1 Peter 4:10-11 “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

While in the Word this past week, the Lord brought me to this scripture as He reminded me of the reason I began writing Bible studies over 20 years ago. There have been times within the last few years when I’ve become discouraged as the people I’ve taught or ministered the Word of God to either completely ignored what I had said, or they completely misunderstood what I’ve said. I believe this happens with the majority of Christians who do as the Lord tells them to do. One of the biggest discouragements for those of us in Christ, that hinder us from pressing onward in our call is when we get our eyes off the Lord and onto the people. Our hearts should love people, definitely. However, often when we begin looking at the people more than the Lord, our actions become affected more and more based on whether the people receive what is done or not. Or we may begin reaching out to only the types of people that we think we should instead of who the Lord tells us to. Or we stop entirely doing what the Lord tells us to do simply because we feel like we aren’t appreciated. This isn’t a new thing, as even the prophets of old had to be encouraged or warned not to allow such things to stop them as well. Just as the Lord had to warn Ezekiel in

Ezekiel 2:7-8 “And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious.
But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.”

Yet the Lord has reminded me of something quite important. When He first saved me, as I began reading the Word of the Lord He gave me understanding of what His Word was saying. I was and continue to be very thankful to the Lord for blessing me with His Word and blessing me to understand His Word. Knowledge of His Word, is a gift given to us who are in Christ Jesus. And just as we are blessed with such things so that we can bless others instead of horde blessings to ourselves in selfishness…when the Lord teaches us something in His Word we are supposed to share it with others.

This is true for all things we have been given, not just any knowledge. When the Lord entrusts us with something, we are given this for the purpose of edifying the Body of Christ. When we are given salvation we are supposed to preach the gospel to the lost, not remain selfish in hording the information to ourselves. When the Lord calls us to do something, it is absolutely never for the purpose of solely self-gratification or self-anything. If the Lord no longer had a purpose for us to reach out to souls in this world, He would bring us home to be with Him! He wants us to be with Him even more than we do!

One of the things the Lord has taught me over the years, is that as we walk in His Calling that He places in our lives, and we obey Him, we learn and grow. Far too often we want to wait until we’re fully grown or no longer struggling with things, or we feel that we are “equipped” or “able” before we do what the Lord has told us to do. The problem with that is we will be waiting forever in such a case! It would be like waiting until we are in shape, before we start exercising! The Lord says, Go, and He is the one who both enables us to go, as well as teaches us how. As we walk, our legs get stronger to walk more surely. As we use our hands to work for the Lord, our arms get stronger! As we teach, we learn more. As we speak, we learn how to speak even better. A baby doesn’t wait until it knows how to walk before it starts trying to walk and the same way we should never wait until we THINK we are ready before we begin doing what the Lord has told us to do.

Let’s be encouraged today in 1 Peter 4:10-11, that in whatsoever the Lord has called us to do, He will enable us to do it, and so we should indeed do it. Let’s also be reminded that we are many members, of one Body: Christ’s. We are not all called to the exact same work or the exact same call. Reading 1 Corinthians 12 we are reminded that the whole body is not the eye, or the foot, or the hand. Rather we are each called to do what we are supposed to do. Let’s make sure we walk in obedience to the Lord. Let’s not ask others to do our call for us, and let’s not neglect our call while thinking we need to do another’s call.

And most of all, let’s keep our eyes on the Lord, to obey Him no matter the people of the world around us.

May God continue to bless you mightily. I love you with brotherly love, and do pray for all of you reading this. Please keep me and the rest of the Body of Christ in your prayers as well. The return of the Lord draws closer with each passing moment, and we need to hold each other in prayer for both protection (physical and spiritual), as well as strength to continue on without growing weary!

Love always in Christ,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael