BECOME THAT GIFT TO SOMEONE

As we celebrate Christmas we are reminded of the greatest gift of all. The gift of salvation. That is the reason for the season. Jesus, the Son of God left all of His glory in heaven, and came down to earth and suffered and died for the sake of lost humanity. Thank God for His incredible gift.

Notice that to become that gift, Jesus did two things. First, He left His glory zone, His Father's throne in glory. He stepped out of eternity into our world where He came and lived among us. He identified with us taking upon Himself the form of man. For us to become a gift to others, for our lives to become a blessing to others, for us to add value to others, we must identify with them. We must leave our "thrones in glory", our pride, our arrogance, our "holier than thou attitude", and come down, identifying ourselves with those that we are helping. Those that we are leading and those that we are teaching.


Secondly, He left His comfort zone. He risked His life for us dying for us on the cross. Easter is really why we celebrate this season. He was born to die for us. We fear to die, leaving our comfort zones. We fear to risk, we fear adventure not realizing this is what we were really made for. We forget that we have to take a risk to reap a reward.

This year, I again left my comfort zone, I took a risk, to become a gift to many others as I use the gift that God has given to me. My wife and I realized that, like a ship, we are safe sitting in the harbor, but that's not what ships are built for. Sure there are risks, rogue waves, hurricanes, etc, but if they never set sail, they will never reach their destination. So we launched Two ship solutions and plunged into the deep sea and since then we have been walking on water. We have been able to touch many lives and see many marriages healed and restored. To God be the glory.

We can't wait for what next year holds for us as we continue coming alongside you our beloved readers in helping you and inspiring you to become, yes, that gift to someone if not some people. Thank you for supporting us and for faithfully gleaning from my blog. I believe your lives will never be the same again.

Have a merry Christmas and Fruitful 2012.

WHY WE DON’T USE OUR GIFTS?

Last week we talked about the importance of us using the gifts that have been graciously given to us. We saw how one young man in the eighteenth century by the name William Wilberforce used his oratory gifts to bring an end to slave trade in Britain and thus changed the world.

One of the greatest things God has enabled me to do over the past several years as a Pastor and Coach is to help people discover and develop their gifting. In the recent past I have seen two ladies move into their gifting and are now almost ready to launch their maiden albums in music. I have seen others discover their gifting in the financial sector helping thousands invest their monies wisely. But there are still many who are sitting on their gifts and yet “whole of creation is waiting for the sons and daughters of God to be made manifest.”

Why is it that many are still sitting on their time bombs? There are several reasons why. First as I shared last week, we in the Leadership, especially Church Leadership have failed our people because we have not helped them discover their gifting. And for those who have discovered theirs we are neither helping them nor creating the right environment where these gifts can be deployed.

“He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.’  -Ephesians 4:11-13 (Msg Bible)

Secondly, in comparing ourselves with each other we have despised our gifting or thought that it was so good to serve at a particular place even when God was calling us to a greater ministry using our gifts and talents. We thus end up trying to be something we are not because we have not learnt to look deep down inside ourselves and appreciate what we have got. We instead end up burying it in the ground and not doing business with it.

Far too often we have created a few superstars in the pulpit and made people think that that is how it should be. So the only way we think we can serve God is if we are in the fivefold ministry or some of the very visible ministries in Church. Had William Wilberforce opted to become a preacher rather than a human rights activist, for that is really what he was, could he have made that much impact in the world’s history? If the church that produced the movie “Fireproof” and now “Courageous” hadn’t recognized the gift of film production among its membership, could we have had such great movies?

Thirdly like the servant who buried his gift, we fear to do business with what we have. We are gripped with one of the greatest fears, fear of failure. We fear that we might fail not realizing that failure is very much a part of success. William Wilberforce failed to convince the British parliament for several years before he finally got their approval to banish slave trade. He didn’t let his failure stop him. 

What is it that God has given you? Get out there and try it out. In fact it is as you go that you will come to realize what it is that you’ve got. And that is what it will take to change the world and your world.

ARE YOU USING YOUR GIFT?

Yesterday in the service I attended we were being encouraged to discover our gifts, develop them and distribute them for the overall good of the body. The work of the five-fold ministry, contrary to what many think, is really to prepare believers for works of service. That means you and I as believers, are the ones to do the works of service not just the Pastors, Evangelists or Apostles.

Each of us finds our meaning, our purpose, and function as a part of Christ’s body. Each of us has been given a certain grace, a gift that is to help the whole. A leader’s role is to be a broker of gifts, talents, and resources. Every leader is a manager whose goal should be to maximize everyone’s gift. Every believer is a steward of the abilities he or she has been given. What are you doing with your gift? We have been given a gift so that we can give it to others as a ministry to them.

How the power of using your gift can greatly impact the world is best demonstrated in the movie Amazing Grace. This movie based on the true story of William Wilberforce, this movie shows his courageous quest to end the British slave trade amidst intense opposition from members of parliament in Britain. His is s story of how one man’s passion and perseverance changed the world.

What makes this story even more interesting is the fact that young William initially wanted to become a preacher. But his passion for social justice was driving him crazy especially when he heard and read about the evils of slave trade. Inspired by his Pastor and Mentor John Newton, himself a reformed slave ship captain who penned the beloved hymn “Amazing Grace”, William finally makes the decision to join politics instead of the pulpit, and fight for this just cause. And fight he did to the very end until he convinced several MPs to vote against the slave trade bill thus bringing to an end this vice.

William Wilberforce discovered his oratory gift, developed it and used it to bring to an end one of the worst evils in the human history. And God used him mightily not from the pulpit, but in parliament to change the world. It doesn’t matter what gift you have, God can use you as He used William to change the world through politics, sports, business, the entertainment industry wherever you find to use your gifts and talents in.

“So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…” – Romans 12:5, 6(Msg Bible)