Going the Distance

CURRENT RADIO SERIES Going the Distance   CURRENT TV SERIES Angels

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. --Romans 12:6-8 Perhaps the best illustration in Scripture of the Church is that of a body. And just as there are various instruments and members of the body...all functioning in unity and yet in diversity…each member of the body is important and provides a crucial function. As it is said, “Everybody is somebody in His body.” While we aren’t all equal in giftedness, we’re all equally needed in our gifts that God has given to us. And you already have your gift. It’s not something that you get somewhere down the road of life. It’s something you discover! God determines the gift, and He’ll enable you to discover it. The moment you were saved...the moment you were born into the family of God...the Spirit of God did not come in empty handed. He came into your life with birthday gifts...His gifts of the Spirit! Which means you have special gifts to serve the Body of Christ. Have you discovered your gifts?  And are you using your gifts from the Spirit to make an impact for the Kingdom today? If not, begin by asking God to reveal the giftedness He has given you…and then begin to use that gift to bless others.   YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE NEEDED TO MAKE AN IMPACT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

 

Excuses

Friday, June 14, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

1 Samuel 15:13–15

I read a humorous story about a man who had agreed with his friends that they would go on an all-vegetarian diet in an effort to lose weight. After a while, he was craving meat, so he made an excuse to go out of town. In a nearby city, he walked into a restaurant and ordered a whole roasted pig. In a few minutes, he was surprised to hear someone call his name. It was one of his dieting friends. Just as the friend walked up, the waiter arrived with a huge platter holding the pig with an apple in its mouth. “This restaurant is something else,” the diet cheater declared. “I order an apple, and look what they brought with it!”

Making excuses and shifting blame has been part of human nature ever since the Garden of Eden. Both Adam and Eve tried this approach when God confronted them after they ate the forbidden fruit, and it continues to this day. Like Saul when he was confronted by Samuel after failing to carry out God’s instructions in full, we twist and turn and sometimes even lie to get out of facing the fact that we have done wrong. When all else fails, we blame it on someone else. The problem with this approach is that we will never deal with a problem until we honestly address it and accept our part in whatever has happened.

Today's Growth Principle: 

If we are not willing to accept responsibility, we are not able to effectively deal with sin.