Everybody Has One

Everybody Has One                                            09-22-17

Why Ronnie! Whatever on earth are you talking about?? Just this. A God given gift. Let me start at the beginning. More Scripture than usual today.

1 Timothy 4:14-15 (ESV) ¹⁴  Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.
¹⁵  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.

Everybody has a gift. A GOD GIVEN gift. How do I know that? The Bible tells me so! Look.

Romans 12:4-6 (ESV) ⁴  For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function,
⁵  so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
⁶  Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them

Everyone in the Body of Christ,i.e.the Church,has been given a gift. Most of us,according to my experience have multiple gifts,but EVERYBODY has at least one.To be used according to the grace given us. Given...NOT acquired through our merit or effort or holiness.A message in itself. I digress.

 So, God has given us a gift that He desires we use in the service of others in the Body of Christ. And herein lieth the lesson.

Pastor Doug has a wonderful little test to determine where your gifting lay.According to Romans 12. Maybe we can persuade him to post it on Facebook one of these days. It's about a child who drops something on a brand new white carpet and asks how you would react if you were there. Anyway,point is,we all have been VALUABLY gifted;and Paul up there in Timothy is encouraging Timothy negatively to not neglect his particular gift. You will also see that over in 2nd Timothy he encourages Timothy not only to not neglect his gifting but to FAN it into flame.

2 Timothy 1:6 (ESV) ⁶  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,

Now,for the sake of context,Timothy was being called to ministry,full time as we would say today. But,it is not in error to find an application here in all our lives. We all have a gift to be employed for the benefit of the Body. No,we are not all Billy Graham or Charles Spurgeon,no,some of us are servers,some are teachers,exhorters,on and on. Some are helpers. You gettin' my drift? Some are blog writers. It matters not WHAT your particular gift is...... God decided that long ago and has planted you where you will be of great blessing and benefit to those around you.

Now the enemy,or the world,or your natural mind will whisper to you that what you do isn't important.Your "gifting" is foolish,not at all valuable or prized and appreciated....best suited for the rubbish heap.And to be quite honest,there are those out there that will agree with that assessment of you and your efforts;and,will VAULT at the opportunity to tell you so............ BUT GOD ISN'T ONE OF THEM!! 

Your gift,my gift,our gift is particularly precious in the sight of God.It's important. It's VALUABLE. That is why Paul is intense in his encouragement of Timothy. Look again.  

1 Timothy 4:15 (ESV) ¹⁵  Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.
 
Practice. The English words for this word are diligence,meditate,imagine,to revolve in the mind. As my friend Todd says "give due diligence"

A parting thought. Look up at verse 6.

1 Timothy 4:6 (ESV) ⁶  If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

You see Paul was admonishing Timothy to "put it before the brothers." In Timothy's case,it was to teach and preach sound doctrine to the flock. In our case it may be to keep a nursery. To write. To give. To do acts of mercy and compassion. It matters not what.What matters is that we fan into flame and don't neglect our divinely appointed gift,endeavoring to serve the Body of Christ as best we can. To offer it before the brothers.Just remember this,from the pulpit to the back pew we are ALL equal in the sight of God. As a matter of fact He bestows more honor on the "weaker or less presentable" members.

1 Corinthians 12:22-24 (ESV) ²²  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
²³  and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,
²⁴  which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,

Go study this passage some time. The less presentable members are covered. They are clothed. They are the behind-the-scenes- folks. God deems them worthy of greater honor.
Why? So no division occurs in the body. Take a good look at it sometime. Maybe someday we should celebrate a bathroom cleaner appreciation day. lol.

Proverbs 18:16 (ESV) ¹⁶  A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.




God Bless