Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am happy to welcome you to another week of September 2020. And I pray that God will open your eyes to recognise every good thing He has deposited in you and also strengthen you to increase in usefulness with it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Each of us, as we are clearly told in the bible, has been blessed by God with at least one spiritual gift or the other. In other words, there is no child of God that He does not intend to use in remarkable ways to bless other children of His and the world. (Cf. 1Cor 12:7) Unfortunately, because of their ignorance, many of His children are not acting responsibly with the gifts He has given them. So, we see that, in most assemblies, it is usually few people that are seriously involved in faithfully using their gifts to minister to others. The rest of the brethren just wait around all the time to be ministered to.
Perhaps you too are one of those who wait around all the time to be ministered to by others. Every time you want someone to pray for you, but you are not willing to pray for anybody. Or you want someone to visit you, but you are not ready to visit anybody. Or you want someone to give to you or help you to handle one thing or the other in your life, when you are not interested in helping anybody. I want you to know that this is contrary to the purpose of God for His church. It is never His idea or intention that only a handful of His people would be involved in ministry. Otherwise why did He give everybody at least a gift?
See, what God wants is for each of us to recognise the gift or gifts He has given us and learn from Him how to faithfully use them for the good of everyone around us. That way, we all will be mutually edifying ourselves and supplying whatever is lacking in our faith, character or resources. And as we mutually edify ourselves this way, we will be able to reach maturity in our knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ and in demonstrating His character in this world of darkness. (Cf. Eph 4:11-16)
All of this is why Paul, while writing to the Roman brethren, says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” (Rom 12:6-8NIV) Also, Peter, in his first letter, says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 4:10-11NIV)
Look at the words of those apostles. They are all pointing to the fact that each of us must recognise the gift or gifts God has given them and begin to use them for the edification of others and the praise of God. So, what is your spiritual gift or what are your spiritual gifts? And don’t say, “I don’t have any,” for to say that is to say that you are not a child of God. If you do not yet know your own gift or gifts, then, pray to God to open your eyes to see what they are. Also, talk to other believers that you trust to tell you what gifts they have seen in you. Then, once you know what your gift or gifts are, begin to use them in love. And God will honour every step of faith you take in doing so and use those gifts to bless others in ways no one can imagine.
Finally, don’t ever be found saying anything like, “There is nothing to the gift I have. So, who will recognise it or be blessed through it?” The bible tells us that there is no gift of the Spirit that is insiginificant. What makes gifts insignificant is our refusal to use them. Dorcas was not a preacher. But she was recognised by the church because she used her gift of giving faithfully and generously (Acts 9:36-42). If you too will put that gift to work, it won’t be long before other people around you will start praying to God to give them your kind of gift. And may the Spirit of God strengthen your heart to do what is right about this. Amen.
Do have a splendid week.
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By: J.O. Lawal | Date: September 13, 2020 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 9, No. 19