Category: Humility

Gifts > Talents

Posted on by Dorci

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:4-8

If you knew me very well you might think it funny that I have a strong desire to encourage people.  I don’t feel encouraged a lot of the time.  I feel a lot of other things like exhausted, frustrated, distressed and sometimes depressed.

But through all that haze of human struggle God has given me a gift of encouragement. That, to me, is amazing.

God delights to show Himself strong where we are weak.

And because it’s very obviously not my nature, but God’s, He gets all the glory.

Once the Holy Spirit placed that gift in my heart, it was up to me to yield myself to Him and allow Him to shine that light of encouragement through me.  And yet sometimes all I have to do is walk through a check-out line.

I was doing just that once years ago when I was a fairly new believer.  The store was crazy busy, all the lines were long, and I stood in one of them holding my new pair of shoes.

I finally…finally…finally reached the front of the line, and the poor cashier looked frazzled.  Her head was down, finishing up from the last customer. As she looked up and into my eyes, she stopped, smiled, chuckled a bit and said, “I felt better when I saw your face.”

Now, it was not me and it certainly was not my face, per se.  There were plenty of other perfectly nice faces that had gone through that line, and there was nothing about mine in particular that would comfort this overworked girl, except that it was the face of someone who was in love with Jesus and had been given the gift of encouragement.

It was the Holy Spirit, graciously and mercifully using that gift to shine His light of comfort from one of His children to, quite possibly, another.

That’s what spiritual gifts are for: the building up of the Body.

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11

So, lest any of us think we have no spiritual gifts, God’s Word tells us that if we are part of the body of Christ – if He is our Lord – then the Spirit has given each of us at least one gift for the benefit of the body. It’s not to keep for ourselves and it’s not to hide, but to share.

The Church is weakened when all its members are not fully using their God-given gifts for the benefit of one another.

 

One issue is that many times talents and gifts are misunderstood, and human talents are being used rather than spiritual gifts. Gifts of the Spirit are being minimized in favor of works of the flesh; pride is trumping humility and submissiveness to the Spirit of God.  And when that happens, the church becomes nothing more than a sing-a-long, but not true praise; nothing more than an inspirational teaching, though not Spirit-inspired; nothing more than a religious duty, but not actual worship. And we all suffer for it.

Human talents rely on our own personal knowledge, practice, understanding, strength and power.

Spiritual gifts are given and used strictly by the power of the Holy Spirit and our yieldedness to Him.  

God can give gifts to complement the talents He’s given us, but His gifts still work solely in the power of the Spirit.  

Gifts are given to us, not because of who we are, but in spite of it.

The Church needs our gifts.  We are each a brick in the Church of God with Christ as its Cornerstone.  Remove just one and though the foundation stands, the building falters.

If you don’t know what your gift or gifts are, I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to show you. There are some tools that, with prayer, can help you find your spiritual gifts.  This is one: http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/

And once you find your gift(s), ask the Lord to show you how He would have you use it for the building up of the body.  Beside our personal relationship with Christ, being used by the Lord and fulfilling His plan for us is perhaps the most rewarding blessing on this earth.

And may I add – let’s encourage each other in our gifts and allow ourselves to be built up by one another. We need each other right now, and we need the gifts God’s given to all of us.  There may be darker days coming for believers than we’ve seen in recent headlines and we need every spiritual gift to prepare and empower us and spur us on to victory.

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”  1 Thessalonians 5:11

Grace and Peace,

The High Road

Posted on by Dorci

It takes a very humble and very willing servant of Yeshua, the Everlasting God, to put one foot in front of the other and walk the road high enough to pray in agreement with these words. For the sake of these souls – both the lost whom Christ loved and died for as well as for us, and for those who would be their next victims, I pray we would each examine our hearts and be willing to walk that high road, following closely behind our Savior.

Halfhearted Won’t Do

Posted on by Dorci

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  Jeremiah 29:13

Have you ever had someone come in the room and try talking to you when you’re in the middle of watching tv?  You try listening to what’s being said but half your attention is still on your show.  You end up either missing what’s going on on the tube (that’s what we called it in the old days – the “tube”), or you miss most of what was said, and you end up nodding your head, pretending you heard, or you have to fess up and say “What did you say?”.

God says we will find Him when we seek Him with our whole heart.  Why?  Why can’t we seek Him with part of our heart?  Because then the rest of our heart is seeking after something else, or many somethings else.

Our attention would be divided, and our God’s is a still, small voice.

He has visions to give, wisdom to impart, paths to share, but He won’t compete with the world.  He won’t compete with us. There is room for only one throne in the heart of each person.  If we’re on it, God can’t be.  But when we get down, all the way down, get rid of the distractions, and let God have His rightful place, then we’re in the position to hear Him.

Then we’ll find Him.  And that’s where the real treasure is. 

Grace and peace,

The Garden of Crushing

Posted on by Dorci

“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’  He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with Him, and He began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me’” Matthew 26:36-38

Jesus and the apostles walked around the massive, ancient olive trees, past the cemeteries, to the foot of the mountain and into the garden of Gethsemane.  The word Gethsamane means oil press.

Olives are not just squeezed to make oil, they must be crushed. The better the olive, the better and purer the oil.

Christ walked deep into the garden and allowed the Father to begin to crush Him.

The physician Luke even noted in 22:44 “And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.”

He had matured, that is, He had all but finished His work, like the olives that are ready for crushing.  In a garden is where sin entered the world, and there in the garden of Gethsamane would now be the beginning of victory over it.

And there Christ personified the olive oil that was so precious and significant.

In the way it was used as an offering, He would be the sacrifice, once for all.

In the way it was used as currency, He would be the payment for all sins.

In the way it was used to anoint for service, He would anoint His Church.

In the way it was used as fuel for lamps to give light, His Spirit would fill us and make us a light for all the world to see and glorify Him.

In the way it was used to beautify wives, Christ would beautify and prepare His Bride.

In the way the olive branch is a symbol of peace and victory, through Him and His sacrifice there would be peace between God and man, and victory over all sin.

And if there was a shred of doubt left in anyone’s mind about whether or not this was all the Father’s doing —

“So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to Him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’

‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied.

‘I am He,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, ‘I am He,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” John 18:3-6

The power of God accomplishes what it will, and when God wants to bring people to their knees, they fall to their knees.  These men who came under their own authority found they had none at all.  All authority rested with God’s Son.

While Jesus’s prayers empowered Him, the apostles’ lack of prayer weakened them, again causing Peter and the others to lean on their own devices instead of Christ.  Peter lobbed off the ear of the servant Malchus, and they would all eventually desert their Friend.

After Jesus healed the servant’s ear, He allowed them to bind him and take Him away.

Tomorrow: The Cross.

Never Say Never

Posted on by Dorci

Jesus and His friends had just finished eating Passover supper, where Jesus revealed to them that Judas would betray Him.  I wonder at the thoughts that ran through the minds of the eleven, perhaps looking at Judas in horror and judgment, saying to themselves they would never do that.

Jesus then used the bread and the cup to remind them again that He was about to give up His body and His blood as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.  He looked into their eyes and urged them “…do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

“When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Mount of Olives

Then Jesus told them, ‘This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written:

‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’ (Zechariah 13:7)

Peter replied, ‘Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.’

‘Truly I tell you,’ Jesus answered, ‘this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.’

But Peter declared, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’ And all the other disciples said the same.

Matthew 26:31-35

They stood at the Mount of Olives – a mountain ridge that held not only olive groves, but cemeteries, as well.  Surely there the gravity of the circumstances would sink into their hearts.  And suddenly He was telling them that not only would Judas betray them, but the rest of them would, too.

The disciples’ response to Him showed they still trusted in themselves over Jesus and over the prophecy laid out in God’s Word.  It was this thinking – their pride, their self-sufficiency, their leaning on their own understanding – that led them to fall away.

They had allowed the seeds of pride sin to be planted in their minds and they were budding.  Soon they would see how watering those seeds with pride and fear would quickly grow them into weeds that were out of control.

Never say, “I would never do that…” Never judge another person’s actions and say “I would never…”

The Lord knows what we are capable of.  He warns us today the way He warned his friends that night. He tells us to “Be alert. Be watchful. Be prayerful. Be humble.  Be sober in your thinking of yourselves.”

If we haven’t done or said something that shocked us then we haven’t yet faced the kind of overwhelming fear that could lead us to betraying Christ.

But times are changing fast. It should come as no surprise to anyone that conditions are becoming more and more hostile toward Believers.  What are we willing to give up to follow Christ?  Our friends? Our family? Our reputations? Our livelihood?  Our freedom?

We have yet to face anywhere near the kind of pressure the disciples faced on the night they ran and hid and denied ever knowing Christ.

They all meant what they said that night as they stood among the olive trees, burial caves and tombstones, but in just 24 hours they would come to find out just how shallow and immature their faith still was.

But faith grows in the face of trouble.

Of course Jesus knew who and what they were, that they were still spiritual babes.  He would give them another chance to heed His warning, as God’s mercy often does.  He would lead them to the garden, taking Peter, James and John even closer.

Grow closer, my friends.  Don’t wait until the enemy makes it personal…makes you choose.  Choose Him now.  Be resolute to walk with Him all the way to the cross.

Tomorrow: The Garden