Giving What We Have – Part 2

     “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of
     Nazareth, walk.”
     Acts 3:6

When called to Jesus, we bring our hearts, minds and bodies. These are the things of true value that we have, the only things that are undeniably ours. We can “earn” many other possessions, like money, homes, vehicles and so on, but all we truly are born with are our hearts, minds and bodies and it is these that we surrender to Christ when we proclaim Him Lord of our lives.

Before Jesus, Peter and John were fishermen. We don’t know how successful they were or how much “stuff” they had accumulated prior to following Jesus. We only know that when they answered His call to follow Him, they “left everything” behind. While there are many sermons on the dropping of everything to follow, let’s focus for the moment on the reality of what they had. Aside from their “profession” what did these men truly possess? What did they have that Jesus required of them? Only themselves.

Over the last few weeks, we have been looking at the gifts of the Spirit. These gifts: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, fortitude, piety and the fear of the Lord are not some magical powers that we suddenly acquire when the Spirit moves in us. Rather they are aspects we learn to use and grow through our walk with the Spirit.

All of us were born with the heart and mind capable of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel. We each have the capacity of courage, strength of character and mind. When we dedicate ourselves to our God, we devote ourselves to His commandments, we have a healthy respect for Him and gladly obey. The gift of the Spirit is that each of these characteristics grows and makes us bolder. We no longer walk alone, but we walk in the Spirit of Christ.

We must not be afraid to exercise these gifts for our community. During this time of separation, when health fears keep so many of us away from the church building, there is no bar to our sharing of heart and mind. During this time of building for our vision of Bold Hospitality, we can take action that will prepare the way for when we can meet again. We can use our minds to pray for wisdom for our leaders. Wisdom in developing partnerships and wisdom in the paths to meet our community needs.

We can counsel one another in how to prevail through this difficult time. We can offer knowledge on how to contact organizations that may make good partners as we reach out to our community.

In our time of devotions and our prayer closets we can vigorously seek out God’s will and that the opportunities to serve our community will become visible to us.

Ultimately, in our placing God first, we will become a people filled with compassion for our neighbors and we will reach lives in ways we never considered before.

We are in the process of building. We are in the process of becoming. Even in our separation, we are coming together in the Spirit. Listen, God is saying:

     “19See, I am doing a new thing!
     Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
     Isaiah 43:19

Open your minds and hearts to hear His word. Exercise your gifts so that He will be lifted up.

Kathy Hendrix