Gifts

Gifts Where Are God's Best Gifts?
Earthly t hrones are generally built with steps up to them; the remarkable thing about the thrones of the eternal kingdom is that the steps are all down to them. We must descend if we would reign, stoop if we would rise.
Some think that God put His best gifts on a high shelf for them to reach up to them. It does not take long, however, for a Christian to realize that the best gifts are in the lower shelves, that the babes may get them also. A Lesson from the Gulls
Some time ago in Reader's Digest there was a short article about a group of sea gulls that was starving to death in St. Augustine. They were not starving because of a food shortage but because they had forgotten how to fish. For years they had depended on the shrimp fleet operating out of the harbor to toss them scraps from the nets. When the shrimp fleet moved to Key West, they began to starve. They had lost their natural ability to fish because they had not been using it.
This is a rule of nature. If you do not use what you have, it will be taken from you. This is the lesson in the parable of the talents. The servant who did not use the one talent had it taken from him.

Different Gifts, Different Strengths
A concert violinist had a brother who was a bricklayer. One day a woman gushed to the bricklayer, "It must be wonderful to be in a family with such a famous violinist." Then, not wanting to insult the bricklayer, she said, "Of course we don't all have the same talents, and even in a family, some just seem to have more talent than others."
The bricklayer said, "You're telling me! That violinist brother of mine doesn't know a thing about laying bricks. And if he couldn't make some money playing that fiddle of his, he couldn't hire a guy with know-how like mine to build a house. If he had to build a house himself he'd be ruined."
If you want to build a house, you don't want a violinist. And if you're going to lead an orchestra, you don't want a bricklayer.
No two of us are exactly alike. None of us has every gift and ability. Our responsibility is to exercise the gifts we have, not the ones we wish we had.
And when it comes to making decisions about your own life and the direction it should take, focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Know yourself. Know what you do well, and then go with your strengths and shore up your weaknesses. The Christmas Gift Is Too Much
In ancient history we are told that Caesar had a friend to whom he once gave a munificent present. But when he offered it, the friend said: "This is too much for me to receive." To which the emperor replied: "But it is not too much for me to give."
After all our sinfulness and rebellion, God's gift of pardon through Christ does seem too much for us to receive; but the riches of divine mercy are so great that it is not too much for Him to give. When God forgives, there is not one sin left unforgiven. Christmas was indeed too great a gift for man, but it was not so for God.

What If God Sent Us Bills?
The scene was a familiar one. The young couple were going over their monthly bills. In it were ones from the drug store, department store, oil company, etc. Trying to find something humorous to say in the situation, the man quipped, "Isn't it a good thing that God doesn't send bills?"
That is good, isn't it? But what if He just decided to bill us for this wonderful body He has given us? The Psalmist said, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:14). Shakespeare said, "What a piece of work is man!" Think about what God has made:
THE EARS: A piano has 88 keys, but each of your ears has a keyboard with 1500 keys. They are so finely tuned that you can hear the blood running through your vessels. The outside of your ear can catch up to 73,700 vibrations per second.
THE EYES: They are both microscopes and telescopes. They can gaze into the heavens and see a star millions of miles away, or inspect the smallest insect.
THE FEET: Did you know that each foot has 26 bones, none of which is wider than your thumb? But it is so "manufactured" (arched) with its ligaments, tendons, muscles and joints that a 300-pound man can put all his weight on these tiny bones.
THE HEART: Its size is about like your fist, but pumps (beats) 4,320 times an hour. In a year that would mean 40 million beats. A drop of blood can make a round trip in your circulatory system in only 22 seconds.
What if God sent you a bill for this marvelous body we live in? But God doesn't send us bills. He just loves us and takes care of us. Can we do any less than to return His love? We show Him our love by obedience to His Word and by faithful stewardship of that which He has entrusted to us.

Give Your All
God's gift is always enough for any individual to accomplish something. If we compare it with what others have, we will find that there are two kinds of people-those who have never done anything with their gifts and those who have fully utilized theirs. You and I must say, "I may not accomplish as much as they have, but I'm going to give it all I've got!" We're never going to get anywhere unless we use the gifts God has given us. The One Talent
Hide not thy talent in the earth,
However small it be;
Its faithful use, its utmost worth,
God will require of thee.
His own, which He hath lent on trust,
He asks of thee again;
Little or much, the claim is just,
And thine excuses vain.
Go, then, and strive to do thy part,
Though humble it may be;
The ready hand, the willing heart,
Are all heaven asks of thee.
- William Cutler

Use or Lose
The Lord has given to each one of us at least one gift, and probably many more than that. The most important thing in life is to find what gifts we have; secondly, to recognize that they are from God; thirdly, to be faithful and dependable in using them. Anything that is not used doesn't develop. A pianist said, "You know, I must practice every day. If I don't practice one day I know the difference. If I don't practice two days, those who hear me know the difference."

Spiritual Gifts
Paul compares the possessors of spiritual gifts to members of the human body because as the members of our body are none of our doing or deserving, neither are the spiritual gifts we possess. They are God's gifts entrusted to us for a purpose. If that purpose isn't fulfilled, His gifts are wasted. What's the use of having an eye or a hand that doesn't serve the entire body? A test of the genuineness of any gift is whether it benefits the body of Christ as a whole, or only the possessor. Does it tend to unite the body or to divide it? Does it make members who are different from us feel estranged or fellow members with us of one and the same body? A "Call" to Preach
An elder of the church was talking to a young mechanic who thought he had a call to give up his shop and go into the ministry. "I feel," said the young enthusiast, "that I have had a call to preach." The elder, knowing his deficiencies as a speaker, shrewdly asked, "Have you noticed whether people seem to have a call to hear you?" Before you subject others to the sound of your voice, make sure that preaching comes naturally to you and that you have a call from God to exercise this ability. Paul knew he was "sent" to preach.

God Shall Supply
C. H. Spurgeon once said, "God is satisfied with Himself, and sufficient to His own happiness. Therefore, surely, there is enough in Him to fill the creature. That which fills an ocean will fill a bucket; that which will fill a gallon will fill a pint; those revenues which will defray an emperor's expenses are enough for a beggar or poor man." Didn't Paul say, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19)? And He sees fit to bestow these riches on us as an inherent gift. Thus all believers possess Christ, but not every one has all His gifts, for He gives them as it pleases Him. His pleasure is according to His knowledge.