ALLOW GOD'S PURPOSE AND PLAN IN YOUR LIFE

Dear friends,

I am so glad to share with you some special news! The English copies of my book are now ready! The book is entitled "Allow God's Purpose in Your Life".  I have listed all the topics that you will find in the book. I encourage you to get your copy and read the book. You will surely be blessed.

You may check on me via my dial +255(0) 788 32 88 32.
Like my facebook page Lifard13
Follow me on instagram @lifard13. 

There is also a special facebook page for this book. It is named after the title of the book.
"Allow God's Purpose and Plan in Your Life" be sure to like the page as well.

I am so honored to present to you all the topics that you will find in this book. These are:

Introduction ................................................................................ 8

PART ONE ................................................................................ 11

WHAT IS PURPOSE AND PLAN? .......................................... 11

Purpose ....................................................................................... 11

Plan ............................................................................................. 14

God has given us knowledge and understanding ....................... 16

PART TWO ................................................................................ 19

WHY GOD’S PURPOSE AND PLAN? .................................... 19

What happens if we do not abide in God's purpose? .................. 21

1. Leanness into souls ................................................................. 22

2. Being Destructed With Many Things ..................................... 23

3. Serving against God thinking that you are serving God ........ 23

4. Having no direction ................................................................ 25

5. Falling into sin ....................................................................... 26

What happens when we abide in God's purpose? ...................... 26

1. Living a Fulfilled Life ............................................................ 27

2. You should not struggle to please everyone but God .............. 28

3. You will not be troubled when you face difficulties ............... 29

PART THREE ............................................................................. 30

WHAT’S YOUR WORTH? ........................................................ 30

What if you were born outside wedlock? .................................... 32

What is your worth? .................................................................... 33

Consequences of not Valuing Yourself ....................................... 35

1. Serving God below standard or not serving at all ................... 36

2. Affects your relationships with others .................................... 37

3. Living a life below standard ................................................... 38

4. Interferes your freedom in decision making ........................... 40

5. Not valuing yourself makes you selfish ................................. 41

6. Seeking pity ............................................................................ 42

What is your Identity? ................................................................ 43

Who are you? ............................................................................. 46

PART FOUR .............................................................................. 49

KNOWING GOD’S SPECIFIC PURPOSE FOR YOUR EXISTENCE

ON EARTH ................................................................................ 49

What should you do to know the God’s specific purpose for your

existence? ................................................................................... 49

1. Stay in God’s word ................................................................ 50

2. Believe in God ....................................................................... 52

3. Obey God ............................................................................... 53

4. Pray ........................................................................................ 54

5. Be humble to God .................................................................. 55

6. Do not give satan a chance .................................................... 58

5

7. Avoid bad company, (follow the good) ................................. 59

8. Forget the past ....................................................................... 62

9. Do not fear, be strong and courageous .................................. 65

10. Take one step at a time ........................................................ 69

PART FIVE ............................................................................... 71

GOD IS PREPARING YOU FOR WHAT IS TO COME ........ 71

Desire to walk in the will of God .............................................. 73

First: Do not conform to the pattern of this world ..................... 74

Second: be transformed by the renewing of your mind ............. 75

Third: Prove ............................................................................... 76

PART VI .................................................................................... 78

WITHOUT VISION PEOPLE PERISH .................................... 78


This book has been a sure blessing in my life and it is my prayer that God ministers unto you through this book. Both English and Swahili copies are available.

Be blessed and be a blessing!

...for such a time as this...

Acts 13:36 says

"For David, after he served God's will and purpose and counsel in his own generation, fell asleep [in death] and was buried among his forefathers, and he did see corruption and undergo putrefaction and dissolution [of the grave]. "AMP

Praise Jesus,

It has been a while since I posted. Actually since last year. Allow me to take this moment and wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May God bless you so much!

Today, I honor God for this opportunity to share with you a few things from verse 36 of the 13th chapter of the book of Acts. Here are the things that we'll take into consideration.

1. David...
2. ...after he had served...
3. ...the will of God...
4. ...in his own generation...
5. ...fell asleep...

Let us take a look at these five things that I've just listed...

1. David

This describes the person in this whole scenario. Most of know the story of David, from the time he was young, fought Goliath, became king and all the other things that we can read from the bible.

David was

• Humble
• Feared God
• Very obedient to God

The bible summarizes all that and a lot more of what could be used to describe David by saying "He was a man after God's own heart." These helped him in the things that we are going to discuss shortly.

2. After he had served

We have discussed a bit about David. During his time he served. We are here because we have work to do. you were created fearfully and wonderfully. This is for a special reason. You have to serve. ...after he had served... this phrase informs us on the status of the service. It means, what is going to be said in a few moments, happened when David had completed his service. 

3. The will of God

The bible says that David served the will, purpose, council of God. He did not serve just anything. The bible is clear on what David served. We looked at number 2 that says after he had served... number three gives us the picture of what service David gave. He served the will of God.

4. In his own generation

David lived in his generation just like you and I are alive today because God ordained these days for us. This is your generation. You are not here forever but you are in this generation for just a while. It is such a great opportunity for God to trust us and give life to live in this generation. It is a perfect timing that God has done. This is your best time to be on the face of the earth.

5. Fell asleep

This talks about the departure of David from the face of the earth. We all know that we are not on earth to stay. At some point we are going to leave this earth. Whether male or female, rich or poor, the young and the old. None of us will be here forever. So it is important to find what we are here for and do it before we depart.

The most important thing is to make this life count, live a significant life. Do not just live your life anyhow but rather, make sure that you live your life in a way that is going to bless God. Do his assignment, the assignment that he has given specifically to you.

God bless you!

The seven 'Need to Know' Before and After Getting into a Relationship

First and foremost, I would love to give my special thanks to all of you my readers. I appreciate you reading my articles simply because, the vision of having this blog is not for me but for everyone who'll be able to access and read the articles that God has enabled me to write. Happy New Year, since this is my first article since the year started. Looking forward for much more in this year.

Today's sermon is a little bit complicated since it has taken the most of so many people. There is no formula to this and it has nothing to do with experience. There are few things that I came to learn concerning relationships. I'm happy that I am able to share these with you today. These are few points that covers three main areas, before getting into a relationship, at the moment you have to decide whether you should into a relationship with somebody and at the moment you are in a relationship. May the Spirit of God speak to you as you read this.

If you are single...

There is a big number of frustrated  single ladies and gents due to different issues. Some are so desperate about marriage, they only think of when am I going to get married or who should I date. They keep on fantasizing about almost everyone along their way. Some have gotten so bitter due to the issues they experienced in the previous relationships and they have totally lost hope. Being single is a very good time that you have to use to enjoy and equip yourself, make yourself better and better. Here are few things to help you:

One: Use this precious time to strengthen your relationship with God The bible says in 1 Corinthians 7: 32- 35  'I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs--how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world--how he can please his wife-- 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world--how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.' When you are single, it is almost an ideal environment for you to seek God. Most of the single people do not have much responsibilities as compared to the ones in relationships. It's easy to have enough time with God, Paul says that you have undivided devotion. Seek God during this time, ask for God's guidance and draw near to him. Trust God and He'll direct your ways.

Two: Have personal goals. There are some single ladies and gents who drop everything down and concentrate in just one thing - Searching for a life partner. I urge you to take sometime set your own goals, pursue your dreams, your purpose. Plan for five, ten, twenty... years to come and go after your goals. Let someone find you somewhere on the way to fulfilling your dreams. Have plans for personal development, read books, work hard, go to seminars and different workshops.

Three: Be predetermined and decide to have a clean christian relationship before engaging yourself with anybody. This is an important decision to make if you want to have a Godly relationship. When you have a clear picture of what you really want and a clear direction of where you want to go it will make it easy for you to stick to your decision when you come across crossroads. Make a decision and cling to it.

During the the decision making moments...

This is a crucial moment. The time when you have to decide whether you have to go after so or so, or should I accept this person's proposal??? This gives us our point number four.

Four: Create an atmosphere for a healthy relationship. Do not start a relationship in an environment that will not support a Godly relationship. The point I want to stress here is that, the environment should support a healthy, Godly relationship. Do not go after somebody's man or woman, lust should not dictate your dating and the likes.

In a Relationship...

Now you have decided to date this particular person, here I have a few things for you.

Five: When you are starting your relationship, it is important to have the same picture of where you want to go. This should be inside both of you, same expectations. Do not imagine what the other thinks but make it clear between both of you.

Six: When you are getting into a relationship, do not neglect your relationship with God. It is exciting being in a relationship. Having someone you're sharing love with. Keep in mind, there is the fundamental love and relationship that you are supposed to nourish and cherish. Keep the fundamental relationship alive, this is your relationship with God. It is neither to be forgotten nor neglected as God is the reason why we are alive today and we are supposed to live for Him. In fact, all people may change but God will remain the same and he will never leave you nor forsake you. This is a relationship worth keeping. You need to check your relationship with God constantly.

Seven: Last but not least, remember you are dating your brother or sister in Christ, you really do not want to hurt him or her.

YOU'RE WORTHY

struggling to be you?

It has been quite a challenge for some people to accept themselves the way they are. There are so many people who find difficulties with themselves. They wish to be somebody else, comparing themselves with their sisters, brothers, some friends in school or even the people on TV. It is good to look up to somebody but you should not allow anyone or anything to hinder you from being you. The you God wants you to be, the really you, with all the  strengths and weaknesses you have. You have to set free the Person inside you to live your life to the fullest.

you have to know and appreciate your yourself

Can you imagine?! It costed God His only son just to get you back to His kingdom! Nothing and no body else could pay the price for you except God Himself. Only the blood of Jesus could buy you! You are priceless! God redeemed you to live a life for Him for your own good! It's not easy or maybe it's almost impossible to live a life for God if you are trying to be like someone else...

Your focus should be on who God wants you to be! Stop trying to be like someone else, stop trying to fit in groups that really do not enhance what God wants you to be. In the book of Romans 12:2 the bible tells us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world but we should be transformed by renewing our minds that we should be able to test and approve what God's will is! It is high time now, you have to stop wishing you could be this or that. Take sometime to know yourself, your strengths, make use of them to live your life to the fullest, glorifying God and fulfilling God's purpose! Let's come to weaknesses now, God did not make a mistake anywhere creating you with the weaknesses you have. There is a point in life God wants to use the very weakness you have. He says in the 2 Corinthians 12:9, ..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weaknesses" and Paul the apostle says, ...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

The best thing you can do concerning your weaknesses is to let God use them for His glory. Give it to God instead of being hard on yourself. Learn His word to better yourself rather than looking down on yourself.

Keep in mind
God loves you for who you are and His love is far beyond our understanding. You have to keep this in mind so instead of struggling to please people, start to work more on your relationship with God. If you please God, you will also please people automatically.  Do not waste your time to start pleasing everyone, you will never succeed unless you are a hypocrite which in turn, is against the will of God!
Learn to look at yourself using God's eyes!

You are blessed, you are loved, you were fearfully and wonderfully made, you are a child of God, you are a king and a priest, you are the heir together with Christ, you are righteous, you are saved by grace. Even if no body knows you here on earth, God knows you and wants you to come to Him the way you are!

Be bold and start to move on, live your life fully, give God glory! Rise and shine, thy light hath come!
Lots of love...!

IMPROVE YOUR PRAYER LIFE (PRAY)

I know there there are a number of people struggling concerning the issue of prayers! I am happy that today we get to talk about this. I just want to share some experiences both mine and others' together with the word of God so as to get to help each other concerning praying.

Many Christians are having trouble with praying especially long sessions of prayers. At least it is better in a congregation, but for a single person doing personal prayers, it is a big struggle. I have met a number of people saying that they are not really able to pray. Not only hearing from people but also I have been there too! I'm not saying that I am the best prayer worrier in the world but I am improving and I thank God for that. I just want to share some staff with you and if you have been almost not praying or whatever level you are, you get to move to the next level and that is what is important.

1. Ask God to give you the Spirit of prayer. The bible says in Romans 8:26 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. " NIV. Make The Holy Spirit your teacher, your helper, He is ready to help. I remember when I was in advanced level (four years back), I used to pray about this most of the times, wherever I go, in a bus, while eating, I just prayed in a few words asking God to give me the Spirit of prayer and surely I experienced significant changes. God helped.
2. Pray. As so they say, practice makes perfect, today lets go with this, do not long for perfection but long for continual improvement. Perfection might take too long but continual improvement will someday lead you there. Make it this way, practice makes it better. When you do something and
   
   experience some changes and improvements, gives you more energy to move on. Enjoy every little improvement you get and desire to do more. To be able to pray, you have to
   
   pray. Do not wait for the time when you have learnt all the prayer techniques but use every technique you know along with continue studying more and more from the word of God!
3. Make use of the Lord's prayer to guide you when you pray. The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and Jesus taught them a prayer, you can get this from the gospel of Mathew 6:9-13. It is a guidance that Jesus gave us  to use as we pray. Make it personal for example you can say"My Father in heaven, hallowed be your name (you can take sometime praising the name of God, magnifying him), your kingdom come(speak it out where exactly you want the kingdom of God to be established in school, your home, your friend's place), your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Specify the exact place you want the will of God to be done, in your family,studies). Give us today our daily bread (What exactly should God give you). Forgive us our debts(There are something you may remember that you did against God, ask him to forgive you and even those you do not remember), as we also have forgiven our debtors (You may find it hard to forgive others, ask God to help you in that as if you will not forgive others it means you should not be forgiven). And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (There are some temptations that God will not let you go through if you pray so ask God to help you in that). This very same prayer can be used to pray for others as well.
   
4. Pray anywhere. Many people think that they are busy and can not find time to settle down and pray. I am advising you to use each and every moment you get. You may be walking or in a bus, that time can also be used very well in prayer. I once heard a song saying 'Have you ever talked to God..., you can whisper in your room, you don't have to say it loud, God answers prayers." It does not matter where you are, God can hear you. The problem is that, many people want to put God in their schedule instead of being with God all the time. It is important to have a quiet dedicated time with God but if you have not been able to do that, you may start with this technique, it has helped me personally. Put your mind in a prayerful attitude and as you grow you will be able to pray even more. Do not just give God an hour and assume that the rest of the hours you can just go your ways, long to be in God's presence all the time and doing so, God can use you in prayer any time, it is not bad to have a timetable for prayer but do not restrain the Holy Spirit.
   
   
5. Make use of opportunities to pray. For example, you might hear that there is going to be a congregation for prayers maybe praying for the church or the nation or any other thing right before God, go pray. Having the desire to pray will trigger God to do something about it. The truth is, God is looking for people who can pray and release His power to intervene in different situation.
   
6. Pray using the word of God. This is another important thing. When you pray, remember that God can not give you something that is not according to His word or let's say against His word. So make sure your prayer is in the line with the word of God. The bible says in book of Jeremiah 1:12 "....for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." There are so many promises in the word of God. Read and pray according to what God says to you through His word and surely you will see the results.
7. Keep the records of your testimonies. This is something that will push up your faith, the more you pray and see results, the more you grow in faith. God answers prayers it's just that most of the times we forget what God did for us because we do not keep records. Or it happens sometimes that God answered your prayers and you take it simple. Let us appreciate what God does and praise Him!

I have shared these with you because I know that they will give some help, I have experienced these and God has been faithful to take me steps further and I still trust God for more. We are supposed to move from glory to glory. Do not get settled where you are but seek to go another step forward. However small the step might be, it is worth it rather than staying at the very same level for so long. Remember, in any situation, do not complain but instead, go before God and pray.

God bless you so much in Jesus' name!

HEARING FROM GOD

It has been a while now since the last sermon we got to share. I am grateful to God for this opportunity that we have once again to get to explore His word. 

Today, we are going to talk about hearing from God. Can we really hear God in this period of time where there is too much noise around us? The answer is YES!

It will be very nice if you read the book of 1 Samuel chapter 3, the sermon will base on this chapter.

In summary, the story is about the first time when the prophet Samuel  was called by God. If you are a good student of the word of God you will be aware of how Samuel was born. He was the answer to his mother's (Hannah) prayers. 1 Samuel 1:11 says "And she made a vow, saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head." "

Samuel was taken to the house of the Lord at a very tender age, the bible says after he was weaned (verse 22 of the first chapter).

Back to chapter 3. The bible says the word of God by then was  rare and there were not many vision. God called Samuel four times before starting to speak to him, and the first three times, he responded to Eli until the moment when Eli told him what to say so as to give God a chance to say what He wanted to say to him.

Verse 7 of the third chapter says "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him"

We see in verse 9 and 10 "So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”"

What I want us to grasp from this chapter concerning hearing from God is that

1. God wants to speak to us, He longs to speak to us even though the word of God may be rare to others or you may be around people with no vision.
2. Your age does not matter , God can still speak to you. For example, Samuel was only a small boy.
3. We need to know the word of God to measure against what we here because God will never say anything to you that is against His own word from the bible.
4. The more we respond to what God says, the more we hear from Him. For example when Samuel responded to the call, God started to speak and told him so many things.
5. We need some teachings, a teacher or lets say a mentor can help us learn more on how to hear from God. Take an example of Samuel and Eli, Eli was there long before and he has been working for God for so long and so Samuel had so much to learn from Eli. Eli was the one who taught him how to respond.

God speaks to us often, I came to notice that there were so many times when I came to realize that at so and so moment God spoke to me about a certain thing. Put more focus on what you hear from within you. God speaks to us more often than we think. Sometimes we think it is just our thoughts but in real sense, God drops His ideas into our mind so many times. God speaks to us through some other people around us. God speaks to us  through nature and all that is around us. God speaks to everyone, getting closer to God helps us hear Him even louder. Work more on your relationship with God!!!

Have a good time and God bless you so much!!!

LOVING GOD

 I do not want to start defining what love is because I know we all have the same concept, the very basic definition. Let's go straight to what the bible says about loving God. In fact, the bible urges us to love God, and it is termed as the greatest commandment. Mathew 22:37-40 says that " Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." NIV
The issue of loving God is a commandment not an option, I can say it is a decision that you have to make, whether to love God or not But you have to know that since it is not an option, there are critical consequences in what you choose to do.

Why do I say that loving God is a choice you have to make? The bible says that "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." John 14:15. Loving God will demand some things from you, will refrain you from some issues and that is why not everyone really loves God even though they may claim to love him. When Jesus said if we love Him we will obey His commands, it means obeying His commands is a result of loving Him. 
The issue is, let it show that you love God, both your words and deeds should reflect your love for God.

Let us look into these other verses from the book of Deuteronomy 30:19-20
 "I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live. And may love the Lord your God, obey His voice, and cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." AMP
God wants us to choose life and in so doing, we will be able to love God, to obey His voice and cling to Him!
Loving God is about following His commands, it is about self denial, the thing I love about the issue of self denial is what we read from Matthew 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it" NIV. It is about losing your life for God! Many people are afraid to live for God, they think it is some kind of a burden, but the truth is, what you think you will lose when you decide to live a fully God led life can not be compared to what you will gain when you decide to love and follow God.
Most of the times we go before God in need of something, let us learn to go before God just to gaze upon His beauty, to love Him, to feel His love for us. In everything you do, do it in God's presence, and that is what the bible tells us in Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." NIV
If I have to summarize all these, I can say that loving God is living for God. This is because, if you live for God, you will want to get closer to Him, to know more about me, to please Him.
It is my prayer that we get to start living for God and follow His commands, loving Him with all that we are and with all that we have! God bless you so much in Jesus name!!!

TALENTS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.....(5)

Today we are winding up a series of sermons concerning talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit. So far, we have covered the meaning, the differences  and the similarities of the two. Today we are going to look at three things:

1. Where do they come from?
2. For what purpose? and
3. How do I discover them in me?

These are the last questions that I promised to answer in this lesson and a promise is a promise. I pray that the Spirit of God takes us through and help us understand what ever He is intending to teach us today!

Where do gifts and talents come from?

 It is an obvious truth that the gifts and talents come from God Himself. Even though we have see in the previous lesson that they come in different ways i.e. the talents are inherited through natural birth meaning talents are inherited, it is God who releases the talents in that particular family line. And the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given by the Spirit of God to who ever He pleases.

Talents and gifts are from God. In the book of 1 Corinthians 14:1 the bible says "...eagerly desire spiritual gifts,..." NIV. While talents are inherited, spiritual gifts are given to us through the Holy Spirit. And the bible tells us to desire them.

For what purpose?

This is very important. It is  not enough just to have gifts and talents and sit back at home admiring yourself! God gives for a reason. He has a purpose for your life and these are important for you to accomplish whatever purpose God wants you to.

The bible says, in 1 Corinthians 12:11 "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines." NIV The Holy Spirits determines how to give, and he says to each one of us meaning, if you are a believer, the Spirit of God has gifted you with something, as He determines and so, there is a reason to why you are gifted or talented with something!

Moreover, the bible says in " Ephesians 4:12-13 "... to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." NIV

What I came to know is that, when God gives you something, He wants you to be a blessing to others. Use it to glorify God. Use it for the body of Christ! Lift Him up.

How do I discover them in me?

It is a very important as well as most common question in many people. Sometimes it happens you do something for the first time or several times and you discover that it is something that you wish to do every night, everyday!

You might want to try a number of things to see what suits you best concerning talents let's say different sports or any other activity that you feel might be something for you.

The very important thing is, ask God to guide you through every step you take and to lead you to where you belong.

I would love to share with you some few tips I learnt somewhere during a seminar on how to confirm whether now this is it or not.

1. Peace and joy: If what you are doing is really for you, you will feel the fulfillment and the contentment and that will give you peace and joy.
2. You will love what you do: There is no way you will not love what you do without extra effort. Effort is needed in many things but doing what you love will not torture you.
3. You will spend much of your time doing that: If what you do really suites you, you will enjoy and spend much of your time there.
4. Good results:  If what you do is really for you, you will get good results. A point to note, even though at first things might not go well, you will still see the light ahead and have the energy to continue.
5. People will appreciate what you do: Here I do not mean everyone but most people will respond well on what you are doing. You will be a good testimony and people will want to learn from you.

This is what I have for today, I hope you have enjoyed the lesson and most of all, you were able to get something that will take you to another level in Christ Jesus.

I have a principle of appreciating whatever small thing I have and use it for God's glory. I know that God will bless it and it will multiply. I encourage you to do the same. Remember the story of the man who gave talents to his servants (You can read it from the gospel of Mathew 25:14-28). Use whatever God has entrusted you, however small it may be, God will multiply it! And remember in the last lesson, we said they both grow as you use them. The more you use your gifts or talents, the more they grow.

God bless you and thank you so much!!!

TALENTS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.....(4)

It has been a while since the last time I wrote about this sermon and promised that the lesson will continue. All is well and I thank God for this other opportunity He has given us once again to meditate on His word. Surely it is a blessing.

Today, I love to talk about the similarities and the differences of talents and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And this will be answering the second question that we had in the first session, Are they the same?

Starting exploring the similarities

• Both talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended to be used on behalf of the others. They are not to be used selfishly. God gives us the gifts and talents so that we can share and benefit from them. That is why we are given different portions but all of them are supposed to be a benefit to all of us.
• Both grow as you use them. Using your talents or gifts is one of the ways of sharpening them. The more you use them, the better they become. So I encourage you to make use of whatever gift and whatever talent you have.

Now let us talk about the differences between the two.

• While talents are inherited through natural birth. They come from the family tree, gifts are received from the Holy Spirit supernaturally.
•  Talents are possessed by anybody whether saved or not but gifts of the Spirit resides in believers only.
• Talents are developed and expected. On the other hand, gifts are matured and surprising, they are directly proportional to our relationship with God.
• People may happen to use talents selfishly but the gifts of the Holy Spirit can not be used selfishly otherwise they will fade away. 

That is what we have for today, but more is to come. There are so many things we can learn concerning gifts and talents. But in this lesson, I will do my best and may God help me cover all the basics!

Thanks and God bless you so much!

                           to be continued...!!!

TALENTS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.....(3)

Last time we talked more on talents, and before we get to compare and contrast talents and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, let us talk about the gifts!

Gifts of the Holy Spirit

We can simply define gifts as something given without expecting payments. When we talk of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are not paying to get them. 

The bible says that in the book of 1 Corinthians 12:11 "All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines." NIV. The Holy Spirit gives the gifts as He pleases.

The God gives not just for no reason but He has a predetermined purpose and a plan of what He gives.

We read from Ephesians 4:10-13

 "He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. 11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 

12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." NIV

We can see that verse twelve explains to us why are we given what we are given. The gifts and ministries that God give us are for the church. The church is supposed to be perfected to reach the standards of Christ and we are not yet there and so God wants to use His people, the church so as the church can be perfected!

From the book of Rom 12:3-8 the bible says  "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 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. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 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." NIV

Unlike talents, not everyone have these gifts, they are only found in believers. The people who have agreed to give their lives to Jesus Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit.

In the next session we are going to see in deep on the differences of the two, so keep in touch.

                                  to be continued...

TALENTS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.....(2)

I am all excited about this lesson for sure because it touches our lives in a very special when. At some point, this are adds meaning to our lives. 

A promise is a promise! As I said the other day that I will get to answer some questions as we go on with this lesson, here I am starting today and my prayer is that all this knowledge gets us to higher level of thinking than we were yesterday and will trigger something in our hearts to get to know more about this in a specific way meaning that, how do they really apply in our lives, individually.

Well, let us start with the key area, perhaps you have been using this words or heard some people speaking about them... Let us get into the meaning of these two, talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Talent
A talent is a pattern of thought, feeling or behavior that happens repeatedly and can be productively applied. Is a natural skill and it is innate, can not be acquired.

1. Talents determine your moment to moment reaction to your environment. 
2. Results in your consistently pattern of thoughts or behavior where by conscious effort is needed to deviate from those patterns.

I strongly believe that each one of us is born with a talent whether we know it or we don't, whether we are using our talents or not, whether we appreciate the talents we have or not. Whether you are a believer or a non believer, you have a talent. And all talents come from God even though there are those who misuse their talents by not letting God be glorified through them.

Knowledge and skills are not talents as they can be acquired. Talent is an inborn thing. Has something to do with genetics. People inherit from their parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. God chose a family thing as a way to pass on talents to people. You can not acquire a talent but you can acquire skills and knowledge to enhance your talent.

There may be two people doing the same thing but the one with a talent will enjoy more doing that and will use less effort as compared to the one who is not talented in that area.

What you know reveals more about your experience and education than who you are at the core. God gives us talents to help us fulfill the purpose He has for us here on earth. It is like He has equipped us with the necessary tools for the job. And this plays part in your identity.  
Stay tuned for more and God bless you so much!!!


                                to be continued......

TALENTS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.....(1)

I have known a number of people with different gifts and talents. It is a blessing seeing all that for the glory of God!

I came to realize that God reveals Himself in so many ways and works with us in different ways for His kingdom and He gives gifts and talents for a reason.

I am pretty sure that everyone is blessed with something from God whether we know it or we don't. 

At some point in my life I have been struggling to know what I can do best of all the things I have been doing! What I really enjoy doing even if I am not paid for or not for the sake of pleasing someone or some kind of an obligation...

The thing that I am free to do no matter what, something that I long to do for the rest of my life.

All these unknowns kept me thinking and searching. It was kind of trying to explore who I really am, what am I supposed to do. 

Some kind of searching for my purpose but a long the way, I encountered these two things 

'TALENTS AND GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT' and I wanted to know more about these...!! You may be knowing something but trust me, if you continue with this lesson, you will get to know some issues that are going to be useful to you in making the most of your life for God's own glory!!!

I asked myself

   
1. What are these (talents and gifts of the Spirit)?
2. Are they the same?
3. Where do they come from?
4. For what purpose?
5. How do I discover them in me?

Please keep in touch as I will be answering these questions to impart knowledge about this area of talents and the gifts of the Holy Spirit....!!!!

                                    to be continued.........!!!