Prayer for Courage

Father, give us the strength and courage 

to stand up for our faith against all odds 

when the world seems to be screaming hatred towards your teachings.

 Let us not find shame in your precepts but to stand up firmly

in favour of them without hesitation and doubt. 

Give us the wisdom to discern between wrong and right in

 a world where "wrong" and "right" are interchangeable. 

We just pray that you fill us with your Spirit 

so that we can be holy just like Noah. 

You called him the only pure and holy man of his age. 

Oh God, we pray earnestly that you give us the strength in this day to be like him 

and to continuously be reminded of what is truly important.

 Keep our eyes focused on eternity. 

Amen

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Peace From Obedience

"And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him:and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together." (1 Kings 5:12)

Solomon lived the beginning of his reign over Israel according to God's commands. He carried on David's alliances and lived up to the name of being his father's son. Because Solomon obeyed God, he had prosperity and peace. 

I find that whenever I'm doing the right thing and living the right way, my life seems peaceful and perfect. Even when I'm faced with trials, I'm not shaken as much as I would have been if I had been living sinfully.

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Conviction of the Intention

2 Samuel 23:15-17
"And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem,

which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David:nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this:is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men."

This ties in with the previous devotion. Here, David had just been in battle with the Philistines and he becomes thirsty. 

His flesh has a desire and it specifically desires the water from the well of Bethlehem. He could have asked for water from any well but it had to be from that well. 

So 3 devoted men went out to get the water. However, they had to go through Philistine territory in order to get it for David. 

No doubt they had to fight their way to the well. They risked their lives because of David's fleshly desires. 

When they return from their "quest", David discovers the struggle they went through and he feels so guilty for the risk he had put these men in, just for water. 

Now his spirit is kicks in and convicts him. David allows the spirit to overpower his flesh. 

The Matthew Henry commentary brings up a very interesting point: the potential for the blood of these 3 devoted men to be on the hands of David because of a desire of the flesh might have brought up the tormenting memory of what he did to Uriah because he wanted Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. So the thought of possibly repeating that scenario disgusted David that he didn't want anything to do with that water and offered to to the Lord and instantly repented for what he did. 

So what happened here was he recognized the danger of his flesh and countered it with his spiritual conviction and repented for the sin that could have happened but didn't. He still felt responsible for the unshed blood of these men because there was potential for them to get harmed.

What he did was the right thing. So often I find myself thinking that if I didn't commit the sin then I haven't done anything wrong. But even the potential for the sin to happen is bad enough. 

Jesus warns us about our thoughts in the book of Matthew. He says how if we even think hateful thoughts, it's as if we committed murder against that person. If we have sexual thoughts towards an unavailable person, then that is just as bad as committing adultery. Thoughts and intentions are just as bad as the actions themselves. 

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Repentance After Conviction

2 Samuel 24:10
"And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done:and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly."

This was after David ordered his men to randomly number the people in his kingdom. No one knows for sure what the sin was in numbering the people.

Some believe that he did it illegally. 

Most people believe that it was his pride that was the great sin; He wanted to know how great he was by the number of those under his rule. 

Nonetheless, there is something we can learn from David: Once he was convicted of his sin, he confessed it to God and repented.

How often do we ignore the convictions of our sins just so that we can claim ignorance when questioned about them?

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It's Not the Physical Cross

Yesterday, during the service of the Lord's supper, I was thinking: what makes the cross so special?

Then I thought, it wasn't the cross that made Christ's sacrifice unique. 

So often we only limit Christ's sacrifice to the contents of the earthly cross. If it was the cross alone that made the death of our Saviour so special then every innocent soul that had been condemned to the death of the cross is worthy of our worship. It wasn't the stripes on his back or the crown of thorns on His head either, though all these things fulfilled prophecy of the coming Messiah, but even those things should not be the center of our worship. 

Then my mind went to the question,

How did Christ save me?

And the answer was: He took upon himself the punishment for my sins.
Just that answer sounds significant... though not significant enough.

So my mind took a more specific route for defining what happened that day on the cross:

God is holy, so even the act of promising someone something good and not being able to fulfill that promise is punishable in His sight. His only form of punishment is not earthly (that will be taken care of on its own) but is more spiritual: the only just punishment a holy God can give us is spiritual death. 

Just for that empty promise, we have to face the wrath of God...GOD'S WRATH...the God that is beyond our galaxy! How intense is that? And this is all only for an empty promise! Now imagine a lie!

God calls "lying" a sin He DETESTS. So imagine the wrath God must have against liars! We are ALL liars, and so we would have to face this scary wrath.

My mind, then took a more global path...

Jesus had to endure the WRATH OF GOD that was stored up for me...but He didn't die ONLY for me...
He died for every single soul that ever existed and will ever exist in this world. Just paying the price for my sins must have been unbearable!

The countless times I have sinned...

If there was a bank account for the number of sins I've committed, it would be overflowing! The amount of wrath God should have against me is inconceivable...but Christ had to endure the wrath that God had for every unholy and imperfect inhabitant of this earth!

And just thinking about the age we live in now! People define our age as being worse than the days of Sodom and Gomorrah! People sin countless times in one HOUR!

So Christ had to pay for all the sins that are happening now, that already happened, and the sins that

are to come until the rapture in that one moment in history!

God poured out ALL of His wrath on one man! Just thinking about this makes me cringe and cry at how filthy and unworthy I am to have this Man, this Jesus Christ, bear my sins and my guilt and my shame upon Him!

It's not worth it to consider committing a small sin intentionally because it will not have a huge impact! That sin adds on to the pain that Christ...my beloved Christ had to endure!! Those small sins aren't worth adding to the wrath God poured out! Just this thought brought new light to the amazing significance of Christ's sacrifice.

It's not the cross that should be the center of our worship...but the spiritual event that occurred during that dark hour; the outpouring of all of God's wrath on an innocent and perfect Son Who is the only One worthy of life. He received death that day, while we got life. We are such selfish and filthy human beings if we decide to live for ourselves after this beautiful sacrifice that took place on our behalf.

But don't get me wrong! God is no tyrant! It was His plan for this to happen! He didn't want to pour His wrath on us! But He would have had to because He is a just Judge. So He came up with a plan, the only plan that would work, so that we wouldn't have to face this painful wrath. 

He did this because He loves us. And He wants to have a relationship with us. 

God is so merciful and we don't deserve the honour of being His children and don't deserve to be in the likeness of His Son... and yet we have the opportunity to be. 

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Children of God

"He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."
John 1 : 11-13

Just reading this verse this morning showed me how easy it is for us to receive a title of such high reputation, "children of God". One would think that it would be a hard process, to be identified as a child of God. If God were to go through a legal adoption process, God would have had to read a profile about us to see if He likes first, and then He would come and spend some time with us to see if our personalities appeal to Him, that is, if we even pass the first stage. God is holy and we're sinful so our profiles probably wouldn't pass the first test. However, if we miraculously passed that stage, He would then see our sinful state for Himself and would surely be disgusted. Well if we miraculously passed that test then He would have to pay a large sum of money for us and fill out a lot of paperwork. That's quite a lot of children to pay for and fill out paperwork for. But God doesn't go through that process in order to adopt us. God's adoption process contains only one step: us believing in Him. That's it! He doesn't need to look at our profiles in order to choose who He wants and who He doesn't want. He accepts all!
Imagine going to an adoption center and whichever child wanted to be with you, you adopted. You will need to buy a load more of houses to house all of those kids because orphaned kids want to be loved. 

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Are You Wood From the Vine?

"Then the Word of the Lord came to me, saying: 

"Son of man, how is the wood of the vine 'better' than any other wood, 

the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? 

Is wood taken from it to make any object? 

Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on?

 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; 

the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. 

Is it useful for any work? 

(Humor) INDEED, when it was whole, 

NO OBJECT COULD BE MADE FROM IT. 

How much LESS will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it and it is burned?" Ezekiel 15:1-5

The Lord makes mention how USELESS the grape vine wood is and He then later goes on to say that the Israelites are just as useless because of their unfaithfulness. Not only are they useless wood, but they're useless 'burnt' wood. That's quite the burn, eh? He even hints some sarcasm (for lack of a better word) when he says that they are useful for nothing and when he asks Ezekiel the rhetorical question "how is this wood better than everything else?"when in fact, it's the worst type of wood, according to the Lord. Now, the Lord makes a strong emphasis here on how being unfaithful makes you useless to Him because well you're not surrendering all to Him. Just like I said yesterday. It makes you susceptible to the darkness. Darkness=enemy of God.

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Never Too Far Gone For God

"Even if I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 

even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; 

even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee;
But the night shineth as the day:
The darkness and the light are both alike to thee."  

Psalm 139: 9-12

There is nowhere you can go, no depth which you can fall in life that will make it hard for God to reach out to you. As Christians, we have the Spirit of God with us always because He dwells within us. This means that even in the darkest moments of our lives, God can bring us into the light because we have the absolute and true Light within us! We're never too far gone. 

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Power and Faith

"And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people."
Acts 6:8     

For the majority of my life I believed that if a person had power it would be inevitable that they use it for evil, no matter how good they were before they had power.
(ie. David with Uriah) 

Power isn't necessarily evil. Stephen had power, but applied his power to his faith and the results were considered to be "great wonders and signs", according to the Word of God. We shouldn't avoid having power, but we should embrace it according to our faith and use it for the ministry of Christ.   

"...And they (the opposition) were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke".
Such a wonderful outcome!

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We Are Special

"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
2 Corinthians 1 : 21-22

The royal queen or king put their seal on any bills they would like to enforce as laws, or as a way of claiming ownership over something in order to prevent forgery. God putting His seal on us means that not even Satan can claim ownership over us. We are God's and cannot cease to be His because of the seal. Now if we have doubt about our ownership, God gave us His Spirit in our hearts to guarantee His ownership.
So now, not only do we have God's sign on us, we have God within us! You can't get anymore owned by God than that! What should this tell us then? It should tell us that the God of the Universe, the God who can hold the whole world in His hand, the God who created ALL things...HAS CLAIMED US AS HIS. Now how special do you think you are? Here's an answer: more special than you think :)

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Christ = Life

"When Christ who is your life appears,

then you also will appear with him in glory."

Colossians 3:4

We treat our lives very sacredly. We would do anything to preserve them and their reputations. We spoil ourselves when we can and we make our lives our number one priority.

Colossians 3:4 says that Christ is our life.

So now, the things we'd do to preserve our lives we should also do to preserve Christ and keep his reputation alive. 

We also get something the reputations of our "sacred" lives would never be able to give us: not only will we bask in his glory, but we will also appear with him IN glory!

We need to make Christ our personal brand.

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Song of the Month

"Till Thou shalt come in glory and call us hence away, to share with Thee the brightness of that unclouded day. We show Thy death Lord Jesus, and here would seek to be more to that death conformed whilst we remember Thee."

We were singing this song in church yesterday and it is talking about how as we wait for Christ to come again, we should seek and desire to be more and more connected and associated with His death. It is, after all, part of our identity. 

As Christ gave thanks for the bread and wine, He said, "Do this in remembrance of Me."

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The Greatest Cheer Squad in the World

"Teaching them to observe all that I have

commanded you. 

And behold, I am with you always,

to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:20

Jesus said this to his disciples during the very important moment in the Bible, which we like to call, "The Great Commission" -- where Christ tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. 

Christ promised to be with them always to the end of the age; through triumphs and trials. 

In contrast, during Christ's own commission given by God, no one was with him. Even God turned His face away when Christ bore all the sins of the world. Christ was completely alone at that moment; His disciples turned "against" him through either denial or lack of support. And yet, Christ fulfilled his commission. 

So why then, when we have Christ with us, and bearing all our hardships with us -- as well as the added support of the believers -- do we fail to follow through with our commission; our purpose?

Why do we let fear overcome us? 

Why do we hide our light?

We have more support in our commission than anyone else has for anything! 

WE HAVE GOD ROOTING FOR US! CARRYING US ON HIS SHOULDERS WHEN WE CAN'T GO ON!

Why do we ignore our personal cheerleading squad and 'marvel' at how large our opponents are and their squad when our own squad is, in reality, is larger than any enemy and anything? We already have the victory even before we stepped out on the battlefield! God made our commission even easier in that sense! We KNOW how the war ends! We know that we're going to win!

Why then, do we let fear hold us back?

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A Healthy Fear of God

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" 

Matthew 10:28

Firstly, "Him" who destroys both the body and soul is not satan. It is actually referring to God.

We shouldn't be scared of anything because we have God on our side. However if we are not on the same side as God, then we shouldn't be fearing anyone or anything BUT Him because He is the God of the world! There is an immenseness of power in that. He can do anything! But He also has unbelievable grace and mercy as well.
Furthermore, even being on God's side, life isn't easy. Being on God's side means we have a lot of responsibility. We carry the image of Christ because we are part of the body. So the decisions we make should not be based on what others may think--because we are not reflecting their image--they should be based on what is pleasing to God. In the end, it won't be the world we answer to, it'll be God.
We need to be discerning about whether our choices will glorify God or taint the body of Christ.

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Significant Insignificance

Colossians 1:10
"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

The words of Paul that stood out to me this morning from this verse are, "being fruitful in every good work"...
Notice how Paul doesn't give a measurement of how large or small the good works have to be? That's because there isn't one! Even the smallest thing that you do for others or for Christ can reap amazing results! Even if you're just washing dishes at an event or cleaning up after a dinner, without being asked to do so. Small or big, they can produce the same results if they're done for God's glory and out of the selflessness of your heart. A washer of dishes can produce more fruit than a pastor.

Joseph was able to accomplish more than most people of his day when he was living as a slave and a prisoner. He was able to greatly glorify God despite his position and circumstance.

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Comfort Found in Jesus

Colossians 1:11
"Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;"

Strengthened with all might...what does that mean? According to Matthew Henry's commentary, it's as if we're being furnished by God. God furnishes our earthly bodies with the character of Christ. When we are strengthened in that manner, we are given the ability to endure many things. We can now have miraculous patience during a time of turmoil and confusion and we can also endure suffering. We are given longsuffering--the ability to endure suffering and be patient for a long time. I have personally seen this at work many times: when it seems like believers endure a situation that is just tragic, they always seem so patient because God gives them the comfort they need.
He promises us that He will not leave our sides. He promises peace and comfort when we ask. He is not a God who likes to watch His children suffer. He sent HIS ONLY SON FOR US so that we won't have to suffer!

Don't you think then that He will care for those who go through tough times?

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:20

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We Spice the World

'You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.' 

Matthew 5 : 13 

I don't doubt that you have seen this verse before-- I have seen it many times-- but today it held more importance to me, thanks to the wisdom that God has shared with me. 

When I read that verse today, I thought "we spice up the world; we make it taste good". 

For the past few weeks, my family hosted a bible study on Daniel and partially revelation and the man who led it was talking about the rapture.  

He mentioned how as Christians, we bring the goodness of Christ to the world. However, when we get taken away, there will be no enforcers of good because Christ's people will be gone, therefore all that's left is those whom the devil has control of. There will be chaos and immorality. 

In the next verse, we are also called "the light" to the world. We are AMBASSADORS of Christ. 

Wow! Such a huge responsibility! We need to make the bitter world taste good! We're not asked to add to the bitterness, are we? So then, we need to resist the temptations that this world puts right in front of us. 

In order to spice this world with our salt we MUST strive to look like Christ. 

Of course to be the split image of Christ is an unattainable goal, however we must TRY. It is too easy to ignore Christ's commands and live comfortable lives when the world around us looks so welcoming.

However, we mustn't forget our mission. We ARE the body of Christ, so we need to resemble Him at least.

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Devoured By The Devil

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5 : 8

Yesterday evening the speaker at our church talked about "problems in the church" and he was talking about how the devil can attack us in very obvious ways (ie. Persecution in the Middle East) and very subtle ways. He mentioned how the devil would obviously go for the more subtle way of breaking up the church and its purpose, however if that doesn't prove successful then he would go for the obvious. Then he said that if the subtle strategy works on God's people, there's no need for him to change strategies. Then he asked a rhetorical question: why is it that in North America we don't face severe persecution?

We must be lucky...or have the devil's subtle methods proven successful in distracting the Christian church from its purpose? What should the lack of opposition tell us? WE AREN'T TRYING HARD ENOUGH AS A CHURCH TO PREACH THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST AND MAKE DISCIPLES! Have our churches become corrupted? Have we lost sight of our purpose? Perhaps we've diverted from the ministry work and our churches became charities just like those non-christian charities around us. What's the point in helping the flesh if we're neglecting the spirit? Why can't we do both? Serve the needy and preach? What happened to us? Have we been devoured by the devil?

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Kindhearted not Aggressive

" Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, "
Colossians 3 : 12

Notice how this list doesn't include: judging hearts, aggression, vengeance, etc.?
Perhaps that's because we shouldn't have those qualities. Every time I look at Christ's character and then look at mine I see how vastly different they are. When I think I'm living the right way I realize that I'm not as forgiving and patient as I should be. Being kind and gentle should be trending in the Christian faith yet there's still a lack of it because it's difficult to oppose aggression and evil with a gentle spirit, isn't it?

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Citizens of Heaven

" But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,"  Philippians 3 : 20

Our citizenship isn't in Canada in North America on Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. Our citizenship is in HEAVEN. What does that mean? It means we belong there; we have residence there. So then how should our lives reveal that concept? Well we're on a temporary mission (like Thor): to share the Good News of Christ. Then what should our lives reflect? Why the completion of our mission of course! Our mission isn't to get distracted and relax and coast while our other "missionaries" are doing the work. We, as the Body of Christ should work as a whole to complete our mission.
How is your life contributing to the mission?

Thor never stopped trying to prove to his father that he was the leader that their world needed and he didn't care that he seemed strange to humans when he reflected his world's character.

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Becoming Bondservants

"For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus's sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ"
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
What I love about this passage is what Paul mentions about being a bondservant. Paul was a bondservant to the people of Corinth but not only for the Corinthians but for Christ. I feel like too often we seek to be served, but our roles as ambassadors for Christ is TO BE servants to others. Are we serving others as we should? As the second part of the passage says, God placed in us a light. What are we doing with the light if we're keeping it for ourselves.
This light holds within it the knowledge of God. We are commanded to give it. Are we giving this knowledge?

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He Chose YOU Before the WORLD

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love"
Ephesians 1:4

I was actually going to talk about another verse but I decided to read a few verses before my selected verse, for some reason. I came across this one. I couldn't help but cry while reading it. THE GOD OF THIS UNIVERSE, THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS, chose me...ME! Before the foundation of the earth! Why? I don't know! I'm not THAT special, I haven't done anything remarkable to catch His eye, yet He decided to CHOOSE me. After His amazing grace of choosing someone who's not really an asset to His Kingdom, all He asks is that I live as I was created to live...and I fail everyday. I can't even do the one thing He asked of me!

Sometimes I purposely ignore His commands and give in to the temporary satisfaction of the things of the flesh. I disobey, I lie and all for what? To feel guilt and regret continuously! While He promises peace and a never ending satisfaction.

Prayer: Father thank you for choosing me before the foundation of the Earth. Thank you that you forgive me of my faults! But father sorry that I keep disobeying you and giving in to the thing you told me to be wary of. I pray that I walk in your ways and that you continue to guide my path. Amen

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Lives Hid With Christ

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. " Colossians 3 : 3

I wasn't entirely sure what this verse meant when it says "your life is hidden with Christ" so I decided to consult Meriam-Webster and "hidden" also means "concealed". Our lives are concealed with Christ in GOD. In other words, NO ONE can take our lives away without God's admission; Our lives are in His bank. So we know that our lives are safe and that anything that happens is not by chance, but according to God's will. Isn't it amazing that the God of love and grace holds our lives in His hands?

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The Irony of Elijah's Fear

"Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there" 1Kings 19:3

I was reading the story of Elijah yesterday and this morning, and I learned something about him: he was scared of dying by the hands of man. He ran away and hid when Jezebel threatened to take his life for killing Baal's prophets. If there was a way he wanted to die, it would be by God's hand because everyone dies eventually. He was so scared of Jezebel's threat that he begged God to kill him early. I find it ironic how the guy who was so deathly afraid of death was one of the very few people in all of history who never died.  I guess it was God's great grace.

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Slaves to Righteousness

"and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. "
Romans 6 : 18,22

Slaves of righteousness... We're no longer slaves of sin. When we were slaves of sin, we couldn't get ourselves out of sin. So now since we're slaves of righteousness, we can't be anything BUT righteous! God doesn't see us any other way! And the package that it comes with isn't guilt, shame, weakness, or pain. Rather we're set apart for holiness and we're given eternal life. That's probably the best gift I've ever been given...and all I had to do was believe! I like the idea of being a slave to righteousness than a slave to sin. :)

Prayer: Father thank you so so so much for the amazing gift that You have given us. It's not something we can get on our own. Thank you that despite the sins we still commit, that You still see us as righteous. Please help us to overcome our sins so we can look more and more like Christ and become holy slaves of You.

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His Yoke is Light

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light"
Matthew 11:29

If you don't know, the yoke is a wooden bar that is attached to the necks of a pair of animals (commonly oxen) and this allows whatever load that is being pulled or whatever labor that is being done easier work to do. Christ is calling us to join Him on His yoke. Can you imagine working side by side with the saviour?! He's perfect, no mistakes and the load will be so light. What's keeping us from abandoning our own yoke to work with Him using His? Why is it hard for us to let go of our struggles and go into a life of prosperity?

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."  Ephesians 2 : 10

'created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand'...when we take the yoke of Christ, our burden becomes light. God prepared the good works that we were created to do! When you share God's love with others, it isn't you who comes up with the plan...God prepares that moment for you. ALL you have to do is be ready! All we have to do is be ready for those open doors of opportunity! Isn't the yoke of Christ truly light?

Prayer: Thank you Father that Your yoke and burden is light; that when we decide to work with You, You make it easier for us! Amen.

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Talents for God

I used to think I was decent at writing until this year. I took a Writer's Craft course during first semester and I explored all different styles of writing. Through that course, I discovered that I wasn't good at poetry, script writing, articles, novels, and children stories. This really bummed me out. I concluded that I had fooled myself into thinking that I had any talent in writing.

However, writing doesn't just come in those styles. Those are just the more popular forms of writing. This year I had started writing daily devotionals on a verse that touched me that day to approximately 50 people on my contact list. I never really associated writing devotions with writing until just this morning! I began to get responses from my contacts about how the verse touched them and impacted them that day and I discovered that I loved doing it!

You may not be a talented singer, artist, athlete, or writer, but you do have talents; they just might come as discretely as my devotional writing.

Even if you're good at listening...that's a rare talent nowdays! Use that for God! Writing poetry or novels or children's books may not have had the same impact as my devotions. But I used my unknown talents of writing to praise and glorify God daily! Figure out your small talent and use it to bless the Lord.

If you are talented in the large ways, don't use it for yourself, but in everything give thanks to God using that talent. God has given us talents and spiritual gifts. Who says that your spiritual gift is the only way to glorify God? Your God-given talents are also there to add to your work for Christ.

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