Spiritual gifts devotional...

Today is an in between chapters devotional and I thought I would talk about some random thoughts about spiritual gifts.

One common question that comes up is, "What is the difference between a talent and a spiritual gift?" www.gotquestions.org gives a great summary of this question to put into a possible grid form if you are looking at a talent or a spiritual gift.

"To summarize the differences between spiritual gifts and talents: 1) A talent is the result of genetics and/or training, while a spiritual gift is the result of the power of the Holy Spirit. 2) A talent can be possessed by anyone, Christian or non-Christian, while spiritual gifts are only possessed by Christians. 3) While both talents and spiritual gifts should be used for God's glory and to minister to others, spiritual gifts are focused on these tasks, while talents can be used entirely for non-spiritual purposes."

Many times we try to make a talent into a spiritual gift. The spiritual gift is always greater than a talent because it is given by God to you at salvation solely for His purposes and is one signal that you are His. Sometimes our spiritual gift comes out of us while using our talent and is bigger than what we can do through our training and preparation. May we not limit God to our talents and allow Him to use us supernaturally through His given spiritual gifts.

Just a plug that if you haven't tried out www.gotquestions.org then I would encourage you to do so. Type that Bible question into the search bar and see what comes up. I really like the embedded Scripture references to back up what is given in the answers.

Another thing I would like to share with you is the quote we created to be read before each session about looking at discovering, developing, and deploying our spiritual gifts. It reads,

"As we serve the Lord, may we and others observe God's way of working through us for the common good of the body of Christ. May our insightful interchanges be of encouragement to build each other up in love as we seek to discover, develop, and deploy our spiritual gift(s)."

We will learn the general definition of spiritual gifts and look at the lists given of them in the Scriptures. We will also be given definitions of them individually to help us identify them more in others than in ourselves. This will be the key to going through this exercise. Instead of focusing on what my spiritual gift is, it will be to see how you might be used to help someone else know what theirs is.

This brings up another point that the way we do this is by observing each other serving. Spiritual gifts are given to serve God and others so if you are not serving then this is going to be an impossible task. You and others are just going to be guessing or you are going to superimpose what you would like your spiritual gift to be rather than what it truly is. You can serve in any area and your spiritual gift will make itself known within that area. You might not always stay in that position or area but most likely you will transition with a better understanding of where your passion lies to use that spiritual gift.

Goals of this exercise will be to reveal what is already there because God gives each believer a spiritual gift and to see what God will create new at Oglesby Union Church. New leadership, new direction, new ministries, new outreaches, new converts, new disciples, new opportunities for more to serve, new, new, new. Not that the old is bad but an opportunity to open the doors to let in those God has given to this body of believers to use their spiritual gifts in the old and in the new. Are you excited? I am!

Let's come through the doors of the church this Sunday afternoon with an attitude of excitement about what God has ahead of us as we use what He has given us to use. May we come through the doors with a heart for the others around us and that we will be used by God to encourage them to use their gifts as we will be encouraged to use ours. The next 4 weeks of Sundays could take us where we have never been before because of the application of His instruction in the area of spiritual gifts. Let's pray.

"Lord, You are a giving God. You have given us a spiritual gift to use to glorify You and for the common good of the body of Christ You have provided for us. You give us a purpose and a task that has significant spiritual eternal value. How unworthy are we but You love us so to give us this gift. Humbly we come and help us to understand to apply. Amen."

Pastor Adam
A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 38th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

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