Keep Your Options Open
Theme of the Week: Go with Your Gifting
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus (Acts 20:24). Bonus Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Your spiritual gifts tell you how you're to serve him, but where? For this, you must rely on the gentle guiding of the Holy Spirit. But he doesn't work in a vacuum. Collect materials about the needs of the world and how your gifts could meet them. If you need training in the Word, gather catalogs of institutions with strong programs in Bible and ministry skills. Choose a curriculum that will not only teach you how to serve mankind, but also how to be used of God to save mankind.
The Devil has diverted many from pastoral service by confusing them about the call of God. You'll often hear the assertion that if a man can do anything other than preach, he should do that. But, it seems to me, there aren't many men in evangelical pulpits who don't belong there, while there are many in congregations who belong in pulpits. If the laborers are few, has God incorrectly calculated how many pastors and missionaries he needs? I don't think so.
As you sense his gentle prodding, assume that he wants you in lifetime ministry. As you step out in faith, he'll confirm his call. You'll know.
—Woodrow Kroll in The Vanishing Ministry
My Response: Am I open to considering how my abilities could be used in full-time ministry?
Thought to Apply: We are in constant danger of being not actors in the drama of our lives but reactors … to go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running strongest. —Frederick Buechner
Adapted from The Vanishing Ministry in the 21st Century (Kregel, 1991, 2002) by permission.
Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Thank you for the way you created me. Please help me understand how your design should affect my career and service choices.
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