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If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
Romans 12:8

Remember the song "This Little Light of Mine?" "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine . . ." As children, it spoke to the fact that we should show that we love Jesus. As adults, I think it has even more meaning--I think it applies to our spiritual gifts.
It's easy to run away from our spiritual gifts--as the song says, to "hide it under a bushel." It's not necessarily because of the gifts themselves but because of the risk involved. What if I mess up? Will God be disappointed with me? What will people think about me? But, it's not about me. God's Word clearly tells us that God has given us these gifts for a purpose, and if we have them, we need to use them.


I know that one of my spiritual gifts is worship. I have seen God use my music in many ways. But recently, I have realized that although I was using my gift, I still struggled with taking risks. My main instrument is my voice, but I also play the piano. I felt convicted that I needed to add playing the piano to my worship ministry. This move was a risk for me. Why? Because I was afraid of disappointing people. I'm a musician--what would they think if I failed at the piano?


I've had to remind myself that it doesn't matter what people may think but what God thinks. I've found that using my piano skills has added to my ministry, has changed my heart, and hasn't changed what people think of me. Yes, it feels risky--but who wants to live under a bushel, really!


So, if God has blessed you with the ability to encourage others or show kindness, look for the extra step you can take to help someone. If God has blessed you financially, then use your money for his purposes. And if God has given you the gift of leadership, get up, start moving, and find ways that you can lead others. Stop following and start leading. God has gifted you for a reason. Avoid bushels. Trust him to use you.

SOURCE: Leadership Devotional from New Living Translation

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel.
—Galatians 1:6

The word "gospel" means "good news." And for a person to fully appreciate the Good News, they need to first know the bad news.

The bad news is that we are sinners. We have broken God's commandments. We have fallen short of God's standards. There is nothing we can do to fix that. All the good works in the world will not compensate for it.

But the good news is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross for us and absorbed God's wrath and paid for our sin and rose again from the dead. And if we will turn from our sin and follow Him, we can be forgiven. That is the Good News, you see. That is the message we are to proclaim to the world.

This isn't happening as much as it should, however. There are some people in the church today who tell us that we must preach a holistic gospel, which is the idea that it is not just about telling people about Jesus; it is about other things. It is about doing good works for people. It is about modeling for them what it is to be a follower of Jesus. One definition of a holistic gospel says it involves living "in community to God's creation," which includes issues like pollution and deforestation.

Really? So now our message is trying to stop pollution and not cut down so many trees? No, that is not the gospel. The gospel is the message of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Anything short of that—or adding on to that—is a distraction. And if we fail to recognize this, we are missing the point. People need Jesus Christ, and they need to turn to Him. That is the message of the church. That is the message we are here to proclaim.

SOURCE: Harvest Daily Devotional

A popular trend in the Church today is to not share your faith.

USA Today had an article about a man who described himself as a "recovering evangelist." He said that he used to engage in what he called "bait-and-switch" methods. In other words, he would engage a person with the purpose of bringing the gospel to them, but now he has changed his approach.

Instead, he advocates "All bait, no switch, and he thinks others should, as well." He advocates promotion by non-promotion, evangelism by attraction, goodwill mongering, or simply letting one's life speak for itself."

He suggests that we just "live the life," and let the "spiritual chips fall where they will."

The cure for cancer?

OK, let's use an analogy to play out that scenario.

Imagine that I am a scientist (I know, not easy to do) who found out that I have cancer, so I have worked feverishly for years on a cure and have just found total success! One pill, taken one time, and the cancer will be gone immediately.

So what should I do? Try to make the most money possible, and take my sweet time getting it to market? How about befriending cancer patients and never letting them know that I have been cured, only that I am a caring scientist, never telling them about the cure, In other words, I reason that I'll just let the "mortality chips fall where they will."

The gospel is needed

Needless to say, that attitude would be the epitome of selfishness, even criminal. The correct answer is that you want to get this cure out to as many people as possible, as quickly as you can.

To use another example, let's say that you were walking down the street and you heard screams coming from someone trapped in a burning house. What would you do? Just hope someone does something, or do you take action?

How much more important is the truth of the gospel message--for it is a cure that is even more significant than a cure for cancer (as wonderful as that would be). That does not mean doing it rudely or harshly, or look at people as "notches on your belt." It means lovingly, yet boldly engaging them with the gospel message.

When we share the gospel with others, it's like we are going to a person who is trapped in a burning house, with only moments to live, and pulling them to safety. Scripture describes it as "Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment" (Jude 1:23 NLT).

SOURCE: Harvest Daily Devotional

Of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. —John 1:16

During the celebration of the Chinese New Year, it is customary to use certain words in print and conversation. One word is often used by itself. It is the word full, meaning “abundance of” and is used to wish someone material prosperity for the year ahead.

Moses told the Israelites about the wealth and prosperity in the land of Canaan before they entered it (Deut. 8:7-9). They would have everything they needed and more. But he warned them of the danger of forgetting that God, the One who had brought them out of Egypt and protected them along the way, had given them that abundance (v.11). Thus Moses commanded them, “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth” (v.18).

“Wealth,” of course, is not just material things. Everything you have is from God. Our Lord Jesus told His disciples, “I have come that [you] may have life, and that [you] may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

We too may be tempted to forget that it’s the Lord who has blessed us and has met our needs. Our lives will be full, abundant, and satisfying only when we are connected to Jesus Christ. —C. P. Hia

You only are true Life,
To know You is to live
The more abundant life
That earth can never give. —Clarkson

Never let the abundance of God’s gifts cause you to forget the Giver.

SOURCE: Our Daily Bread Daily Devotional

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
—Proverbs 16:18

Don't ever say, "I would never do . . . ," because the fact of the matter is you are fully capable of doing that and more.

The first step that led to Peter's denial of the Lord was self-confidence. He had said to Jesus, "Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble" (Matthew 26:33). What caused Peter to say this was the revelation that Judas Iscariot was a traitor. Peter was effectively saying, "Look, I don't know about James and John, the so-called Sons of Thunder. And I am not sure about Matthew and some of these others. But I am going to tell You this: I will never let You down." That was pride, and Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

We might say, "I would never fall in this area." But let's be careful. That is the very area in which we may fall.

You might say, "Oh, I would never do that. I would never, in a million years, commit that sin. I am really strong in that area. You know, maybe I am a little weaker over here. But in this one place I would never fall." Really? Don't you know how wicked your heart actually is? Don't you know that we all have the propensity for doing the wrong thing? As the hymn, Come Thou Fount, says,

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let they goodness like a fetter
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander—Lord, I feel it—
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart—O take a seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

SOURCE: Harvest Daily Devotional