Miracle Invasion: The Holy Spirit's Gifts At Work TodaySample

The Word of Knowledge  

We all have certain things in the shadows of our minds that we keep private. It’s nobody else’s business, we tell ourselves.

But one of God’s attributes is omniscience (“omni-” all + “-science” information). He is completely knowledgeable at all times about all things. (Would you believe he knows even more than Google!)

And sometimes, he chooses to share his information through a believer who otherwise would have no clue. That’s what happened in the Jerusalem church one day when a married couple gave a sizable donation, claiming it was the full proceeds of a recent land sale. But in fact, it was only a partial sum.

In that moment, the apostle Peter just knew they weren’t telling the truth. He wasn’t concerned about the amount but rather about the deception. Nobody had tipped him off—nobody, that is, but the Holy Spirit. He confronted the pair immediately about their charade. Serious consequences followed.

This kind of thing still happens today. In a Georgia church, a pastor came to the end of his Sunday morning message and then paused. “I don’t usually do this sort of thing,” he said in a steady voice, “but the Lord has given me a word just now that somebody here is planning to commit suicide. Don’t do what you’re thinking of doing; let God be in charge of your life.”

The congregation of 200 or so didn’t openly react, even though their minds were no doubt abuzz. As people were leaving that day, a middle-aged man approached the pastor to say, “That word was for me. Things have been going really badly in my business, to the point I’ve been ready to just give it all up.” Now the two men prayed together.

That afternoon, he went to his office still thinking about his plan to end his life. He pulled his loaded gun out of his desk drawer. He had already placed a good-bye note for his wife to find.

But he couldn’t carry through. “I knew the Lord had stopped me just in time,” he said later. “I was broken—to think that God would speak to me in my darkest hour.” He ended up driving back home, stopping along the way to throw his weapon into the Chattahoochee River.

The word of knowledge had made a difference between life and disaster.