Stirring Up the Gift Gave You - Martin Wiles

Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 2 Timothy 1:6 NKJV

I sat in the ladder-back chair, wondering what I should do and feeling a bit useless. I needed to stir up a gift. 

The day before our move arrived, but my wife and I were already at our new residence, unpacking boxes. At least, she was. With no internet or satellite, what could I do? If I unpacked, I’d have to wait for her to tell me where to put it. So, I sat.

“Is there something I can help you do?” I asked.

“No, just sit there,” she replied. So, I did.

A few minutes later, she yelled from the next room, “See if you can find me a magic marker.”

Finally, something I could do. I walked into each room, perusing the boxes. No magic marker. How she expected me to find such a small item among the mounds of boxes and bags sitting in every nook and cranny, I didn’t know, but I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“I don’t see one,” I finally surrendered after searching in vain.

“Well, it won’t jump up and grab you,” came her curt reply. “Look in the boxes.” I searched again. No luck. I failed at my one chance to do something.

Tomorrow would be different. I’d have something to do. Move in the large pieces of furniture and hang pictures.

Paul was Timothy’s spiritual father and had commissioned him into the ministry. Now he reminds him to stir up that gift of pastoring a church.

Sitting around in a ladder-back chair twiddling my thumbs isn’t the way to discover God’s gift to me. God has things for all His children to do, and He gifts and talents us accordingly. There have been times when I’ve wondered what my gift was—or if I had one—but each time God showed up and showed me what it was.

Through prayer and effort, we can discover God’s gift. When I wondered if he had gifted me to teach, all I had to do was try. Had teaching not been my gift, I would have quickly discovered it—or someone would have kindly let me know. Some gifts all believers have—such as serving—but God gives all believers gifts. Gifts are his presents, so we can accomplish his kingdom work in this world.

Don’t sit around wondering what your gift is. Ask God to show you, and then find yourself stirring up the gift God gave you.

Father, thank you for giving me gifts so I can do your work in the world. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Chili and Beans

 

Ingredients

1 SMALL BAG DRIED PINTO BEANS

          
1 ½ POUND GROUND CHUCK

1 TABLESPOON CHILI POWDER

1 LARGE ONION (DICED)

1 CAN ROTEL

1 CAN TOMATO PASTE

½ TEASPOON SALT

½ TEASPOON PEPPER

¼ TEASPOON GARLIC

1 BELL PEPPER (DICED)

 Directions
SOAK BEANS OVERNIGHT IN COLD WATER IN THE REFRIGERATOR.

WHEN READY TO COOK, COVER THE BEANS WITH WATER AND COOK FOR 3 HOURS OR UNTIL TENDER.

BROWN BEEF AND ADD ONION AND PEPPER.

COOK UNTIL TENDER.

ADD SEASONING AND CHILI POWDER ALONG WITH ROTEL AND TOMATO PASTE.

SIMMER 30 MINUTES.

ADD PINTOS AND SIMMER.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Lukewarm Faith in a Hot-and-Cold World - Martin Wiles

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV

The sign read: House for Rent. Hot and Cold Running Water.

Though laughable now, there was a time when having indoor plumbing was a luxury only the wealthy knew anything about. Water was drawn from a well or creek and carried indoors. Getting hot water meant cutting wood and placing cold water in pots in the fireplace or on a wood-burning stove.

On one mid-August trip through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, my wife and I noticed the leaves on the highest-elevation trees turning. Odd, I thought, this early, but then again, that’s what tree leaves do. As the summer season ended and the daylight hours got shorter, the leaves lost their luminescence and revealed their natural color. The yellows shone through beautifully. 

Christians shouldn’t run hot and cold or change like the leaves on a tree. Nor should we have lukewarm faith in a hot-and-cold world. Paul encouraged the early believers to be steadfast in their love for the Lord and in their work for him. Only by steadfastness would they be able to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and teach people how to be his disciples.

But we also don’t want to burn out doing God’s work—nor does God expect us to. Unfortunately, I’ve known quite a few believers who did. Burnout can come from trying too hard to alleviate feelings of guilt over past sins, from serving with the wrong motives, or from trying to boost one’s self-esteem.

Another entire set of people tends to drop out rather than burn out. Among 18- to 22-year-olds, around 70% drop out of church after graduating from high school. Reasons they give for doing so include life changes, needing a break, moving away to college, work interference, judgmental or unfriendly pastors or church members, a change in their views, or an acknowledgement that they previously only attended to please someone.

God’s work requires determination. The abundant life Jesus offers requires the same. Otherwise, we’ll change like the leaves or run hot and cold like water. The power to remain steadfast instead of becoming lukewarm doesn’t lie within us, but in the power of God’s Spirit. He provides the want that keeps us keeping on—and for the right reasons.

Don’t let a lukewarm faith cause you to turn like the leaves. Serve God with consistency and diligence.

Father, enable me to check my motives for serving you. Then, give me the staying power to serve you faithfully until the end. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Intercessory Prayer - Patricia Jordan

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1 ESV

On New Year’s Day, I felt led to make an intercessory prayer for my extended family, although nothing specific came to mind. A few weeks later, one of my sisters texted that she and her husband would close on a house soon. I had no idea they had become discontented with their nice but older home that sat at the edge of their small town. It was built in the 1940s, but each new owner had updated it.

It was time to call my sister and catch up on their new plans. She told me that many young families were moving into their neighborhood. It was getting too busy and noisy for them.

A realtor’s sign in their yard quickly brought a young couple who wanted their house. The problem was where my sister and her husband would move. They had looked in the county but hadn’t found a house within their budget.

With their realtor, they looked again and found their perfect newer house—one on which the seller had just lowered the price. My sister and her husband locked in on the sale and buy dates and made a nice profit from selling their old home.

In buying their new home, the seller paid the $9,000 in closing costs. She had inherited the house and, with her husband, had lived there for decades. But now they had a new home built nearby and were eager to move into it.

None of this was a coincidence because that word is not found in the Bible and doesn’t exist in God’s plan. 

When we pray and intercede, we should want what God wants for us or others, not what we might want.

In the above verse, the Apostle Paul says we should give thanks for all people because God desires for all to be saved.

Praying for others’ salvation is a priority. Then, we should pray for wisdom, blessings, healings, and other prayer concerns. No one knows what the outcome will be. Prayers can have amazing outcomes, as when Elisha asked God to show his servant how protected they were.  

Make sure you are interceding for others. 

Adonia, let me be obedient to following your will. Amen

Patricia Jordan is a seventh-generation southerner from the Appalachian Mountains. She is thankful to return and live there after living in various parts of the world with her retired military husband. They have raised three daughters. She has published You Are Valuable (Westbow), which is her story of how she overcame chronic low-grade depression through Bible study, prayer, and talk therapy. Lately, she has turned her writing talents to writing devotions about walking with God.  

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

 

 

 

 

 

What's Stealing My Attention - Martin Wiles

Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21 NLT

Getting shoppers sidetracked is a retailer’s dream come true. Who hasn’t had to ask, “What’s stealing my attention?” And not for the better. 

After a long day of sweating in the hot, humid temperatures of a South Carolina August, my wife and I showered and readied ourselves for church. Moving isn’t fun, but we had no choice.

Following church, we stopped by the local Wal-Mart for a few necessities: curtain rods and a gallon of milk. Tired from a day of moving, I said, “Now, we’re just going to get those two things and leave, right?”

“That’s all,” my wife remarked.

As we entered the store, we began walking in the wrong direction: the garden center. “Your mom said they had chair cushions on sale.”

And so our visit went. Although we only came out with four items instead of two, I had to continually keep my wife pointed toward what we came to get. My recliner was calling my name, but the retailer’s reputation for putting things in my wife’s path that attracted her kept sidetracking her.

God did his best to keep the nation of Israel on track. He sent prophets, priests, and judges who kept his ways before them, but they kept getting sidetracked. The pagan nations around them put more attractive things in their path.

I’m not much different than God’s people of old. In fact, I’ve been known to get sidetracked in Wal-Mart myself—just not over the same things my wife does. That’s how the enemy of our souls works. Through experience, he learns what attracts us. He won’t try to sidetrack me with clothes or shoes because he knows they don’t interest me. But he will throw up a few tech gadgets, a new backpack, or a recently released Kindle book.

I had to continue telling my wife not to get sidetracked. “Keep your eyes focused on what we came for,” I reminded her.

I must do the same for myself. If I don’t, Satan will lead me in sinful or unhealthy directions. And like a puppy on a leash, I’ll follow if I’m not clothed in my spiritual armor. By the power of God’s Spirit, we can say no, get what we came to get, and go home.

Don’t get sidetracked by Satan’s attempt to convince you that you need things you don’t.

Father, give me the power to say no to Satan’s attempts to sidetrack me. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes

 

Ingredients

2 POUNDS BAG CUBED HASHBROWNS, THAWED

    

8 OUNCES SOUR CREAM

1 CAN CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

2 TABLESPOONS BUTTER

1 CAN CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP

1 TABLESPOON DRIED ONION FLAKES

TOPPING: 

1 CUP CORN FLAKES

½ STICK BUTTER

Directions

MIX THE SOUP, CHEESE, SOUR CREAM, AND ONION FLAKES TOGETHER AND SPOON OVER THE HASHBROWNS.

MELT BUTTER AND POUR OVER THE HASHBROWNS.

TOP WITH BUTTERED CORN FLAKES.

COOK ON LOW FOR 5-6 HOURS IN CROCKPOT.

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Downsizing … of Sorts - Martin Wiles

Then he said, “I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.” Luke12:18 NLT

“Where are we going put it? I think we’re turning into hoarders.”

My wife and I both have asked the question and made the statements. Our love for antiques—especially furniture—keeps us adding to our collection and trying to fit them into a small home. But on one of our moves, we decided we would downsize, of sorts. Not that we were going to sell anything. We would simply transfer some things from our home to our storage shed.

There were a few items we decided we could live without seeing or using. We loaded them into the back of our SUV and transported them several miles away. Perhaps our kids will want them someday. Or, maybe we’ll once again live in a larger place before we die. And of course, all of our stored pieces were assets we could sell if we needed money.

Jesus told about a rich man who was a hoarder, but he wasn’t into downsizing. He was into upsizing. His crops produced more than usual. His barns were full. There was nothing for him to do but build larger barns, store his goods, and eat, drink, and be merry. Life was good … or so he thought ... until God confronted him and told him his life would end that night.

Whether we downsize in actuality, we need to at least downsize in our thinking. Possessions are for this life. I will always love antiques and continue collecting them—and sell a few along the way. But I’m intelligent enough to know I can’t take them to heaven with me.

God gives us things of this life to enjoy, but they are for earth, not heaven or the new earth. Possessions are tangible, corruptible, breakable, and susceptible to theft. Placing our security or faith in them will always lead to disappointment.

Possessions can bring joy, but God expects us to use them to help others and also advance his Kingdom. Seeing what we have as temporary helps us do this with the right attitude, avoiding the rich man’s. He was selfish and thought only of himself. And, if by chance, our possessions turn our focus from God, we need to downsize.

Don’t let your possessions possess you. Downsize.

Father, I thank you for all you have given me. Help me use them to glorify your name and advance your work in this world. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.