Spiritual Gifts

My Bible study today was about spiritual gifts and how we won't know true joy until we acknowledge and carry out the mission God has given us with those gifts. To fulfill the purpose for which the Lord has placed us in this world so that when we stand before Him he might say to us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

When Jesus asked Peter- three times- "Do you love me?" and each time Peter replied in the affirmative, Jesus instructed Peter to Feed His sheep, tend His sheep. This was the gift He'd given to Peter and it wasn't a request, it was a command. Do this thing I've put before you.

So what is the gift that God has given me? What gift has He given you? What is the mission he has charged us with and what tools has He given us to carry out that mission?

I ask myself, "How do I know what gift I've been given?" And each time I ask myself this, a still small voice whispers to my heart "WRITE".

I believe God wants me to use my writing to feed His sheep. So how can I do this? With this blog? My poetry? Write a book?

I'm not sure yet but I do know that He wants me to write and reach the lost in a way that maybe no one else can- at least a portion of the lost. And if I can reach even one, just one...that's one more person destined for the kingdom because God chose to use me as a tool and I was obedient and used the tools He gave me. But I must be obedient first. I must reach out in faith and follow His leading, blindly if I must, because I know He will take me where I need to go, where He wants me to be.

Yesterday's service at a new church we visited- a very tiny church with about 40 attendees- was about joy. Claiming the joy that God promises. It belongs to us, it is guaranteed to us if we would follow His word and pursue the tasks He's charged us with. Satan does all he can to distract us from that. He draws our attention from God's word. TV, radio, computers, busy-ness, stress of daily living, disobedient children, etc. We forget the mission God has put before us and we lose our joy.

What is your gift? Are you using it to complete the mission God has given you? I must find the path God has intended me to follow with my writing because I have no doubt that the written word is my gift.