patience with others. Don't rush people. Don't demand that they do things quicker etc. We are to have patience with other people even when they hurt us. We know that God is still working on all of us so this means not having unrealistic expectations of others. We are to have grace and peace with ourselves and others. The more we have patience with ourselves, the more we can with others. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. We need to recognize that, even though we are saved, we still battle with the flesh. None of us are perfect. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Recognize that you will sin, that it is a fact of life, and you will then be able to have more patience with yourself. Spiritual growth is a process. Also recognize that others will sin against you. It is inevitable. But God will give you the strength to be patient with others and forgive them.
Be kind. Be polite. Say please and thank you. Don't interrupt others when they are talking. Really, really listen to people. Don't be loud and obnoxious. Be quiet and humble. Kindness is the opposite of being rude. It is "to do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is esteeming others as better than yourself. It is respecting others, valuing them, protecting their feelings. It is being gentle with the others and not being quick to judge them. It is trying to always say things that will build that other person up. "Let your conversation be always full of grace" Paul said. Kindness is speaking with grace to others. It is having a soft heart. It is being compassionate with others as Jesus was. Remember to be kind to everyone you interact with today and people will see God in you. A great quote is, "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary." How do we preach the gospel at all times? By being kind to others.
Be a good person overall. Try to be good. No one can be perfectly good except for God, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't still try. To be good is to follow God's commandments as best as we can. To be good is to be in right standing before God and others. To be good is to be above reproach. To have a good name. To have a good character and reputation.
Be faithful. Here are some practical ways to be faithful to others: Be dependable. Be on time. Stay committed to your spouse. Be committed to your friendships. Stay in touch with your parents and siblings etc. Jesus said, "Let your yes be yes." We are to do what we say we are going to do. We are to follow through on commitments. We are to say what we mean and mean what we say. We are to not be flaky or halfhearted in our commitments. We are to be like a rock or an oak tree. The world is generally scattered and can be all over the place, but Christians are called to be firmly planted and rooted in Christ and in His word. We are to be different. We are to be faithful to others and to God.
Be gentle. Don't be easily angered; be slow to anger, as God is. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Learn to be submissive when you need to. Be gentle with other people's hearts and feelings; treat them the way you would want to be treated. Gentleness is like how one must interact with a young child. There is a quote, "In order to treat everyone in your life better, picture them as a young child or an elderly person." Having this mentality would make us much more gentle with others. It would make us more gracious and kind and humble in our interactions. To be gentle is to not be proud, to not insist on your own way. It is to be soft with others. To be tenderhearted and kind.
Have self-control. Don't believe Satan's lies that you can't control yourself. Any Christians with the Holy Spirit has the ability to control themselves. Self-control is often the one that most Christians struggle with. It can range from our eating habits to the thoughts we allow ourselves to think. It can be related to activities we choose to do etc. The key is to not let ourselves be mastered by anything. Good things can become idols when we do not have self-control with them. A good way to grow in your ability to have self-control is by fasting. Fasting is the best way to keep your body in check and to learn to say no to your body. It trains you to not give in to every desire that you have. In 1 Cor. 9:27 Paul says, "I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." It is very necessary that we have mastery over ourselves and fasting can be a great way to accomplish this.
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