GOD
ENTRUSTS ABILITY – USE IT WISELY
BREAD
18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives
you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore
to your forefathers, as it is today. Deuteronomy 8:18 (NIV)
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “See,
I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and
I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in
all kinds of crafts-- 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and
bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage
in all kinds of craftsmanship. 6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach,
of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen
to make everything I have commanded you: 7 the
Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and
all the other furnishings of the tent-- 8 the
table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the
altar of incense, 9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the
basin with its stand-- 10 and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments
for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, 11 and
the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make
them just as I commanded you.” Exodus
31:1-11 (NIV)
1 “So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom
the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of
constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.” Exodus 36:1 (NIV)
14 “Again, it will be like a man
going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.
15 To one he gave five talents of money, to
another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.
Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents
went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a
hole in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 After a long time the master of those servants returned and
settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents
brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents.
See, I have gained five more.’ 21 His master replied, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’ 22 The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’
he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 His master replied, ‘Well done, good and
faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!’ 24 Then the man who had received the one talent
came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you
have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the
ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew
that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered
seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on
deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back
with interest. 28 Take the talent from him and give it to the
one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and
he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside,
into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew
25:14-30 (NIV)
7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do
you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast
as though you did not? 1 Corinthians
4:6-7 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Often the evidence of maturity is response-ability — the ability to make the right response at the right time.” Ann Voskamp
“The
marrow of life is not in our possessions or titles or degrees or anything else
that will pass away with this age. The marrow is found in the man Christ Jesus
and the mission he has given us. All transitory gifts God provides are for us
to enjoy and for us to employ in the mission he calls us to (1 Timothy
6:17-19). But if we look to these things
for life’s marrow, we will find them hollow bones.” Jon Bloom
“We live a life - and make a legacy - one day and one
choice at a time. May God enable each of us to be the ‘real deal,’ not for our
glory but for His. ‘The wise woman
builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs
14:1’”
Donna Evans
“He who provides for this life, but takes no care for
eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever.” John Tillotson
“Lord, give me character that is greater than
my gifts, and humility that is greater than my influence.” Tim
Keller
“Use your gifts
faithfully, and they shall be enlarged.”
Matthew Arnold
“When Jesus is Lord
of a life there is a deep and reverential awareness of accountability to Him
coupled with a strong affection to please Him in all that we say and do. It really does matter how we live our
lives. It will be either for Him Who
spoke the world into being as well as died for our sins on the cross or we live
for ourselves. We will either serve the
Creator or the created. “Lord” rightly
means owner, master, might and power.” BHY
“‘Do
not be deceived: God is not mocked,’ the apostle Paul writes, ‘for whatever one
sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from
the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the
Spirit reap eternal life’ (Galatians 6:7-8). The trouble is that we fool
ourselves into thinking there’s some safe middle ground — that we can make excuses
and put off sowing to the Spirit, while still denying the flesh. But we always
sow to something, very often to ourselves. And what we sow slowly reveals, and
shapes, what we love most in life.” Marshall Segal
“Contrary to the world's beliefs, the spiritual fruit
of self-control does not come about through the discipline of self-mastery, but
rather through surrendering ourselves to God's control. None of us fully have the
power, capability, or wisdom to master our own lives. You cannot resist all the
temptations that are hurled at you, control the behavior of those closest to
you, or limit the ideas that pop into your mind. What you can do is surrender
your life to the Holy Spirit. You can control how you respond, yield, and
submit to Him.” Michael Youssef
“I love Him because He first loved me. His goodness and mercy and compassion to me are new every day. And my assurance is lodged in these aspects of His character. My trust is in His love for me as His own. My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation. This to me is the supreme portrait of my Shepherd. Continually there flows out to me His goodness and His mercy, which even though I do not deserve them, come unremittingly from their source of supply – His own great heart of love.” Phillip Keller
“I love Him because He first loved me. His goodness and mercy and compassion to me are new every day. And my assurance is lodged in these aspects of His character. My trust is in His love for me as His own. My serenity has as its basis an implicit, unshakable reliance on His ability to do the right thing, the best thing in any given situation. This to me is the supreme portrait of my Shepherd. Continually there flows out to me His goodness and His mercy, which even though I do not deserve them, come unremittingly from their source of supply – His own great heart of love.” Phillip Keller
“As followers of sweet
Jesus we are to relinquish the reigns of our lives to the Lord. He is to be responsible for the governing of
every aspect of our lives. We are to be
“living sacrifices” holy and pleasing to God.
Unfortunately, as living sacrifices, we so often find ourselves crawling
off the altar when life gets hard. We
stand firm when we are in the center of God’s will – mature and fully assured.”
BHY
“Freedom is not fun. It is not the
same as individual happiness, nor is it security or peace or progress … It is
responsible choice. Freedom is not so much right as a duty. Real
freedom is not freedom from something; that would be license. It is
freedom to choose between doing or not doing something, to act one way or
another, to hold one belief or the opposite. It is never a release and
always, a responsibility. It is not “fun” but the heaviest burden laid on
man; to decide his own individual conduct as well as the conduct of society and
to be responsible for both decisions. The only basis of freedom is the
Christian concept of man’s nature; imperfect, weak, a sinner, and dust destined
into dust; yet made in God’s image and responsible for his actions.” Peter Drucker 1942
“Jesus knows what it’s like to
press up against the limits of our flesh and blood and the bounds of finitude
in our created world. He knows what it’s like to have limited capacity, and
limited time, and end the day with unfinished tasks. He knows what it’s like to
be wearied physically and what it’s like to need and carve out time for rest (Mark
6:31). He knows what it’s like to have work to accomplish (John 4:34; 5:36;
17:4). He had energy enough to work (almost) tirelessly, even on the Sabbath,
when he encountered those in need (Luke 13:14-17; John 5:16-17; Mark 2:27-28).
Through his works, his output of human energy, he not only bore witness to his
Father (John 5:36; 9:3-5) and demonstrated whose he was (John 8:39-41; 10:25,
32) but also presented himself as the giver and focus of our faith (John
10:37-38; 14:10-11). This same Jesus not only calls us his brothers but also
fellow ‘laborers’ (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:7) and bids us to work with the
energy we have for the good of others (Matthew 5:16). But he also does not
leave us to our own energy. He doesn’t abandon us to what verve we can muster
on our own, what we can produce merely through wise (and important)
energy-management. He works in us — and does so powerfully, Paul says — to give us his own
energy for the work to which he calls us. As Christians, we will
do well to learn to steward the energy God gives us naturally through diet,
exercise, and rest. It would be irresponsible and foolish for us to treat lightly
the God-created gifts of food and sleep, and presume that he will energize us
apart from these natural means. But oh, how foolish it would be to ignore or
neglect Jesus’s amazing offer: that he himself, the God-man, would
work his own powerful energy in us.”
David Mathis
HEART
SAVOR
·
God gives the gifts and we are accountable to
Him for what we do with them.
·
It is foolish to think and plan for this life
only, giving no thought or care for eternity.
·
There is a God given purpose in every gift
God bestows and the body suffers when any member does not do his or her gifting. Gifts are given to us but not for us.
