But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8, NIV

Have you ever had to wait for something, and it felt like you were waiting forever? I think about my daughter waiting for her birthday to arrive. Every day she asks me, “Mommy, is it my birthday?” Each morning she wakes up, checking for balloons and presents. Multiple times a day she asks me, “Is it almost time for my party?” While children clearly lack an understanding of time, even we adults can understand the agony of waiting for something that we are anticipating.

I have to wonder if the disciples felt that way when Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1, we see Jesus promises the arrival of the Holy Spirit, and then He returns to heaven to be with His Father. The disciples must have been heartbroken at His departure, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 2, we see that the Spirit arrived with “a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven, and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). In that moment, all of those present in that room were filled with the power of the Spirit.

“Everyone who wants to be an effective witness for Christ depends on this power” (Schwarz, 2001, p. 19). Yet throughout the New Testament, we see that the supernatural power of the Spirit is present in certain situations and absent in others. In Mark 6:5 we even read that Jesus was unable to do any miracles when the power of the Holy Spirit did not enable Him to do so. Power is not a static possession, but rather something that can be present or absent, depending on the situation.

Wind and Spirit

In both Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament), the terms for “wind” and “spirit” are almost identical. We see an example of this in Acts 2:2 where the arrival of the Spirit sounds like wind.

It is no accident that in Genesis 2:7 we read that human life literally started by God “breathing the breath of life” into the “dust of the ground.” And when Jesus met his disciples for the first time after his resurrection, we learn that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). (Schwarz, 2001, p. 19)

It is with this in mind that the Spirit and His accompanying power are demonstrated by the color blue.

Blue Spiritual Gifts

Each color dimension has gifts that are associated with that trait and/or member of the Triune God. Blue gifts demonstrate the supernatural working of God through the Holy Spirit. Many of them transcend “natural laws” in order to show God’s power over nature and minister to those whose needs could not be met by natural means. As such, it is especially important to remember that these gifts are spiritually given and cannot be manifested without the presence and intervention of the Holy Spirit.

Blue spiritual gifts include:

Deliverance: While every believer has been given power over evil spirits (Mark 16:15-18), the gift of deliverance is an extra measure of this gift. This gift enables Christians to help people suffering from demonic oppression, leading them to deliverance.

Discernment: This gift enables Christians to know for sure whether a behavior originates from a divine, human, or satanic source; it helps to determine truth from deception. Discernment is part of God’s providential protection against error.

Faith: God has blessed some people with a special measure of faith. These individuals are able to discern, with an unusual degree of confidence, the will of God; they do not shy away from uncertainties or risks when they are convinced of His will.

Healing: The gift of healing allows people to serve as God’s instruments for the restoration of health, without the aid of medical tools. It should be noted that God is always the One who does the healing; those gifted in this area can only pray to this end.

Interpretation: Some who have this gift interpret the messages that another person has given in tongues; others interpret their own statements given in tongues. In all cases, though, this gift enables Christians to make known in a commonly understood language a message originally communicated in tongues.

Miracles: This gift allows Christians to serve as human instruments through which God performs powerful acts that surpass natural laws. Whenever God uses this gift, it is His goal to communicate a specific message to His people.

Prayer: The gift of prayer enables Christians to pray for concrete requests over long periods of time, and to receive visible answers more frequently than do other Christians. Those with this gift often spend hours praying intensively and enjoy every minute of it!

Prophecy: This gift enables Christians to receive a message from God through the Holy Spirit and communicate it to others. It allows people to be a vehicle for a divine message.

Suffering: The gift of suffering enables Christians to endure negative experiences for their faith, while at the same time maintaining a joyful, victorious spirit.

Tongues: Christians with the gift of tongues are enabled to use a language they have never learned either in their personal prayer times or for a public message. Keep in mind this is only considered a gift if speaking in tongues is a significant part of one’s spiritual life.

As we said in our last blog on red spiritual gifts, don’t be discouraged if you do not have any blue gifts. The Holy Spirit is in charge of distributing spiritual gifts. It is only when we come together as a community that we can fully exemplify the body of Christ and use each gift in complement of each other.

Blue gifts reflect an uncompromising trust in God, help communicate God’s messages to His church, and bring His supernatural power into a needy situation–many times in a supernatural way. Do you possess any blue gifts? If so, how do you see them manifested in your life?

Reference

Schwarz, C. A. (2001). The 3 colors of ministry. St. Charles, IL: ChurchSmart Resources.