Time To Open The Gifts

1 Peter 4:8-11a - As generous distributors of God’s manifold grace, put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure he has received. The one who speaks is to deliver God’s message. The one who serves is to do it with the strength provided by God. Thus, in all of you God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Time to open the gifts!

I have 6 children so you can imagine how many times I have heard this. In the above reading from 1 Peter, this is what I believe God is calling us to do, to open our gifts. As Christians, we have been reborn. We have been given great gifts from God through Jesus Christ. Sadly, most people just take those gifts, say thank you, and put them up on a shelf.

We met with a group of ministry leaders from our church last night. It was a great spirit filled time where we prayed, read scripture and discussed our various ministries. At the heart of it all is the call to put our gifts to use to bring God's message to all the people.

I was touched as I reflected on my service in the church(and outside). I have been given many gifts and I am called to use them for the glory of God. I am a distributor of God's grace. I must speak with words and actions in delivering God's message.

We were having a tense time at work a couple of days ago. I was prompted by the Holy Spirit to stop what we were doing to pray. I knew that the only way I was going to be able to calm the situation was through prayer. It worked! 

Time to open the gifts!

Chivalry

It has been a while. I guess I went into a writing black hole. However, this thought just came to me very strongly with a desire to write about it. 

I have 5 daughters of various ages and they are all my biological children. Anyway, I was thinking over incidents of the past few months. Some of them have stuck in my mind and it isn't very pleasant. 

Am I willing to stand up for my daughters? Am I willing to protect there purity? Am I willing to do what it takes to protect them from today's society?

I think it would be easier if we had dragons. It would be a lot easier to know who and when to fight. As a Christian father, I have to be willing to fight for my daughters. If I don't, who will? 

It would be easy for me to sit here and say that sure I will fight for my daughters. Really? Let's look at the evidence. 

Do we limit what they can watch on TV? Are we willing to be disliked for not letting them watch what the other kids are watching?

Do we scrutinize friends? Especially boys?

Do we set guidelines on what they can wear? Do we keep their dress modest? (It's one thing when they are 5 but try when they are 13+). 

Our daughters need their Dads to step it up and be the type of person we want them to marry some day. They desire time and attention from us. We have to make time for them. It is pretty easy for me to write this because I fail at all of these form time to time. Now, for a few last questions.

Do I limit what I watch on TV or listen to on the radio?

How do I treat women?

How do I treat their mother?(even if divorced)

If I tell my daughters to dress modestly but then ogle every scantily dressed woman I see then I am sending mixed signals. If I want my daughters to remain pure, I must remain pure.

I was approached some time ago about putting on a Father-Daughter retreat. I think this should be a topic of one of  my talks. What do you think?

Remember to Share - Not Just for Kindergarten

Galatians 6:6 - One who is being instructed in the word should share all good things with his instructor. 

This is something that has really spoken to me recently. However, I only read this verse today. It solidifies my thoughts and desires on the subject. It is important that we share the good things that are happening in our walk with Christ, especially with our instructors that they might be built up also and persevere in their teaching ministry. 

We, as the community of believers, have a duty to share the good news with each other. Personally, I am built up when people tell me what God is doing in their lives. I receive the confidence and boldness to proclaim the gospel to those who are hurting and lost. One person sharing the good news may seem like a drop in the bucket or like a small candle lighting up a dark night. But when we join our ‘light’ with the ‘light’ of others we are a great shining light for all to see. 

When I meet someone and they ask how I am doing, I tell them I am ‘fantastic’. It is amazing how many people ask me, why. Then I tell them. I proclaim the healing power of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the hearts of believers. I start each day now with eager anticipation of who God might put in my path. Does it happen every day? No, but you would be surprised on just how often it does. 

So, go out there and let your light shine.

Let's Go Fly A Kite

I took my 2 youngest kids to fly kites yesterday. On the way we talked about the 2 different kites that we had and wondered which one would fly better. We had a lot of theories but knew we would have to wait to see which would prevail.

We got out to the nice large field and up the kites went. Both flew pretty well but the kids got a little bored. I suggested we take off a piece of the tail. 

Up the kites went again. This time we noticed that we were able to perform more tricks, doing loops and steering back and forth. 

So, my son, not getting quite the results of his sister, decided to shorten his tail even more. Up the kite went. But with the shorter tail he lost control and the kite kept crashing. He came to me in frustration and I suggested tying a piece of the tail back on. Success!

On the way home, we pondered how our Christian life could be compared to that kite. We are the kite and the tail is our spiritual life. Devotions; scripture, prayer, and service are our tail. I think sometimes we get so caught up in our devotions that we fail to answer God's call to action. If we are trying to act in our world without enough devotion we flail and crash like a kite without enough tail. 

However, if we get the right balance, we can achieve amazing things for Christ. It is all about balance and not being afraid to soar.