Stir Up Your Gift

 Keep your gift alive and active.  Stir it up, use it.  

“Do not neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭14‬-‭16‬ ‭

This is a Scripture that should be familiar to all of us.  Most of us have requested prayer for something.  For ourselves we want to see the power of God present in our lives.  That would be evident through the gifts God has given us.  You remember in a previous blog I wrote about the gift of discernment.  Especially when praying for others.  For many you may be led to pray for healing in someone.  And the list is unending.  

The above Scripture in Timothy tells us to keep that gift alive.  Pray that God sharpens our gift(s) everyday.  Use your gift everyday, even if it’s just you and God interceding for someone. Keep it alive and active.  

For this blog, I was not a writer.  The most writing I did was in my own personal journal.  Those entries followed my daily devotions and prayer time.  One day the Lord placed on my heart to write a blog.  I shared this, after days of praying about it, to my husband.  I was sure he’d ask me if I was ok.  This is not something I ever spoke of or even dreamt about.  To my surprise he said “that’s a great idea”.  Oh my goodness, now what?  The next step was sharing with someone I totally trusted.  I was having tea one day with our Pastor’s wife.  I asked her what she thought.  WOW!  She was so excited.  She showed me how to set a blog up.  And to step out in faith.  The rest is history.  

Knowing this is totally a gift from the Lord, not of my own desire.  But my desire is to please Jesus, honor Him, and follow through.  I pray everyday with my devotions and prayer time, Lord is there anything I should share today?  Sometimes it’s a few weeks in between.  I’ve even taken a break at times to get a fresh perspective.  But I know this is my gift and I must use it.  

I would encourage you, pray about your gifts.  Ask Jesus what He would desire for you to do.  Ask Him about something that may be on your heart.  Maybe it’s a one time thing for someone specific.  Maybe it’s for several people. One thing I know for sure, it is NOT about us. It is about Jesus and glorifying Him.  We must ask Jesus to sharpen our gift, to refresh it.  Be open to the Lord to use you to spread His love.  All for His glory.  

Is Discernment Important?

In general, discernment is accurately evaluating ourselves, people, and situations. We discern things correctly by clearly perceiving what is true, right, and essential. This is said to be according to the King James Version of the Bible. 

Discern" is "To examine, prove or test; scrutinize

According to Dictionary .com it defines discernment as "the faculty of discerning, discrimination, acuteness of judgment and understanding.

And according to Cambridge.org definition of discernment is "the ability to judge people and things well."

One of the very first things I learned as a new Christian was to pray everyday for the gift of discernment.  I was a brand new Christian and did not totally understand what all of that meant.  I just knew it was important.

My husband and I together prayed everyday for discernment, an understanding of discernment, what it all meant as a new believer, as a strong believer, and for sharing the Gospel with others. As time went on it seemed every message I heard mentioned discernment.  I knew and felt strongly I needed discernment and wanted to be filled with it.  I wanted to know how to pray for someone effectively.  I did not want to just pray a lot of words. I wanted to pray with power, understanding, compassion, and positive results.

 Ephesians 6:11 tells us to put on the full armor of God.  This helps us to pray effectively, battle strongly against the enemy and its tactics.

 Without discernment, one is vulnerable to deception and unable to stand firm in faith effectively.   When I am praying for someone with a specific need I must ask the Holy Spirit for discernment.  I need to understand a little bit of what the person is going through.  I need to understand the spiritual aspect of the prayer need.  It is not something I take lightly.  And to turn that around when I need prayer for a specific reason I fully expect and want that person to be filled with Godly discernment.  I want to know that person is prepared to pray for my need(s).  Think about it, do you go to a doctor that has no knowledge about your condition?  No, we expect that doctor to be well prepared.  

I want to encourage you faithful readers.  Discernment is a very important gift from the Holy Spirit.  I hope and pray you seek this for your own life everyday.  Ask Jesus to pour it over you.  Let it drench you.  It is so very important.  

Independence Day

 This weekend the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday.  It is a big deal for our country.  There will be celebrations nationwide.  Think about what the word  “ independence “ means.  It can mean the state of your nation, in a political way.  It can refer to gaining your independence when you turn a certain age.  How about your financial independence, freedom from debt.  Or this last one I’m going to mention, to me, is the most important.  That is our freedom that Jesus has given us.  He has made it possible.  

We all are sinners.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  The devil wants to keep us in that bondage.  To put it bluntly, the devil wants us to rot in hell, fiery hell, for eternity.  But our Lord Jesus has given us freedom.  Jesus died on that cross for our sins.  He took those sins and buried them in hell forever.  You may be thinking if that’s the case then how can we walk-in that freedom? We can be free, we can have our independence from a life in hell to an eternity in heaven.  A beautiful place for us, the New Jerusalem where there are streets of gold.  Where we are free forever.  What is the catch?  The catch? 

We go to Jesus, be humbly on our knees, lay our sins down before Him.  And with a heart that is filled with remorse, ask Jesus to forgive us of all of the sins we have committed, and of yet to commit.  Repent to Jesus, with a heart that wants nothing other than to have that relationship with Jesus.  Ask Him to wash you clean with His blood.  Ask for His forgiveness.  Pledge to Him a life that lives only to please Him. To be pure and holy before Him.  WOW!

I can hear it now, Lord how am I to do or be all of that? I am not perfect Lord.  His answer to that, He knows we are not perfect. He knows we may slip or fall short.  That is why He sent us our Helper, the Holy Spirit.  He is with us always.  He guides us, directs us, counsels us, and wipes our tears. Jesus knows our weaknesses.  He provides us with a path of righteousness.  This is our way, Jesus’ way. 

And this is our independence. Our freedom from sin, hell, desperate situations, and so on. Our INDEPENDENCE is our FREEDOM.  AMEN! 

Our independence will last everyday for the rest of our lives and our eternity with out Lord Jesus  

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭HCSB

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭32‬ ‭HCSB‬‬