Learning...

I am still excited when I think back to last week and the time Pastor Art and I had to learn about Spiritual Gifts. And I am still growing in how to see them come alive in my personal life. There has been so much dirt thrown on them through the years, that even though I believe in the gifts, I was afraid of them and didn't know how to use them. My vision of a well that has shovel fulls of dirt being thrown into it to fill it up and then a gusher of water, like Old Faithful, bursting forth is exciting to me because I believe it is a picture of ushering in the gifts in a powerful way in this church. Then we will begin to minister out of the overflow of the anointing and not out of the bottom of the barrel. Not that we are doing that now, but in order for the church to grow healthy and strong you need worship, teaching, and the gifts to flow together.

Something that has come alive to me even more so now, is the command to die to myself and pick up my cross and follow Him. It seems the biggest problem in our churches today is that we are not really dieing to oursleves. We still have so much concern for how others see us, how we look, what will entertain us, that it hinders us from truly being a light for Jesus. Think about that. One person put it like this, we need a spiritual martyrdom, the killing of self, for His glory. Then we can truly begin to experience the gifts of the Spirit in an even greater way. I know that this is hard because I still wrestle with wanting to fit in but this is where knowing who we are in Jesus needs to take precedent over what this world thinks of me. In Jesus, we are princes and princesses, we are heirs, we are His workmanship, and so much more.

Lord, help us to overcome this world and the desires we have to want to fit in with it. Give us desires that draw us nearer to You and lead us to be a greater evangelist. This community needs You and it needs us to begin to represent You and the characteristics that go along with a life that is founded in You. Lead the way and may we all follow. Amen.