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Raising up missionaries to build the Kingdom of God through teamwork

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

What is stopping us from using our Talent?

„On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable“ (1 Corinthians 12:22)

(Matthew 25:14-15 -28) "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 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.“
When God is calling you to serve Him, He gives you a talent and by that He is entrusting to you something that He values. It is up to you how much you will do with the things that He values, and how much you will value it. God gives everyone according to his/her capacity. He doesn't give you more than you can take, but He gives you more than you can imagine.
God doesn't give you a talent considering your current state of being or your abilities. He gives you things due to what you are in the Spirit and what you can accomplish.
When God called Gideon to save the people from the hands of Madianites, he wasn't called because he was something in the natural things.
'But Lord, " Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." - Judges 6:15
'Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon...' - Judges 6:34
Things that can stop us from using our talent:
- we consider ourselves unworthy to be used by God
„Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.“ (Acts 13:46)
- we see ourselves week, and lacking power when we are faced with a challenge
(1 Timothy 1:12) „I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.“
(2 Corinthians 12:9) „But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.“
- we don't try to understand the gift that God has placed in us
- we don't seek to know whether it's true or not the words that other people speak in our lives (we don't ask God to confirm it to us if the prophecies that we receive are right and if so to help us understand the time of those prophetic words) - maybe we just blame prophets for not being accurate, but we never bother to know if it's true or not and if it is to fulfill it
(1 Timothy 1:18)„Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight'
- maybe we end up saying 'I am too young, or too unprepared, or now it's not the right time'
(1 Timothy 4:12) „Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.'
- we are careless when it comes to the call of God for our life
- we don't see the significance and importance of the gift that God gave us
- we can't value correctly the gift of the Spirit
(1 Timothy 4:14)”Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.'
- we take it easy concerning the gifts and due to the fact that we don't value them enough there is a lack of discipline
- we don't evaluate ourselves constantly to see where we stand with God, we can't be open neither to critics or to encouragements
(1Timothy 4:15- 16) „Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.'
- we don't invest our talent (we don't grow in using our gift)
- Lacking enthusiasm
- fear of failure, fear of men
(2 Timothy 1:6-7) „For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.'
- we don't protect these gifts and we allow Satan to steal them from us
- we are not faithful with the things which have been entrusted to us
- we are easily distracted by things that are good in appearance or things that other people think are successful
- we are not careful enough with the way we speak, our attitude isn't always right
(1 Timothy 6:20) „Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge'
(2 Timothy 1:14) „Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you-guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. “
(1 Timothy 6:11-12) „But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Pastor Rareș Călugăr
Sunday we had a concert premiere by a Christian Band called Acces (Access). We were really touched by the meaningful lyrics, the talent and the modesty of these guys. But more than what one could see on the outside, we all felt the presence of God among us. The title of the album is RĂSPUNS (answer).
Those of us that hared it truly believe that God can use these songs to restore the hearts of many young people that struggle.
As a Church, we were really honored to have among us God from within them.
May God bless them and use them to build up The Body of Christ.


Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Source of Life

(Isaiah 53:11) After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

(Romans 5:2) By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

The fact that we are into grace has to do with the source from where we get your life in the Spirit. In Isaiah we are told that Christ will see his offspring and rejoice. When we drink from this eternal spring, which Jesus is, then we are promised water even in the desert places. And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:11)

David was praying in Psalm 63: O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirst for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.Does our soul really thirsts for this spring of water, for the freshness of this water that Jesus promised to those that ask for it?

The thing is that we spend too much time in the desert and we allow Satan to steal all our joy and our attitude is always controlled by the circumstances that we're in and it seems like nothing quenches our thirst.

There was a man that found himself lost in the desert and got to the end of his strength. Without any source of water he was quickly fading away. At some point he started hallucinating and couldn't think straight anymore. Then he sees an oasis. He thinks it's just an illusion because he can't think straight anymore. He falls down, almost dead next to the water where he was found and saved.

I hear Christians complaining about being in a spiritual desert and they can't seem to find their way out. Jesus said 'He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.' So my way out of the desert is in Him as well, because He promised that He will be with us through His Spirit. 'The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD [is] upright: [he is] my rock, and [there is] no unrighteousness in him. (Psalms 92:12-15)

In John 4, Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman about the source of life, let's see what we can learn from these verses:

- You must know the One that is able to give you the Water of Life and you must ask for it yourself Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.' (John 4:10)

– Many times unbelief brings in our lives drought, uncertainty, feeling panic and not trusting the very source that gives us the water. 'The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?' (John 4:11)

– Maybe we wonder 'is God greater than my past, my wounds and the mistakes I've made?' We can't seem to trust the fact that God really did wipe away all our sin, our past and that He gave us a new beginning through Christ. Art thou greater than our father Jacob,....” (John 4:12)

– If you keep drinking from the same source (of unbelief, what you see in the natural) you will have the same result, you'll always be thirsty and unfulfilled, maybe even blame God for the state you're in and because you don't feel refreshed. Search for the true source of the living water. 'Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again' (John4:13)

– If you drink from Him, you will never thirst again and even those around you will benefit from this water. 'But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.' (John 4:14)

- The reason behind our desire to find God can be a wrong one. Do we want His water for our comfort or for itself? Do we want more of Him so that we could have a revelation for ourselves or do we want Him for others as well? Often times we focus all our attention on ourselves (on how hurt we feel, the way we feel in general) . We always look for our own comfort, we feel sorry for ourselves and we forget to just get up and be a blessing for others. 'The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw' (John 4:15)

Jeremiah 15:18-19 says ' Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, [which] refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, [and as] waters [that] fail? Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, [and] thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.'

Is our hope placed in a lie or something that fails us? Is God playing with our feelings, with our future and our emotions? Does God want me to be one day on top of the mountain and the next day down in the pit?

NO. He wants me to have an emotional balance. He wants good things for me, He wants to give me peace and joy through the Holy Spirit, He wants me to be fulfilled and have a sane mind so that I may glorify Him. This is a hope that doesn't fail me, so I can trust Him with all my heart.

Servant of Jesus

Pastor Călugăr Rareş