Spiritual Gifts...

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 I've been doing a lot of my quiet time reading in Romans lately. Today God spoke to me through one verse in particular. Romans 11:29

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29

This verse can be interpreted many ways. I've done some research today and it turns out that the literal meaning is quite different than I felt like God was using it to speak to me. When I read it, I thought a lot about calling and the use of our Spiritual gifts.

There's a lot of discussion about Spiritual gifts and what they are. Here's the easiest definition I have found: 

A supernatural ability given by Christ through the Holy Spirit to the believer at the moment of his salvation.” 

That means it's not necessarily a natural talent or ability. It's something God gives us at the moment of salvation. That also means that EVERY believer has been given a Spiritual gift!

I feel like many of us walk around never truly figuring out what God has given us and therefore we miss out on the blessing of using our gifts for His service. Billy Graham once said: 

“… I believe the discovery of our spiritual gifts should be a matter of careful and

thoughtful prayer on our part. We should pray that God will guide us to know our

spiritual gifts. Also, we should be sure we are willing to make use of our spiritual

gifts in a way that is honoring to God. For example, if God showed you that you

had the gift of teaching others, would you be willing to put that gift to use in a

Sunday school class?”

Spiritual gifts are given by God to enable us to fit rightly and fulfill our roles in the

body of Christ.

(See Ephesians 4:11-16)

Our Pastor recommended the following online Spiritual Gift Inventory. If you aren't sure what yours might be, take this quick test and see what God reveals to you. 

http://elmertowns.com/spiritual_gifts_test/

Some examples of Spiritual Gifts are:

Wisdom – (I Cor. 12:8), the correct application of knowledge

Discernment – (I Cor. 12:10), insight into the nature of spirits (motives)

Giving – (Rom. 12:8), accumulating and giving money joyfully

Exhortation – (Rom. 12:8), challenging believers to action

Ministering/Helps - (Rom. 12:7, I Cor 12:28, Eph. 4:12) practical spiritual & physical help

Mercy Giver– (Rom. 12:8) ministering to sick, infirm and downhearted

Ruling/Administration – (Rom. 12:8 & I Cor. 12:28) organizing, administering, directing

Faith – (I Cor. 12:9) believing and expecting God’s blessings

Teaching – (Rom. 12:7, I Cor. 12:28, Eph. 4:11) imparting the Word of God

Evangelism – (Eph. 4:11) pointing sinners to Christ & rallying others to also

Pastor/Teacher – (Eph. 4:11) preaching and teaching to lead a flock

I was convicted this morning. The GIFTS and the CALLING of God are irrevocable. IRREVOCABLE. I want to use everything that I've been given. It's like that quote I'm sure you've probably heard.

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.” -Erma Bombeck

 I want every part of me to point to Him. I have used excuses (lots and lots of excuses) lately as to why I can't do certain things. Why I'm too tired, too busy, too lazy. Maybe I'm so tired and busy because I'm busy doing things that aren't what I'm truly called to do? Maybe this could be true of you as well? 

 My prayer for you and for myself is that we spend intentional time getting real with God exploring what HIS purpose is for our lives and that we whole-heartedly, recklessly pursue it.  

Love y'all!