Bold in God's Gifts

About ten years ago, we heard a tremendous amount of talk in the Christian community regarding this word ‘purpose’. It was not new to many of us in the faith. We’ve always known how incredibly important our purposes in the Will of God are, but you know how it is with folks today. We’re always looking for the next big thing. So purpose became the new buzz word, and we were convinced that finding our purpose was the key we had all been searching for. Some folks grabbed on to it with both hands believing that it would skyrocket their lives into the stratosphere of manifold blessings. And guess what? For many it did exactly that, but over time we have either become disillusioned or bored, and we take it upon ourselves to move on. Well, I’m here to tell you that discovering our purpose within the Plan and Will of God will never be passé; it will never go out of style, particularly now, at this most critical junction in human history. Discovering your purpose is still one of the most important things you can do as a Christian, and I’d like to share how it leads you to being bold in God’s gifts as well.

Ephesians 1:5-6 (NKJV) says, “5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” It is the most mind-blowing thing to know that God was thinking of us even before He laid down the foundation of the world. He made big plans for us because we are the object of His love. He always planned that we would be a part of His family, each of us with our very own brand of uniqueness. Through Jesus Christ, God has made us acceptable to Him. This is extraordinarily good news! So, the one thing that you and I must remember is that it was God that predetermined our positions as believers. We could never do this for ourselves.

This doesn’t mean that everything we do and every aspect of our existence has been predetermined or orchestrated prematurely. It means that God is so awesomely powerful and intelligent that as Romans 8:28 says, He makes all things work together for those of us who love Him and are called according to HIS purpose. And this is the one thing we can never, ever forget. The purpose for our existence belongs to God. It’s His to delegate in His supreme sovereignty. If we lose sight of this, we’ll open ourselves up to frustration and stagnation.

God knows what our strengths and weaknesses are. He knows we’re flesh and that we have limitations. None of us can fly like birds or swim endlessly under water without breathing. We know that all things are possible for God, but all things are not possible for us. Our earth experience limits us; this body limits us to certain things. So God in His infinite sovereignty and wisdom placed us here to operate on earth within the confines and constraints of this dimension. We don’t know why He set things up that way, and we don’t need to know. We simply need to trust Him because that is what faith requires.

One thing is overwhelmingly clear, God intended for us to know our capability in the spirit and to concentrate the bulk of our efforts within this spiritual realm and not on the flesh. He also made it very clear that we’re to use our gifts, talents, and abilities to be a blessing to the body of Christ, and to ourselves as well. You might say, “Well I don’t think I have any particular gift or ability that I could offer to the body of Christ.” This simply isn’t true. You’re God’s chosen one. He handpicked you out from the among the world to be His very own. So you very definitely have a purpose and it is the pursuit of it that allows your gifts, talents, and abilities to come into fruition in a greater way.

Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG) says, “It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” How do you know you have been called? Quite simply, you are reading this. God called all of humanity to come to Him because He loves everyone, but only a few have answered, and you are in that few. And it is precisely because we have answered His call that we must also yield to Him. Yielding to Him means trusting that He has empowered us with something valuable to offer, and yielding to Him also means that you will use what He has given you to be a blessing.

Romans 12:3(MSG) really puts this all in perspective for us. It says, “The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.” We obtain our instructions from God, and there’s no way that He’ll skip out on informing us if we’re really interested in hearing what He has to say. We see God as living in our continuum of time and space, but our Powerful Heavenly Father is not confined to such limitations. This is why you can have a dream that warns you of impending danger or trickery that will happen in the future. God knows everything. He knows your past, present, and future. He also knows the purpose of your being, and He has seen to it that you are specifically gifted to do what He created you to do.

The Apostle Paul further tells us in Romans 12:4-8(MSG), “So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. 6-8 If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.”

Seeking your purpose is a tremendous act of humility. Amen! We ought to want God to do a fresh thing in our souls as we seek Him for an increased understanding of how we serve and worship Him. It’s not a work that is lax, it’s constantly staying in the face of God and seeking Him daily. There’s an intimacy with Him that is forged as we endeavor to know His heart through fulfilling our purpose and walking in our gifts. It never grows stale or old, but is always fresh when we’re eager to please Him.

Finally, we have to understand that truly it is in Christ that we find out what we’re living for. Jesus is alive! He’s not dead. He arose on that third day with all power in his hands. How can we, as Christians, live any other way than to thrive with his power running through us? We are living in a time where we can no longer get by with a casual Christianity. God is looking for a people whose hearts are truly repentant, and a repenting heart is followed by acts of kindness that yield to the command and purposes of God. Open your heart to Him as you never have before. As you allow His Spirit to quicken you in every way, you will find that not only is your purpose clear and your gifts increased, but you will be emboldened as never before to do the Will of Him that has called you. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Bold in God's Gifts

Recent Posts

Comments

Subscribe to Our eNewsletter