1 Corinthians 12:7 "A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other." (NLT)
What is your gift? Are you a leader in your church? Are you a dedicated teacher or a joyful giver? The Lord has appointed us each a gift so that we can come together as a unified, strong, and complimentary team to strengthen our church.
The first step in using the gift chosen for you is to acknowledge that you have been given one. God's word tells us that a spiritual gift is for each of us as believers. It is up to us to accept our gift and to use it for His Glory.
Why do we need our Gift of the Spirit?
Simply because these God-given gifts work together to edify, or lift up, the body of Christ. And we are, after all, the body of Christ. If one or more of us does not have a function, a job to do, we are not being an active part of the church body. We all enjoy the fellowship of church and church activities, but we need to remind ourselves that the church was created for a purpose greater than ourselves, and in order to be able to effectively witness and disciple, we need to be a healthy, active, living, breathing, growing church body. We cannot afford to have inactive bystanders within the church - there is simply too much to do!
If even the thought of identifying your gift is new to you, you may want to turn to the following scriptures to read His word about the Gifts of the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
1 Corinthians 12:28-30
1 Corinthians 14:26
Romans 12:6-8
Ephesians 4:11
So this is my challenge to myself and to others: to identify and accept our gifts, and begin to use them. If you are timid, shy, lack confidence, or just don't like stepping outside your box, I know just how you feel. But I encourage you to trust in what the Lord has given you, seek His boldness and strength through the Holy Spirit in prayer, and take that first step. For the Lord is not calling us to anything He has not or will not equip us for.
Of course, this doesn't mean we won't fall; it just means we will get back up and be stronger for the next round!
Love,
Michelle
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Now Open...
At least that is what the sign will say very soon! Ethos Church, located in Kemah, Texas, called 'Ethos Place', will be open for fellowship and great coffee in a matter of days. I guess it has always been a matter of days, just many more days a year ago than compared to today!
But that hasn't stopped so many wonderfully dedicated followers of Christ from meeting and building and working for the Lord in our little borrowed space called a conference room. We have all grown so much in these short months that we have been working with our Pastors Sam and Ester Puente to start this wonderful church plant.
I am starting this blog with a little push from a friend and mentor, Kendall Massey, whom loves on the Lord with all the great gifts the Lord has given him, which are very great indeed! He and his beautiful wife definitely live with their gifts in the most humble way. Both are exceptional artists, with terrific connections in the Christian music industry, and every time I see them and hear them, I always walk away asking myself, "Why in the world have they not pursued a music career?" I haven't asked either of them that question (yet), but to me there is only one real explanation: they aren't focused on themselves. They are simply focused on the Lord and being used for Him in His capacity, not theirs, and certainly not the world's! Now, this doesn't mean that one day they won't enter into that level of the ministry, and it will be a wonderful blessing to the many lives the Lord would touch through them if they do. It simply means, "not now".
I don't know about you, but I have heard this MANY times from the Lord, not one of which I wanted to hear! I have heard, "Not now, not yet" many times, about many things, including worship, and I know I will continue to hear this throughout my life. It is amazing how the Lord will use the passions He has given us to temper us and form us in our lives. To make us, to mold us. I don't know about you, but I have grown quite fond of this process, despite my kicking and screaming through the years.
I think it reminds me of raising a teenager. I have a 14 year-old, almost 15, at home. She's really a wonderful girl, but we still are responsible for helping to shape her into the best young adult we can before we run out of time! So, I'm the Lord's teenager... well, sort of, plus a few extra years ;). I kick and scream, the whole time really being so thankful the Lord is raising me up. Like my teenager said to me a few days ago after the process of me suggesting to her, well, telling her really, that she should cool down, well, end really, a relationship with a young man. She was NOT happy with mamma, and simply disagreed with all my justification. (Which consisted mainly of, "I just don't have the best feeling, and you have to trust me. Something just isn't right.") Yeah - that goes over great with a teenager! I could FEEL her eyes rolling into her head.
I guess it's been about two weeks since the forced break-up, and I checked to see how the friendship was going at school. She told me that she didn't really talk to him anymore. (Really?) I said, "Wow! That didn't take long. You seemed to have gotten over him pretty quickly." She replied, "Yeah - I did. I really was kinda glad that you made me break up with him. I just couldn't tell YOU that!"
Well. Huh. Go figure. Mom DID know what she was talking about after all!!!
TRANSLATION FOR ME:
Well. Huh. Go figure. Our Father DOES know what He is doing after all!!!
And when we are cooled down from our tantrum, we go to Him in gratefulness, humbled, and amazed. It may take a while, but that is part of the process. We scream, "I WANT! I WANT!" He says gently, "Not now, not yet." We scream some more, "But I'm ready!!! But I'm Ready!" and He will sometimes say, "No, you may think you are ready, but when you come out on the other side, you will see why you were not." And we tumble in the storm. And we come out on the other side. And we see... back behind us, of course, but we see what it was that we had to gain in our arsenal of spiritual experience to move forward so that we will be prepared to fight the next battle!
I just want to encourage you, like myself, to hear that "not yet" and to listen to it. Be patient knowing that you are about to gain great experience and spiritual growth after hearing this from the Lord. It will not come without struggle, growing pains maybe, but always with the Lord right there with you, weathering the storm so that He can be right there with you when you come out on the other side and look back... in gratefulness, humbled and amazed.
He DOES know what He is doing, after all!
But that hasn't stopped so many wonderfully dedicated followers of Christ from meeting and building and working for the Lord in our little borrowed space called a conference room. We have all grown so much in these short months that we have been working with our Pastors Sam and Ester Puente to start this wonderful church plant.
I am starting this blog with a little push from a friend and mentor, Kendall Massey, whom loves on the Lord with all the great gifts the Lord has given him, which are very great indeed! He and his beautiful wife definitely live with their gifts in the most humble way. Both are exceptional artists, with terrific connections in the Christian music industry, and every time I see them and hear them, I always walk away asking myself, "Why in the world have they not pursued a music career?" I haven't asked either of them that question (yet), but to me there is only one real explanation: they aren't focused on themselves. They are simply focused on the Lord and being used for Him in His capacity, not theirs, and certainly not the world's! Now, this doesn't mean that one day they won't enter into that level of the ministry, and it will be a wonderful blessing to the many lives the Lord would touch through them if they do. It simply means, "not now".
I don't know about you, but I have heard this MANY times from the Lord, not one of which I wanted to hear! I have heard, "Not now, not yet" many times, about many things, including worship, and I know I will continue to hear this throughout my life. It is amazing how the Lord will use the passions He has given us to temper us and form us in our lives. To make us, to mold us. I don't know about you, but I have grown quite fond of this process, despite my kicking and screaming through the years.
I think it reminds me of raising a teenager. I have a 14 year-old, almost 15, at home. She's really a wonderful girl, but we still are responsible for helping to shape her into the best young adult we can before we run out of time! So, I'm the Lord's teenager... well, sort of, plus a few extra years ;). I kick and scream, the whole time really being so thankful the Lord is raising me up. Like my teenager said to me a few days ago after the process of me suggesting to her, well, telling her really, that she should cool down, well, end really, a relationship with a young man. She was NOT happy with mamma, and simply disagreed with all my justification. (Which consisted mainly of, "I just don't have the best feeling, and you have to trust me. Something just isn't right.") Yeah - that goes over great with a teenager! I could FEEL her eyes rolling into her head.
I guess it's been about two weeks since the forced break-up, and I checked to see how the friendship was going at school. She told me that she didn't really talk to him anymore. (Really?) I said, "Wow! That didn't take long. You seemed to have gotten over him pretty quickly." She replied, "Yeah - I did. I really was kinda glad that you made me break up with him. I just couldn't tell YOU that!"
Well. Huh. Go figure. Mom DID know what she was talking about after all!!!
TRANSLATION FOR ME:
Well. Huh. Go figure. Our Father DOES know what He is doing after all!!!
And when we are cooled down from our tantrum, we go to Him in gratefulness, humbled, and amazed. It may take a while, but that is part of the process. We scream, "I WANT! I WANT!" He says gently, "Not now, not yet." We scream some more, "But I'm ready!!! But I'm Ready!" and He will sometimes say, "No, you may think you are ready, but when you come out on the other side, you will see why you were not." And we tumble in the storm. And we come out on the other side. And we see... back behind us, of course, but we see what it was that we had to gain in our arsenal of spiritual experience to move forward so that we will be prepared to fight the next battle!
I just want to encourage you, like myself, to hear that "not yet" and to listen to it. Be patient knowing that you are about to gain great experience and spiritual growth after hearing this from the Lord. It will not come without struggle, growing pains maybe, but always with the Lord right there with you, weathering the storm so that He can be right there with you when you come out on the other side and look back... in gratefulness, humbled and amazed.
He DOES know what He is doing, after all!
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