Epic Girls: What Are Your Spritual Gifts?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

What Are Your Spritual Gifts?

Don Stewart, on Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts:

Everyone has at least one spiritual gift. How can someone discover his spiritual gift or gifts.

The Bible does not give us any formula for finding out what the spiritual gifts might be, yet there are certain things we can do.

Find Out The Gifts Available

First, one must find out what spiritual gifts are available. There are four passages of Scripture that lists the gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8-11,28-30; Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:7-12).

Pray For Guidance

Once the believer recognizes what gifts are available, he should then pray for God to show him his particular gift or gifts. The Bible encourages us to pray for guidance:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:7,8).

James wrote, "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2).

Step Out In Faith

We should exercise, by faith, the gift or gifts we feel God has given us.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Get Feedback From Others

Once we start exercising our gifts, we should get feedback from others to see if we are edifying the body of Christ.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:7).

In exercising his spiritual gifts, the believer should realize that he has at least one spiritual gift and may have more than one but he does not possess all of them. His gift is essential to the smooth functioning of the body of Christ.

Not Relieve Responsibility

Furthermore, the lack of a certain gift in a believers life does not relieve him from the responsibility to obey the general commands of God. For example, all of us are told to give (1 Corinthians 16:2) whether or not we have the gift of giving. Every believer is encouraged to show mercy (1 Thessalonians 5:14) though he may not have the gift of mercy. Likewise we are all instructed to evangelize (Acts 1:8) though we all do not possess the gift of an evangelist.

To discover his spiritual gifts the believer should:

1. Find out what gifts are available.

2. Be available to receive.

3. Pray for Gods guidance.

4. Step out in faith.

5. Get feedback from others.

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ONE YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Because The One Year Bible is set up by daily readings, each day you have 4 portions of scripture to read from—one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, a Psalm, and a Proverb.

If you choose to read all four portions it will take you about 15 minutes. But if you choose to do just the New Testament and the Psalm and Proverb it will take you 5-7 minutes.

I want you to choose a plan that you can easily commit to. It is better to be consistent with a smaller portion of scripture than to be overwhelmed with too much. The most important thing is to be in the word as often as possible!!!

Because not everyone will be reading the Old Testament, we will be focusing on the other sections when we meet, but there will be times when we pull from the Old Testament.

You can even break it up further and read the Psalm when you wake up in the morning and the New Testament and Proverb before bed. How you do it is up to you. But commit to doing it, and you will be blessed.

DEVELOPING A QUIET TIME

The best thing about the One Year Bible is that it is SOOOOO easy :)

1. Pick a Place-- find somewhere that you can go where you will not be disturbed as you read. Keep your Bible there, along with your journal, pen, highlighter, commentary, post-it-notes, and maybe even a pack of gum or chap stick (whatever you think you might need to get up for). Some people put these things in a little basket or in a tote bag and this is a great idea!!!

2. Pick a Time-- It is okay if you read at a different time each day. But if you notice that you are not reading every day because things "come up" you might need to work on protecting your time with the Lord. An easy way to do this is by picking a time each day to read. You don't forget to brush your teeth because people called to talk to you or you ran out of time or you had homework!!! You protect your time with your toothbrush, so protect your time with your Bible. Set a time each day when you can go be alone and undisturbed to hear from God.

3. Pick Your Plan-- If you read all the scriptures available for each day (OT, NT, PS and PR) it will take you about 15 minutes, not bad. But if you feel overwhelmed by all of that you can commit to a smaller plan by cutting out the OT. You can just read from the New Testament with a Psalm and a Proverb and you will grow so much. Maybe next year you can read the Old Testament if you like. The main thing is to not get overwhelmed, when something stresses me out I don't do it!!!

4. Don't Give Up-- If you miss a day (or a few days) it is easy to get discouraged and give up. But don't!!! This plan is not about being perfect, it is about having fellowship with Jesus. He just wants to spend time with you. He doesn't get mad at you if you miss a day. He just wants you to come back. Everyone will have a time when they miss a day (or a few days), but you just gotta start up again!!! Don't try and go back and catch up, just read the reading for today. If you want to catch up later and you have time that is fine.

5. Before You Read Pray and Expect God to Speak to You-- Before you begin your quiet time with the Lord, pray and ask Him to forgive your sins and ask Him to speak to your heart and to give you understanding of what you are reading. As you read, have your pen ready to underline verses that you like. Put stars and hearts next to things you love or need to remember. Write notes to yourself in the margin. Write down verses in your prayer journal that you need to think more about. Pray about the Word of God. God wants to speak to you, what He has to say is important so write it down!!!

6. Think About What You Read-- Don't just "do your duty"-- don't just get it done. Think about what you are reading. Ask yourself the following questions:
· What did I learn about God today in my reading
· What did I learn as a lesson about life?
· What did I learn about myself, my priorities, fears, failures, desire, mission, destiny
· Is there a lesson that I can apply today?

7. Share What You Learn-- God wants to use you to bless others. After you receive from the Lord share what you have learned. Share what you have loved. Ask God to use you to bless those around you, believers and non-believers both. You can share a verse with your mom and dad, a friend at church, someone who is hurting, you can post on the message board here, you can remember to share it on Sunday night. Sharing the Lord comes very naturally when you have something to share.

Sunday Nights 6pm High School Room

When we meet together on Sunday nights we will get into the chapter that you had been reading about all week. There is a lot to say about these chapters, so you will totally get a lot out of the meetings.
Like last year there will be a healthy balance of teaching, group discussion, group activities, and prayer. This study is a safe place for you to ask questions, receive prayer, and make new friends. Please be respectful to your sisters in Christ and protect their privacy, by keeping what we share in study to yourself. And, if you need to talk to someone about a personal matter, it is best shared with a leader before or after study.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

What Are Your Spritual Gifts?

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