Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Gifts (of the Spirit or service) (11/22/07)
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TITLE: He Light Reflected | Previous Challenge Entry
By Debbie Wistrom
11/29/07 -
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ADD TO MY FAVORITES
What holds me back from the backbiting and gossip at work? Nothing until I get the foundational core under me. I cannot wait for when my response is to turn from it instead of jumping in and getting down in the muck.
For me, obedience is paramount. When I look at the relationship of a child and parent, it boils down to receiving the safety, the protection, and the good things that parents want for their children. Where did my disobedience come from? I don’t stomp my feet and hold my breath, I just don’t act in a manner that is pleasing to God. My response is not loving, it is in kind, and I act out the behavior I see portrayed around me. I pray daily to be rid of the double mindedness I mentally feel creep into my being as I hit the door to my place of work. I ask God to remove me from this job, but I know that until I let him change my heart, he will leave me here until I get it right.
I remember the agony of learning to tie my shoes. I had to stay there, at the task until I got it. Through many tears, those fat little fingers finally mastered an act that now requires no thought at all. Once I received the gift of knowing how to tie those shoes, the process was over, the tears were gone, Dad and I moved onto the next lesson. I want my faith to be that ingrained in my heart and mind. I want to love others with the ease of tying my shoes, and such love only comes from the Holy Spirit. God, I am waiting for the next lesson, your next gift.
1 Corinthians 12 points out while our gifts are different, the same God is working in all of them in all men and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. If my spiritual gift is different from yours, how do I recognize it, in me and in you? I want to know what my gift is so I can start using it to further the glory of God. I want to know what your gift is so if I know someone in need, I can refer them to you. How simple all this would be if we had uniforms or some other identifier that made our gifts apparent. Healers could all wear doctor’s lab coats, those with the talent for teaching and preaching could wear purple robes, you get the idea, or maybe if we followed the guidebook, our demeanors would change and we’d evolve into the physical expression of the gift we were born with, it would then be obvious.
Back in Romans 12, He goes on to tell us to be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. We are to share with those in need, practice hospitality, bless those who curse us, rejoice and mourn with those who are doing so, be not proud and conceited, and as far as it is possible live in peace with everyone. To add confirmation to this command, 1st Peter chapter 4 tells us to “offer hospitality without grumbling and that we should use whatever gift we have received to serve others while faithfully administering God’s grace.”
These lessons are all about us, but the results of these instructions put into practice give him the glory and bring others to the His light reflected in us. Others will see the distinct colors God is using to paint our bright gifts from Heaven.
Scriptures paraphrased from NIV and KJV.
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Not sure about your title...was it supposed to be "His Light Reflected?"
I like devotionals that give concrete lessons that I can comprehend easily...this one fit the bill.