Daily Devotional for Thursday February 10, 2005

Our Gifts and Talents are from God

(2 Timothy 1:6)

One of the great things about God is how HE has given gifts and talents to His children. Each one of us is unique. To one He may give the gift of music, yet to another the gift of helps. To one He may give the gift of science, yet to another the gift of athleticism. To one He may give the gift of compassion, yet to another the gift of evangelism. ALL good and perfect gifts come from God! YOUR special gifts and talents come from God.

The purpose of your gifts, of your talents, is to better serve and glorify God with your life. God does not give us gifts and talents to hide them, to hoard them, but to USE THEM for HIS GLORY! Sadly, many of those God has gifted have sold their gifts to "the world" for fame and fortune. This is a trap that many of God's most gifted people fall into. In the end, they sadly realize that they sold their soul to the devil himself for a little adulation and a few dollars which have little meaning in the big picture of life.

We all have choices in this life. We all come to a crossroad at times when we can choose the Lord or this world. I almost cry when I see today's most popular entertainers thanking God for an award they won singing about things 100% opposed to God, wearing clothes that they would be embarrassed to meet God in! They are torn. Many were in church as kids, know in their heart that they are "selling out," and trying to fit God into "their world" as opposed to surrendering themselves to fit into "HIS world!" They have SOLD their gift on the open market and try to appease God with their "praise God" when their lives (which is what HE is interested in) are anything BUT a praise to God!

One of the hottest shows on TV is still American Idol on FOX. It is a nationwide search for a new pop superstar. I watched it several times and the Lord told me, "there are many young men and women, many older men and women, who have NOT bowed their knee to Baal, NOT sold out to fame and fortune, who use their gift in the church for HIS GLORY not their own glory." Some of the most gifted musical artists are not known to anyone but their own church.

In 2002, I was honored that Liveprayer sponsored a nationwide search for the most talented Christian music artists that are in our local churches today. It honored and featured the most gifted Christian music artists that have NOT sold their talent to the world, but honored the Lord Jesus through their music!

We had over 1,000 people enter this contest, and after our judges who had many years in the Christian music world narrowed it down to the final 20, we allowed our subscribers to vote for the eventual winner. Kayla Powell, a dynamic young woman who was only 16 at the time was the eventual winner. She continues to this day using the incredible gift God has given her to bless many with her music.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray today that YOU allow the gifts and talents that God has given to you to be used each day for HIS glory. EVERY child of God has some gift. It may take counsel from those you are closest with to help you to identify your gift. Listen, there is NOTHING WRONG with earning a living using the gifts God has given to you. Please, don't get me wrong. It is our gifts that allow most of us to earn the money that we need in this life. What I am talking of is not simply using your gifts to make money, but to never forget that God gave it to you to touch the lives of people for HIM!

If a person has been given the gift of music, there is nothing wrong with using that gift to generate income to live on. To NOT use that gift to glorify God is when a person has sold out to the world. Singing of sex and romance to make money and not the greatness of God is an absolute SELL OUT! If you have the talent to make $1 million singing for "the world," then you have the talent to make $100,000 singing for God. The choice becomes singing to the world for $1,000,000 or singing for God for $100,000. To use your gift for God or money.

God loves you so much. Even though you may never be famous by the world's standards, the ONLY one that it is important to impress is HIM. HE is impressed when you take the gifts and talents that He has given to you and use them to bring honor and glory to HIS name. I pray today that you not only identify your gifts and talents, but use them to honor and glorify God. In the end, HE is the ONLY ONE that you must please!