As a longtime Christian, Kathie Lee Gifford has been exposed to all sorts of faith traditions and spoken with believers from all over the world. In fact, for her latest book, “The Jesus I Know: Honest Conversations and Diverse Opinions about Who He is,” Gifford interviewed celebrities, famous personalities, religious scholars and others about Jesus.
One of the things she’s come to realize through her experiences is that many Western Christians seem intimidated when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit.
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“I think for way too long, that we as Westerners have been way too terrified of the gifts of the Spirit when actually, when you read about them, when Paul talks about them, we’re all supposed to have gifts of the Spirit,” she recently said in an interview. “They’re supposed to be different, used like different parts of the body for one good work, but we’re all supposed to use them. And people go, ‘Oh, Jesus doesn’t do that anymore, God doesn’t do that anymore.’ Really?”
I was delighted to join @LifeTodayTV to talk more about my book, The Jesus I Know. Tune in on 12/28 and 12/29 to catch the conversation. I hope it’s a blessing to you. pic.twitter.com/4Dh84YeVt2
— Kathie Lee Gifford (@KathieLGifford) December 27, 2021
Gifford took the opportunity to encourage believers to grow deeper in their faith by embracing the spiritual gifts outlined in 1 Corinthians 12, including wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking and interpreting tongues.
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“Jesus said, ‘Greater things than this, you will do in my name when the Holy Spirit comes, but I have to go so you can do them,’” Gifford noted, appearing to reference John 16:7-8 and John 14:12. “He didn’t put a time frame on that. We do!”
“We’re the ones that box God in, that relegate Him to three dimensions, that stick him on a shelf and say, ‘Well, that’s what God does,’” she added. “Let’s open our eyes and our ears and our hearts and our souls to the great works the Holy Spirit is doing in the lives of brothers and sisters all over the world.”
While Gifford didn’t give any specific examples, she did allude to meeting people who are using their spiritual gifts in the name of Jesus to bring glory to God.
“Once you understand — once you meet the people that have these gifts, and you see the way that they use them for the Kingdom of God, any bias you have about it is dispelled because you see what’s done in the name of the Lord Jesus,” Gifford said.
“You cannot say, ‘This is not God.’ This is redemption, this is healing ... and nobody’s getting the credit for it but Almighty God,” she concluded.
Photo Credit: Twitter
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