We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. (Romans 12:6 NRSV Bible)

It is important for us to understand that each of us have different gifts, and it is important that we use well the gifts God has given to us. There are no superstars in God's work. In God's perfect plan for the world each of us has different talents, interests and abilities. Not all of us can be teachers. Who would feed or clothe us? Whom would we teach? Not all of us can be farmers. Who would bandage our wounds when we are hurt? Our world functions as smoothly as it does because God has gifted us in unique ways.
So it is with the work of the Kingdom. Each of us has a different spiritual gift. When we all use our gifts as God intends, then the world is blessed and our own lives are enriched.
All great leaders have recognized that to be effective, we must use the gifts God has given us. Grady Wilson for years handled evangelist Billy Graham's business affairs. We are told that some time back Wilson was faced with a decision about whether to move the Billy Graham organization to larger quarters. Unable to arrive at a decision, he called Dr. Graham for advice. Graham answered kindly but firmly. "I don't call you and ask you what I should preach," he said. "Don't call me about what you should do with buildings."
One of the secrets of Billy Graham's success has been in locating people with gifts and entrusting them to use those gifts. Each of us has different gifts. The key to successful living is not to grieve over the gifts we do not have, but to take those we do have and use them in honoring God.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

A young seminary graduate came to see me while he was investigating various possibilities of Christian service. In particular, he had come to discuss the ministry of Campus Crusade.

“In what way do you expect God to reveal His place of service for you?” I asked him.

“I’m following the ‘closed-door policy,’” he replied.” A few months ago I began to investigate several opportunities for Christian service. The Lord has now closed the door on all but two, one of which is Campus Crusade. If the door to accept a call to a particular church closes, I’ll know that God wants me in Campus Crusade.”

Many sincere Christians follow this method – often with most unsatisfactory and frustrating results. God does sometimes use closed doors in the life of a Spirit-controlled Christian, as the apostle Paul experienced on different occasions, but generally one does not discover God’s perfect will through a careless “hit-or-miss” attitude that ignores a careful evaluation of all the issues.

Such an approach is illogical because it allows elements of chance to influence a decision rather than a careful, intelligent, prayerful evaluation of all the factors involved. It is unscriptural in that it fails to employ the God-given faculties of reason that are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Why not follow the “open-door policy” of Proverbs 3:5-6, trusting God for His clear direction? This is God’s provision for supernatural living.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Psalm 23:2

Are you like the man who said, 'The devil never takes a vacation, so why should I?'  Since when did the devil become your role model?  The words 'He maketh me to lie down in green pastures' teach us that only the shepherd can choose the path, prepare the pasture, and protect us.  Our role is simply to follow, feed and fellowship with Him.  Getting the idea?

Of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses, which one do you think required the most words?  Adultery?  No, that only took five words.  Murder?  No, that only took four words. The longest of the Ten Commandments is about taking a day off: 96 words! (Exodus 20:8-11).  God knows us so well: He knew the store owner would say, 'Somebody's got to work that day; if I can't my son will.' So God says, 'Nor thy son.' 'Then my daughter will.' 'Nor thy daughter.' 'Then an employee.' 'Nor thy manservant.'  God says, 'One day a week you will say no to work and yes to worship.  You will slow down, sit down, lie down and rest. After all, I rested on the seventh day and the world didn't crash.  So repeat after me, "It's not my job to run the world."'  Charles Spurgeon said, 'Even the sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the Sabbath of the wintery months, and man must rest or faint, trim his lamp or let it burn low.  In the long term we shall do more, by sometimes doing less.'  The bottom line is that if you honor God's principles you will find rest for your body, mind and emotions.

Make allowance for each other's faults. Colossians 3:13 NLT

C S Lewis said, 'Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea until they have something to forgive.'

Author Mac Anderson writes, 'A few times in my life I have been wronged.  My first reaction  was anger and resentment.  I felt my stomach tie up in knots, my appetite wane, and the joy slip out of my life like I had played the first half of a basketball game in steel shoes.  In the locker room the coach said, "Try these new Nikes in the second half."  Multiply that by ten and you will understand how it feels to unload your emotional baggage through the power of forgiveness.'

Jesus dismissed the myth that love is based on feelings.  It is an act of your will, and if you love God you will keep His commandments.  It's that simple.  If you are struggling to forgive someone who has hurt you, here are some scriptural guidelines to help you.

Don't seek retribution.  Instead, 'overcome evil with good' (Romans 12:21).  God said, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay' (Romans 12:19).

Don't rush to judgment.  That is not always easy when you are the injured party, but the ultimate Judge said, 'With what judgment you judge, you will be judged' (Matthew 7:2 NKJV).  Make things right.  Jesus said, 'be reconciled to your brother' (Matthew 5:24 NIV).

Don't wait for the other person to make the first move, you do it.  Paul says, 'Make every effort to live in peace with all men' (Hebrews 12:14 NIV).  Pray for the offender.  As much as it goes against your grain, when you 'pray for those who mistreat you' (Luke 6:28 NIV), God gives you the grace to forgive and see them through His eyes.

“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)

These are the words spoken by Jesus to His Mother, after she had anxiously been looking for Him. It was their custom to go to Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover every year.  At that time, Jesus was only twelve years old.  His parents, not knowing that Jesus had stayed behind, began their journey back home.

An entire day went by, when they discovered He wasn’t with them.  When their own relatives and acquaintances also didn’t know where he was, they went back. After seeking Him for three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

I can only imagine the look on Mary’s face, when she finally found Him, and asked, (I’m sure with a stern voice) “Son, why have You done this to us?  Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously”.

Jesus answered her and with words they couldn’t understand. His words held a profound truth. If we can understand and take it to heart it will have a great impact on us.

When Jesus said “I must be about My Father’s business”, He was not referring to Joseph, but to His Heavenly Father.  In John 5:19 Jesus said that He can do nothing by himself but only what he sees His Father doing.  Again, in John 6:38 He says that He came down from heaven, not to do His will, but to do the will of the One who sent Him.

Jesus did nothing apart from His Father and longed only to live the purpose His Heavenly Father had for Him.  Only He truly knew what it entailed and all He was called too, likewise, only you know your Father’s purpose for your own life.

Do you know that God created you with purpose? You are His Workmanship and He prepared works for you even before the foundation of the earth was laid. I believe that if we take the stance Jesus took – living out of a heavenly perspective, being aligned with the will of God our Father, knowing His thoughts towards us for our lives – His purpose will prevail and succeed through us, giving Him glory!

Nothing could stop Jesus from fulfilling His purpose to destroy the works of the devil, set the captives free, bring good news to the people and heal all those who were oppressed by the devil.   No, not even His own earthly parents.

We must be about our Father’s business.  We must ask Him what it is He created us for and be obedient walking into His perfectly chosen destiny for our lives.

Having believed, you were marked with a seal. Ephesians 1:13 NIV

If you are having doubts about your salvation, understand this clearly: the moment you trusted in Christ as your Saviour, His blood cleansed you from all sin.  At that point 'you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit guaranteeing [your] redemption' (vv. 13-14 NIV).  The Bible says, 'You are not to be like cowering fearful slaves.  You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family calling him, "Father, dear Father!"  For the Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us we are God's children.  And since we are his children, we will share his treasures for everything God gives to his son, Christ, is ours too' ( Romans 8:15-16 NLT).

In the book of Ruth we read that 'the custom in Israel concerning redeeming [was] one man took off his sandal, gave it to the other, and this was a confirmation' (Ruth 4:7 NKJV). Notice, the 'redeemer' put on another man's sandal, signifying his willingness to stand in his place.  That's what Jesus did for us at the cross.  He stood in our shoes so we could stand before God in His redeemed and righteous!  Don't let doubt steal your joy.  Refuse to go by your feelings.  Make up your mind to believe what God says, for until you do you will be plagued by uncertainty.  Study God's Word until you can say with assurance, 'I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day' (2 Timothy 1:12 NKJV).

Are you trusting in Christ as your Saviour? Then your salvation is not in doubt. The deal is sealed!

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.”(Psalms 20:7)

Save Me from my Successes

Written by Bill Strom

A few weeks ago I was flipping through the New Year’s edition of a popular sports magazine and came across a list of famous athletes and coaches who died in 2010. Even if one isn’t a big sports fan, it would be hard not to recognize names such as John Wooden, George Steinbrenner, Don Meredith, and Manute Bol. Most of the deceased were mature in years and died of natural causes.

Yet other young personalities passed away under more grievous conditions. Some fell to heart attack—an irony among people committed to excellent physical conditioning. Yet MLB pitcher Jose Lima, NBA guard Quintin Dailey (49), and NFL defenseman Gaines Adams (26) died when their hearts gave out.
Still others took their lives when life’s problems seemed insurmountable. NBA player Mel Turpin (49), sprinter Antonio Pettigrew (42), and boxer Edwin Valero (28) did so. Most sobering was seeing that LPGA golfer Erica Glasberg (25) had once been named NCAA freshman of the year in college, and was twice All-American took her own life. The article said she “struggled to adapt to life on the LPGA tour.”

What many of us would give to be Freshman of the Year in any sport, or All-American even once. And yet success can breed expectations for ourselves, and from others, which, if we don’t live up to, might lead us to think we are less than we should be.

But it’s more than just expectations. Success can also bring wealth, and with wealth may come the burden of privilege and entitlement. When life doesn’t continue to deliver in spades, we can become anxious, or worse, embittered.

My sense is that our successes can lead us to place our skills and smarts and achievements above God so we begin to trust ourselves more and Him less.

The prophet Isaiah may have had this in mind when he warned the Israelites not to run to or depend on the wealth and technology of the Egyptians, their neighbors to the south. He wrote:

“Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.” (Isaiah 31:1-3)

Whether someone else’s horses or chariots, or our own accomplishments and success, the warning still holds. God save us from our successes.

“Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them, and they seem to be nonsense, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 (TEV)

The Bible tells us that there is a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts. There is a hole in our hearts that only God can fill.  We were made to be connected to our Creator.  We were made to know Him and to be plugged into His power.

Your heart is designed to contain God.  God wants to live inside of you but when your life is filled with other things, there’s no room in your heart for God. This means you’re not plugged into God’s power and that’s why you’re tired all the time. And that’s why you’re stressed out all the time and that’s why you worry all the time.

And that’s why the Bible says the unspiritual person has no room for the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. It’s not that God doesn’t want to give them to you; it’s that you can’t handle the gifts because your heart is filled with so many other things.

It’s like this: How many people do you know who cannot park a car in their garage? Garages are made for cars.  That’s how they are designed.  That’s what gives the garage its purpose. But we fill them up with all kinds of other stuff that they were never designed to hold.

The same thing is true in our hearts. Your heart was made to contain God, but when you fill it with worry and stress and guilt, you have no room for God.

Your heart may be crowded with good things, work or sports or hobbies, but they were never designed to take first place in your heart. In fact, you can be serving God and working for God and still miss God. Even good things do not have the power to hold your life together when the heat is on. And that’s why your life starts falling apart.

Now is the time to de-clutter your life. What things have a greater priority than God in your life? Let me help you get started – What do you think about the most? The answer to that reveals who or what has first place in your heart.

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13

Many people have the misconception that being “called” by God is something only missionaries, pastors, nuns, and other church leaders experience. But the Bible says everyone is called to serve God by serving others.

We are not saved by serving, but we are saved for serving. The Apostle Paul gives three insights related to this:

First, the basis for serving others is salvation. Paul says, “You were called to be free.” You cannot serve God until you’ve been set free by Jesus. It’s the prerequisite for serving.

Until you experience the transforming power of God’s grace in your life, you’re too enslaved by your own hurts, habits, and hang-ups to think much about others.

Without the freedom of forgiveness, you’ll end up serving for the wrong reasons: trying to earn the approval of others, trying to run away from your pain, trying to remedy your guilt, trying to impress God. Service motivated by these illegitimate reasons is bound to leave you burned out and bitter in the end.

Second, the barrier to serving others is selfishness. Paul warns, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.” The No. 1 reason we don’t have the time or energy to serve others is that we’re preoccupied with our own agendas, dreams, and pleasures.

Only a small minority of people use their lives to serve others, but Jesus said, “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.” (Mark 8:35, LB)

Third, the motive for serving is love. Paul says, “Serve one another in love.” This is an important key to building community: 1 Corinthians 13:3 records, “No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” (The Message)

God is far more interested in why you serve others than in how well you serve them. He’s always looking at your heart, serving willingly and eagerly out of love for Jesus and gratitude for all he’s done for you.

You are most like Jesus when you’re serving others. After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15, NLT)

What now?

- How can I help? – Consider your response to this Scripture verse: “Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, ‘How can I help?’” (Romans 15:2, The Message)

- Who will you serve this week? Ask God to bring to mind someone you should serve this week, and ask him what you should do for that person. Then do it!

“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?’” (Zechariah 7:5, 6)

Going Through the Motions

Written by Suzanne Benner

God was challenging the people and the priests of that day. In essence, He was asking, “Are you really serving Me or are you just going through the motions?”  There are lots of religious things we do: tithing our money, attending church, caring for the poor, praying for the sick, celebrating holy days. Therefore, the same question hangs in the air for us.

Are we doing these things for God or just to make ourselves feel better? Are our activities merely religious duty or have our hearts been changed? Are we just going through the motions? Let us search our hearts and ask God’s Holy Spirit to reveal our attitudes and motivations. Then we can humbly seek His will and His way.

When we are truly seeking God, instead of simply participating in activities that look good, He will enable us to love unconditionally, to forgive those who have hurt us, to be unselfish and show compassion.

As Zechariah continues, “This is what the LORD Almighty says: Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” (Zechariah 7:9, 10)

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23, 24)

“Lord, every morning you hear my voice. Every morning, I tell you what I need, and I wait for your answer.” Psalm 5:3 (NCV)

Any doctor will tell you the most important meal of the day is breakfast because the way you start your day influences the rest of your day. That’s true not just physically, but spiritually.

That’s why the most important part of your day is your time alone with God. Setting aside time in the morning to be alone with God will set the pattern of your attitude and response to every event and person for the rest of your day.

Whether it takes five minutes or thirty, there are four things you need to do in this time alone with God that will set your spiritual thermostat for the day.

1. Read God’s Word. You don’t have to read a lot, just enough until God speaks to you. It’s amazing how God will use his Word in your life. As the prophet Isaiah said, “The sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom” (Isaiah 50:4). I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read something in my morning quiet time that was exactly what I needed to share with someone later in the day.

2. Be quiet before God. Noise is one of the major sources of stress in peoples’ lives. Your body needs a certain amount of quiet, and you need to carve out time in your life for this quietness. You will be less stressed if you start your day with quiet time before God.

“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15 NIV). The worst thing you can do in the morning is get up and immediately check your e-mail or turn on the news. You need time to meditate on God’s good news before you fill your mind with bad news.

3. Talk with God. Notice it says “talk with God,” not “talk to God.” Prayer is a conversation, not a one-way street. And it’s not the amount of words you say in prayer that make it effective. It’s about sharing what’s on your heart with God – your feelings, concerns, thoughts, and adoration. Just talk with God and then wait on him to respond.

4. Review your day and goals with God. Take time to go over your schedule, your goals and your day’s to-do list with God. There are dozens of verses in Proverbs that talk about planning with God and teaching you to number your days, which means looking at your time and pondering where you are going.

It’s easy to set goals, but if you don’t look at your goals every day, you will never accomplish them. Or as I like to say, “Without review, I lose my view.” Make sure you allocate part of your quiet time to review the vision God wants you to have.