“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 12:6-8
Have you been told you have special gifts or have you taken an inventory of your Spiritual Gifts? Or have the weed people of this earth convinced you that you have no worthwhile gifts except leaving an impression in a recliner; I personally know people like that and pray that the weeds will be removed from their eyes and minds. I recently read something that Gregg Levoy had written about ‘Unopened Gifts; “The sinful patterns of behavior that never get confronted and changed, abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed until weeks become months and months turn into years, and one day you’re looking back on a life of deep, intimate, gut wrenchingly honest conversations you never had; great bold prayers you never prayed, exhilarating risks you never took, sacrificial gifts you never offered, lives you never touched and you’re sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul and forgotten dreams, and you realize there was a world of desperate need and a great God calling you to be a part of something bigger than yourself. You see the person you could have become but did not; you never followed your calling; you never got out of the boat.” You will never have the opportunity to walk on the water with your Savior if you are too comfortable or fearful to get out of the boat. If your gift is giving, please prayerfully consider blessing a Christian school in Haiti by being a Trinity/HOPE sponsor. May the Holy Spirit encourage and direct you on this side of Heaven. I am closing today with the words from the hymn ‘I'm but a stranger here’ that were written by T. R. Taylor in 1836.
“I'm but a stranger here, Heav'n is my home; earth is a desert dread, Heav'n is my home. Danger and sorrow stand round me on every hand; Heav'n is my fatherland; Heav'n is my home. What though the tempest rage, Heav'n is my home; short is my pilgrimage, Heav'n is my home; and time's wild wintry blast soon shall be overpast; I shall reach home at last, Heav'n is my home. There at my Savior's side Heav'n is my home; I shall be glorified, Heav'n is my home; there are the good and blest, those I love most and best; and there I, too, shall rest; Heav'n is my home. Therefore I murmur not, Heav'n is my home; whate'er my earthly lot, Heav'n is my home; and I shall surely stand there at my Lord's right hand.Heav'n is my fatherland; Heav'n is my home.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay