Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 121

May 1;    I Peter 4:10;    121/260(II);    ‘Something to Add’

1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

We are told in Jeremiah 1:5 that even before the Lord formed us in our mother’s womb, He knew us and had a plan for our life.  Jeremiah was called to be a prophet.  We have been called by the Lord and equipped by Him to do specific things.  All of us are called in the biblical sense of who a Christian is, what we all have been given by the Lord and our responsibility to serve the Lord and do the work of the ministry.  The Holy Spirit comes to live in our spirit when we are Born Again.  One of the very important aspects of the Holy Spirit’s ministry in our spirit is to lead us.  Since we each have a specific gift or gifts given by the Lord, it makes great sense to sincerely desire to seek the Holy Spirit’s direction so that we can know the Lord’s plan for each of us.  The key is to be serious about your walk with the Lord.  Once I became Born Again, Jesus Christ was the most important thing in my life.  Without even knowing that the Lord had a specific plan just for me, I let the Lord know that the joy of my life was to serve Him.  I heard the Holy Spirit very clearly say to go to Bible School.  I believed that the Lord wanted my wife and I to pioneer a church and I prayed for the two years we were at school, to show us where.  He did.  Here are a few basic thoughts concerning the gift you have been given to bless the Church.  Often it is what you love to do.  If you love to sing, sing for Jesus.  If you love children, teach them the Word of God, etc.  If you are good at something, it is often His leading to use that for His glory.  We are many parts, but one body.  Specific gifts, hooked together, makes a church able to help so many.