Category: Encouragement

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Have you ever stopped to think about how believing in yourself can make you more confident and enable you to do things you never thought about doing before? I don’t know if you are like me, but I’m hoping I’m not the only one that might not be too confident in every aspect of my life.
I’ve noticed at work that if I am more confident, or better yet, have the support and open communication with my supervisor or co-workers, that I can accomplish more.  It is a struggle for me to not feel overwhelmed with everything, but trying to have a more “I can do” attitude is very beneficial. I need to keep reminding myself that yes, I can do this task or that item.  Yes, I’m definitely a work in progress with that struggle!
Gaining some confidence in one area of your life will strengthen you in other areas of your life as well. Being confident and open minded has definite benefits and carries over to all aspects of one’s life.  If you are more confident, you are willing to try new and different things. It can open up a whole new world for oneself. New opportunities, new challenges, and new adventures in this journey of life.
I recently did my first back to back Third Day concerts!  Since they were so close to the area where I live, I just couldn’t resist going to both!  The second day I traveled over 3 hrs on some slightly crazy roads by myself. It was a little scary but I just told myself I could do it.  The second concert I went to by myself but felt like it was what I was suppose to do. It was a nice quiet, reflective time. It was a little scary being alone in a big town, finding my way around, and walking the streets, but I did it. I had to believe that I could do it and then just do it! I would just have to deal with whatever happened. In the end, it would all be alright.  Knowing there are people praying for you is also something that can help you believe in yourself more too.
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A gracious David Carr, drummer, (left), & Scotty Wilbanks, keyboardist for Third Day, kindly posing for a picture before heading on the bus. The guys are so good to their fans.
One of my friends I’ve come to know through social media recently made a trek to the state of Washington to do a good 3 hour hike on Mt. Rainier. It has been a dream of hers to do this, and despite some physical limitations, she has been working on training and strengthening her body for this endeavor. She believes in herself enough to step out in confidence and do this. She has been greatly blessed through this experience already and has more adventures in going to Hawaii to visit some good friends. It will be her first time there.
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Doing these writings weekly has been a big step in believing in myself and trying to have enough confidence in myself to try to express my thoughts to share with others….sharing the Christ in me. Often times, fear and doubt creeps in, but I try to remind myself of the people that share with me how they have been blessed through my sharing.
Recently, all spur of the moment, a co-worker & myself ended up donating blood. It was just too coincidental that I had read about a fellow blogger doing a “How Can I Help” ministry of caring for a month. One of the things he did one day to help others was to donate blood. The one day at work I was getting coffee on another floor when I heard an announcement for a blood drive that day at work. What are the chances that I was on that floor at that exact time of the announcement? We don’t get announcements on our floor, AND I have never heard any announcement on the floor I was on either! I thought to myself, well, I’ll go right after work to see about donating blood. It has been probably a good 25 years since I donated. Much to my surprise, I half jokingly mentioned the idea to my co-worker who I remembered had always wanted to donate blood before but never did. I was really shocked that she mentioned we could do it during work time, and she said we better go right now before she chickened out.
I tell that story to show that we each believed and had faith in each other to do it, and we found out that together was better! A friend was praying for us during our donation so that was powerful how God worked that out too. I am very proud to say we both actually followed through with donating the blood and even survived! We both agreed it wasn’t quite as bad as we expected, and that we would be willing to do it again. It felt good to believe in ourselves, have confidence and step out knowing we were helping others through the donation.
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What helps us believe in ourselves? I think knowing who we are in Christ is a big factor in that. We need to continually remind ourselves of Bible verses that will give us strength and encouragement. Having people believe in us and encourage us is another huge factor. Sometimes, we all need that human factor or voice to help us gain confidence in ourselves. Someone encouraging or reminding us we can do something can go a long way.
On the flip side of that, sometimes our words can damage someone’s self esteem and set us back in that fear and doubt more. Often times I think we don’t even know we’ve done that until it’s too late….the words have come out and can have a lasting effect. I mention that to help make us aware of maybe thinking a little more before we speak. Our words can have a huge influence on people.
Can you think of times in your life when you encouraged someone to believe in themselves?
How about people that have believed in you and helped you believe in you?
Have you ever thanked those people?
It is much easier and better to encourage one another rather than cut down and discourage another.
Be on the look out for who the Lord puts in your path for you to help them believe in themselves!
I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.  –2 Cori 7:4

TRUSTING FAITH

Have you ever thought about how much we end up “trusting” in our life? Throughout our entire life, there are so many people and things in this world that we trust our lives to.

When we entered this world, we were so innocent and helpless.  Our lives were dependent on our parents or guardians.  They took on the responsibility of supplying our many needs and nurturing us until we could care for ourselves.

Doctors are people we trust when we are ill and seek medical attention.  We probably don’t think that much about doctors, until we need one—that is when we trust in their skill and knowledge.  We put our very lives in their hands.

Many times each day we trust our lives to some form of transportation—whether it be cars, boats, trains or planes.  We just hop in the vehicle without thinking twice of the risk involved in the vehicle or the person in charge.  We trust that the vehicle will function properly and that the person operating it knows what he or she is doing.

Shouldn’t we trust our God even more than all these people and things?

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Photo credit by Art4TheGlryOfGod under Creative Commons License (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Trust God to……

…fill that “empty” space in your heart

…be your Lord and Savior

…fill your heart with peace

…lead you to do His will

…keep you safe in Him

…provide people in your life to encourage you

…provide people in your life to help you grow spiritually

…make it through each day living victoriously even if your circumstances are bad.

God created the entire earth and all that is in it—from the white, puffy clouds to the littlest insect and to you and me.  He has enabled humans to do so much and empowered us to use our brains to grow in knowledge.  Our God is all-powerful and awesome!  Trust in Him and have faith that He will guide your every step.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.  –Proverbs 3:5-6

KEEPING IT SIMPLE

Do you ever feel like our society keeps demanding more and more of you, your kids, your family…all in the name of success in this world? Our country definitely seems to also have the “I deserve these things” and “I want more and more” attitude. My older teen daughter and I were talking about this topic recently.

Entitlement of anything and everything seems rampant in our society today. I am not sure that is necessarily a good thing. For me personally, I try to live a life where I don’t want to have the best of everything or need a lot of “things” to make me happy. I think that quality got passed down to my first two children; not so much to the third though.  I hope my life reflects a life where all these material “things” are not a priority. One day all the “things” will pass away.

We still only have the basic cable at our house so that we get some clear reception on the TV. It was a nice treat a few times through the years when we had more channels due to a “special” from the cable company. But, watching TV isn’t a big priority at our house. Quite surprising in our culture today, one child didn’t have a cell phone until just starting college this past year, and another will finally be getting one when entering high school.  And, you can probably guess, none of us have iPhones.

Along those lines, I think of the conversation with my daughter who was expressing that nowadays more and more is expected at an earlier age. Know your ABC’s by the time you’re two, start reading by the time you’re three, take as many college courses as you can in high school, keep climbing the corporate ladder, and the list goes on and on.

Are all these advances for the “right” reasons?
Are all those things necessarily what we should be focusing on?

Or are they pulling us away from time with God and reaching out to others?

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 Photo credit by zenjazzygeek under Creative Common License (CC BY 2.0)

Yes, on one hand it is good to want to increase your knowledge but not to the extent of you missing out on the simple pleasures in life like when you think of the good ole days…

….leaving time for a leisurely walk to observe the beauty of nature around you
….talking face to face with someone rather than wondering what the tone of their text is
….sitting on the front porch saying hello to the neighbors as they walk by
….or taking time to talk with a friend who is trying to figure something out.

Aren’t those the really important things in life?  Seeing and experiencing God all along the way in the simple things in life.

Living simply can be a good thing. It can provide for more opportunities to look for those that need a hand and do something to help build the kingdom of God while in this world.

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  –Psalm 19:7

GOD’S MASTERPIECE

As an artist sees an image and makes it come to life through some artistic media……creating a masterpiece,

As a musician writes lyrics and hears a melody to create beautiful music…..creating a masterpiece,

As a writer uses words to express ideas through a book or simple writing….creating a masterpiece,

So, God envisioned and then created all of His creations as His Masterpieces.

The Masterpieces all have a purpose and work together to give Him praise and honor.

Think about all the wonderful Masterpieces God made…..

….the sun and the moon

….the earth and the heavens

….the sky and the ocean waters

….the plants and the trees

….the birds and the animals

….the mountains and the valleys.

And from those Masterpieces, we get to behold …..

….Beautiful sunrises and sunsets

….Full moons to light our way

….The bright stars illuminate the dark sky

….The wonder of the crashing waves on the beach

….The beautiful flowers in the meadow and the colorful leaves fall from the trees

….The birds soaring through the air and making music for our ears

….The majestic view of the mountains and the valleys.

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Photo credit by Rachel Kramer under Creative Common License (CC BY 2.0)

Isn’t God the ultimate artist creating such beauty for us where we can experience God’s love and power all around us?

If all those beautiful sights of creation weren’t enough, God then created His ultimate Masterpiece…..YOU and ME! “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.”  –Genesis 1:27

Have you ever stopped to think how awesome it is that YOU are God’s greatest Masterpiece?  Let the power of that sink in…

YOU are created in His image..You are truly a piece of our Master….that makes YOU a Masterpiece indeed!

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Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. –Job 10:9

RESPECTING OUR DIFFERENCES

Recently, I had an enlightening conversation with my older teen daughter that got me thinking that I think this world needs more people that respect each other and are open minded to the differences in others.
Every person is created by God with their own unique blueprint of qualities. The various life experiences we have all contribute to the way we look at things and even how we view the world around us. It is the same world, but every person sees it a little different…in a unique way. One person’s way is not the “right” and only way to see it.
Those of us who grew up in two parent families in a loving environment might well look at the world differently from those of us who were raised in a single parent home where making ends meet was always a struggle.
You might be very organized and want things a certain way, but to another person, that might not be important.  Maybe spending quality time with loved ones is what is important to you.
Maybe you are happy to be alone while your sibling always needs to be busy doing something.
Is going to an event important to you? Well, it might not be on someone else’s bucket list!
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Photo credit by Celestine Chua under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)
Does the way you do something make you a better person than someone else?
Is the way you look at something the ONLY way to look at something?
Because you see something this way, does that give you a right to judge the way someone else looks at the same situation?
Should you be cutting down others when the way they see something doesn’t match your way?
I think the answer to all these questions should be NO!
The next time you disagree with something someone says, try to catch yourself and ask yourself if maybe, just maybe, it would be better to NOT jump in and complain, but instead respect the other person and their point of view. Sure, you could gently share your thoughts, but ultimately, realize there are many different ways to see something and that’s okay!
Doing that may even expand your horizon and help you see something differently. There can be great blessing in that too.
Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.  –Titus 3:1-2
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. –Ephesians 4:29

THE HUMANITY OF JESUS

One Easter season it occurred to me how Jesus Christ, while on this earth, experienced all the same basic human emotions and feelings as you and me! Yes, He is divine, being God’s Son, but He also came to this earth as a human.  Have you really let the power and specialness of that sink in?  To know that Jesus truly understands the different human emotions that we, too, experience?

The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) Jesus wept when He found out that His friend Lazarus died.  Some people say Jesus wept because He loved Lazarus so much; others say it was because Jesus knew that some of the people gathered around still would not believe He was the Messiah, even after Lazarus’ resurrection.  Either way, in our humanity, we weep when our loved one dies, when our loved one isn’t following Christ, or when someone dear to us makes choices that take them down a “wrong” path.

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Photo credit by BK under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

Did you ever stop to think how Jesus, the  Messiah and King, was mocked and laughed at while on this earth?  Satan tempted and mocked Jesus in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus was always empowered to return Satan’s temptations with Scripture. Many people mocked and laughed at Jesus when he was hanging on the cross for you and me!  I think Jesus’ heart must have been very heavy and saddened listening to the people mock and laugh at Him.  Many of the people in Jesus’ hometown did not even believe what Jesus was preaching.  Sometimes, people mock us and laugh at us when we stand up for our beliefs or our faith, or when we step out to share God’s love.

Often times when trials come our way, we pray to God that they may pass us by—just like the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was arrested.  Ultimately, Jesus knew He was sent to earth for that very moment to set us free. In our trials, hopefully, before long, we, too, can say, “God, let Your will be done.”

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Photo credit by Waiting for the Word under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

Do you ever feel that God has forsaken you?  There was only one moment in Jesus’ life when He felt abandoned like that—that was the moment when Jesus, hanging from the cross, took on all the sins of the world.  God promises to always be there—it’s we and our sin that turn away from Him. Hanging on that cross, Jesus gave up His spirit peacefully because He knew He came to do God’s will. He knew He was called by God, led by God, and empowered by God to sacrifice Himself to set all of us free from our sin!

Jesus also left us with a great example of loving one another.  All along Jesus knew that Judas would be the one to betray Him, yet He had no bad feelings toward Judas.  Jesus still loved him—and, that is the love we are called to have for one another.

This Easter season may you take time to reflect on Jesus’ humanity and how He can relate to our emotions and feelings. He understands and wants us to know we can rely on God to help us on this journey. I pray you have a blessed Easter celebrating the Risen Christ and living out the empowerment we have in Him!

Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil. –Hebrews 2:14

WHEN YOUR BEST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH

Have you ever been in a situation when you tried so hard to succeed at something but in the end, your best just wasn’t good enough for you to reach that ultimate goal?

My son had that experience this week and as a mom I think that was probably harder on me. We always want the best for our kids, and especially when we see them work so hard for something, it is heart-breaking if they don’t quite achieve that.

This son especially has a great love for the sport of baseball. Years ago he played soccer which was cut short his last year by a broken arm. (From jumping off a swing at a classmate’s birthday party!) At that time in his life, he was also plagued by asthma so it was harder on him running back and forth down the field. Through the years, he has also been involved with the sport of basketball. It used to be when he was in basketball, we would find him saying that was his favorite sport and during baseball, baseball was definitely his favorite sport.

That mentality seemed to change this past year. Baseball became HIS sport! In fact, he didn’t want to play basketball anymore so he could just do baseball all the time. The problem is it seems rare to be able to do baseball year round (due to our snowy winters), so he did continue to play basketball to keep more active.

This past fall, my son played fall baseball at an indoor complex so they didn’t have to worry about the weather interfering with play time. This is when it seemed like the spark in him became even stronger to pursue baseball and when he started saying baseball was his life!

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Thankfully, a friend of his suggested to a coach of a travel baseball team that he should check him out. Well, the rest is history. My son has been practicing and playing indoor games ever since and can’t wait for the outside travel tournaments to begin. He loved the day he had practice, helped with another team, and had a double header! His passion is definitely with baseball.

This past week they had school, modified baseball tryouts. He so wanted to make the team this year. He tried out and didn’t make the team last year as they only took three players from his grade level. This year they took more players and sadly he was not one they picked.  We’ve heard our school sports are pretty political in nature and as in most things, it seems to depend on who you know. That is definitely a disadvantage for us as he came into the school district as a 6th grader, and because of where we live, we usually go to another town for the recreational sports so he is not really on their “radar.”

A bit after we came home from finding out the results from the baseball try-outs, my son comes out with two white boards that he wrote on. One was listing some goals and one was a workout routine for everyday to help get him more physically fit and stronger. That made my heart so proud, and made me rethink the heart-break I was feeling.
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He had risen above the disappointment to make some positive changes in his life. He is more determined than ever to be the best player he can be for the Broome Bandits, his travel baseball team, and to hopefully make the school baseball team next year. Getting in shape physically can only help those goals, make him stronger, and hopefully also help with the mental, positive aspect involved with sports too.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.  –Romans 5:3-5 
I think so often in our society, there is so much pressure to be #1 …whether it be to climb the corporate ladder and be the top dog, or to be the #1 athlete in the state for a particular sport. It is definitely great to be one of those elite ones, but in most cases, there can only be one of those, so most people don’t achieve that status.
What is even more important I think is that along the way, we put forth our best effort in all we do. We all can’t be #1, but we can all put forth our best effort. It reminds me of a blog, entitled Perfect Effort, I read about the movie When the Game Stands Tall, one I definitely recommend viewing.
A major theme of the movie is that you can’t always have a perfect “game,” but what is most important is to put forth the perfect “effort.”
As I reflect, I am so proud of my son for putting forth his best effort in the sport of baseball.  Through the years, all of his coaches have said that he is such a likable, teachable kid who wants to improve. He will listen to the coach and try to incorporate whatever suggestion they have.  He is determined to be better through his list of goals. Thankfully, his travel coach has been so understanding and supportive of what my son is experiencing, so he has let him come down to the complex and practice with his son every day that he wants. My son always wants to get there early, and ends up closing up the place most of the time.  I’d say all those things contribute to him putting forth his perfect effort.
Maybe you will be able to relate to some instances in your life when your best wasn’t quite good enough, but hopefully you were able to make the best of the situation and turn it around for the positive. And, I think more importantly, hopefully realizing you put forth your best effort will bring you comfort!
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  –Colossians 3:23-24

THE VISION

One day as I was feeling all alone in this world, I had a vision–a different type of vision that made me ponder the true meaning of this life.

In the vision, I saw myself sitting outside, in the middle of a huge park.  It was a beautiful, crystal clear day, and a soft, gentle breeze was blowing.  People were scurrying all about, but nobody seemed to notice me, as I sat all alone, lost in the vision.

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Photo courtesy of H.L.I.T. under Creative Common License (CC BY 2.0)

I couldn’t believe my eyes, as suddenly, one by one, “things” began to disappear.  First the trees, then the birds and the mountains.  Houses once seen in the distance were erased from existence.  Cars and buses were next–no longer to be found.  Last but not least, the people, one by one, disappeared–no more family, friends or even strangers around.  All the places where I had once seen God’s beauty in this world, suddenly vanished.

I looked around once more and there was only me surrounded by all this emptiness.  But, within my heart and soul, I had only an unexplainable peace.  I knew in my heart of hearts, that although all the “things” of this world were taken away, I still had “something.”

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Photo credit by Waiting for the Word under Creative Common License (CC BY 2.0) Hopetoinspireyou.wordpress.com added verse

You see, I was not alone–I had JESUS living in my heart–a treasure far greater than any earthly “thing.”  It was then that I realized the true meaning of life.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  –Philippians 4:7

THE ROAD TRIP OF LIFE

Do you, like me, sometimes enjoy taking a road trip by yourself?
Cruising along on the open road, especially if there is good weather, and not much traffic, seems soothing to my soul. It gives me a peaceful feeling and I feel God’s presence while I’m cruising along the road. Of course, I can’t help but play Third Day music, which blesses me, the whole way to top it off!
I was truly blessed this past weekend to do just that as I had a chance to go to a Third Day concert because of an unexpected available ticket. It was a win-win situation for sure! It was so last minute that I didn’t know until about 6 pm Friday night that I was going at 9 am Saturday morning! It really was a wonderful road trip and a blessed time of worship to experience. Everything worked out just perfect.
On the six hour drive to Ohio, it gave me lots of time to pray for so many people that need prayer while playing my music. On the way back, it was more of a time for me to just play the music and reflect on the messages of the songs, even though I do that all the time. It was just more of a quiet time with God.
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Have you ever thought about how your life is like taking a road trip?
The destination is heaven to spend eternity with God & Jesus. Ultimately, that is truly the best destination and will be even better than anything we have experienced here on this earth.
It would be pretty much impossible to make a long trip without researching the way (back in the day) or making our lives easier nowadays, getting the infamous GPS out. Before I start out on a road trip, I always pull out the GPS and program it to the destination.  On our road trip of life, we’ve got Jesus and the Bible as our navigator as well as Christian friends. Jesus, the Bible, and our friends are there to help point us back in the right direction if we get off the beaten path or if we need a little bit more encouragement to make it through a trial we’re facing.
Just like there are many roads to travel on a road trip, along with many different kinds of roads, our lives can take us down many different roads….some are smooth sailing, some are bumpy and rough. Maybe we take a road less traveled in our life that is not a good one. We might even lose our way for a little and take some unexpected detours. Hopefully it won’t be long before we get back on the right road and continue on the straight and narrow road. Yet, through it all, our God is faithful and is always with us. He is there to help us find our way and love us no matter what.
On my road trip this weekend, I saw such beauty in all of God’s creation. The sun was out, in fact, on the way home I had the sun roof slightly ajar to get some fresh air to help me stay energized after a short night’s sleep! So many beautiful hills for my eyes to behold. I think the coolest sight was going over this huge lake and seeing some cross country skiers plowing through the snow.
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Photo credit by Steven Straiton under Creative Common License (CC BY 2.0)
On this road trip of life, do you take time to notice the beauty of your surroundings? There is so much beauty in looking at creation….the mountains, hills, valleys, even the vast flat land all have their own beauty. You might see some snow to grace the hills, the sun to brighten your path, the clouds that might bring some storms, the glorious sunrises where you see God’s beauty shining forth, or the full moon to light up the night sky…All of these things show God’s omnipresence and power to make such a beautiful world for us to experience while on this earth.
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them.
–Luke 24:13-15

GIFTEDNESS

We must all search to find the special gifts that God has given us to share with one another.  Sometimes we may not feel we have any gifts, but Paul says in Romans 12:4-8,

“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.  If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.  If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

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We need to take time every now and then to evaluate the gifts we’re sharing, as well as where and how we are using them.  It is possible that our gifts may be used in different ways depending on the circumstances of our life.  God may be calling us to use our gifts in a different setting at various times in our life.

God may also call us to expand our horizons and develop other gifts that are needed at certain times in our life.  He wants us to continually grow in our spiritual walk.  Our giftedness will be a blessing for us, while also blessing the people around us.

Sometimes our gifts may be visible to others, and at other times nobody may see them.  What is vital is that we let God use our gifts at each stage of our life for His manifestation, and not to worry if others notice our gifts.  Then we can rejoice knowing we are serving Him and doing His will!

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Photo credit by jublieelewis under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.  –1 Peter 4:10