For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to intouch.org/tv.
you and i have a responsibility to do
our best it may not be as good as
somebody else
but i have the responsibility of being
my best and where i am and whatever i’m
doing
there’s always somebody who can outdo
you but that’s not the issue the issue
am i giving you my best next on in touch
the third step service one of the
greatest tragedies in life
is for a person to live their whole life
with no purpose
no sense of direction no goals
that is floating through life just sort
of managing to live from one day to the
next or maybe from one week to the next
maybe from one paycheck to the next
accomplishing nothing really
except just existing and making enough
money maybe
to just get by or maybe end up on the
street corners as we see sometimes
people out there begging for money
i look at them wondering what happened
what happened back in their life that
caused them to lose all
hope all sense of purpose
no real sense of direction in life it’s
like going on a long journey
and you have no gps no sense of
direction
you don’t have any destination you just
sort of going just sort of wobbling in
life
what a tragedy and i can tell you no
matter who you are that is
not the will and the plan of god for
your life
it’s very clear in the scripture that he
has a plan and a will for everyone’s
life
otherwise he wouldn’t have given talents
abilities skills he would not have given
spiritual gifts to believers if there
were no purpose whatsoever
so if i should ask you what you’re
living for what would you say
would it be something to do with your
family your job
or something particular interest or
hobby that you have
what are you living for so the scripture
is very clear
and one of the most important things
about our relationship to him and our
relationship to each other is the fact
that god has given you and me
a spiritual gift or gifts and he’s given
us talents and abilities and skills
and he’s given to us for a specific
reason
but if you don’t know that and you don’t
care and you just want to get by
you’ll miss out on life’s best so i want
you to turn if you will to first peter
chapter 4
and look if you will beginning at this
10th verse which is very important
and peter’s just been talking about
things that are going to happen
and so forth and so he comes down to the
10th verse of 1st peter 4
and he says and every word is important
in the word of god
he says as each one has received
a special gift employ it in serving one
another as good stewards of the manifold
grace of god
whoever speaks is to do so as one who is
speaking
the utterances of god whoever serves is
to do so as
one who is serving by the strength which
god supplies
so that in all things god may be
glorified
through jesus christ to whom belongs the
glory and the dominion forever and ever
now look at this tenth verse for a
moment and notice what he says
no unnecessary words in the bible as
each one not as a group but each one as
each one has received each one
means an individual has received is a
tense of the verb that
means something happened in the past not
a line
but a period at some point in your life
as a believer
and i believe this comes to you your
spiritual gifts come
when you trust jesus christ as you’re
savior the holy spirit begins to work
them in your life at that point
at a moment in time you received a
special gift and other gifts
for a very specific purpose he says and
he says
employ it put it to work activate it
how in serving one another as good
stewards of the manifold grace of god
that is his multiple expressions of
goodness and love for us
he says as good stewards not sloppy
not lazy not careless not indifferent
but good stewards of the grace of god
now
let’s uh let’s distinguish between
something
god has given to every one of us one or
more gifts
so let’s define what is a spiritual gift
and i’ll have these on the screen here a
spiritual gift
is what a divinely given endowment
that enables us or equips us to serve
him effectively and successfully
that is god has placed within you as one
of his children
he has endowed you with a very special
gift that is
he’s endowed you with the enabling power
to work in your life to fulfill his
purpose whatever that might be
and to do so effectively and
successfully
so you have a special gift now what’s
the difference between a spiritual gift
and a talent well a talent
is also a gift it’s a special ability
that one has in particular particular
field and
in which they can be successful
sometimes very successful
it can be one of many skills for example
there are talents in the field of sports
you know
about that their talents for example in
the field of teaching their talents
in the field of cooking in fact you
could just
go down the list of all the things that
people do
some who are so technically minded and
scientists for example who are just
way out when it comes to understanding
and being able to understand and explain
to others exactly what’s going on
in the uh heavens so er they’re all kind
of talents
but a talent is something you come into
the world with
your parents for example had something
to do with that
but a spiritual gift is something that
god
deliberately willfully chooses to give
you
based on what he knows your capacities
are
based on what he wants to do in your
life
and so if you’re a believer you have one
of these special gifts
and so let’s look for just a moment at
how the scripture divides them up
let’s start with ephesians chapter four
and uh paul in ephesians chapter four
talks about
ministry gifts and if you’ll notice if
you will in verse 11 of
of ephesians 4 he says and he gave some
as apostles
some as prophets some as evangelists and
some as pastors and teachers and you’ll
notice
he puts pastors and teachers together
because the pastor ought to be teaching
the flock
so these are ministry gifts and notice
what he says
he gives these gifts for the equipping
of the saints
for the work of service to the building
up of the body of christ
that is my responsibility in this
fellowship
to build you up by the grace of god by
the power of the holy spirit
that is in order to work out
god’s will and purpose and plan in your
life to build up the whole fellowship
so i want you to turn if you will to
first corinthians for a moment
and let’s look at the 12th chapter of
first corinthians and here
are some personal gifts that god gives
and if you’ll notice
what paul says beginning in the first
verse now concerning spiritual gifts
brethren
i do not want you to be ignorant and
then he moves on down and he says in
verse four
now there are varieties of gifts but
watch this and the sec
and this but the same spirit it is the
holy spirit
that gives the gift you don’t get a gift
from this person that person the other
person
spiritual gifts are a gift from god
through the holy spirit
there are varieties of ministries in the
same lord
there are varieties of effects as a
result of working these gifts
but the same god who works all things in
old persons
but now watch the seventh verse but to
each one is given the manifestation
of the expression of that spirit for the
common good
that is whatever your spiritual gift is
god didn’t give it to you just for you
he gave it to you for the common good
that is for the church for the whole
body of christ
and then he talks about the gifts of
wisdom and knowledge and gifts of
healing
for example and tongues and people say
well now
what about that tongue’s business so so
that you won’t be thinking about
something else while i’m preaching
let’s go to acts chapter 2.
and you remember acts chapter 2 the holy
spirit came at that point
verse 4 and they were all
filled with the holy spirit and began to
speak look at this with other tongues
as the spirit was giving them utterance
work of the spirit now there were jews
living in jerusalem devout men from
every nation
under heaven and when this sound
occurred
the crowd came together and were
bewildered because
each one of them was hearing them speak
in his own language
they were from different countries of
the world each person was hearing
the gospel in his own language that was
the work of the holy spirit
they were amazed and astonished saying
are not all these who are speaking
galileans
how can they speaking all these other
languages how is it that we hear each
them
in our own language to which we were
born and then he names all these
different
places and so there was that kind of
gift
then if you go to romans chapter 12.
and here is another set of gifts the
first
ministry gifts secondly personal gifts
that god gives
but always for the purpose of the work
of the church
and then beginning in uh the 12th
chapter
beginning if you will in verse 4 of
romans
for just as we have many members in one
body
and all the members do not have the same
function
they don’t all do the same thing but
many different members
we got choir members orchestra members
teachers
and prayers and so forth so we who are
many
are one body in christ and individually
members of one another now listen to
what he says since we have
gifts that differ according
to the grace given to us each of us
is to exercise them accordingly
if prophecy according to the proportion
of his faith
if service in his serving or he who
teaches in his teaching
or he he exhorts in his exhortation he
who gives a liberality
he who leads with diligence one who
shows mercy with cheerfulness
so here are seven different gifts now
listen carefully
these are motivational gifts that is
these gifts are given to you for a
specific purpose
that which god wants to use you a
motivational gift is a gift
that expresses itself within you that
motivates you
that is there’s something about that for
example
a nurse with a gift of mercy
would be highly motivated in that area i
probably wouldn’t become
a nurse a teacher who has the gift of
teaching
is motivated to teach a person with a
gift of exhortation which is mine
i’m motivated every sunday to do what we
do and you can just go down the list of
each one of them
and i think i could sit down and ask you
enough questions in five minutes
to find out what your spiritual gift is
and
their people if you talk to them about
their life they’d probably say well i
don’t think i have any
the more you talk the more you realize
there’s something that underlies what
they do and
where they go and whom they relate to
there’s some particular area that
motivates them
so if you looked at that for a moment
you said well which one of these could
possibly be mine
and you look at all of these and say
well
you know i’m not too sure any of these
are mine
because i don’t seem to have any of
those yes you do
you can have a spiritual gift and not
know it in fact the truth is
most people don’t because nobody’s ever
taught them and they will say well i
i know i have a talent in this area that
you have talents
but god has given you a specific
motivational gift in order to accomplish
something
very specific in your life and this is
why it’s a tragedy for people to live
their lives
never know what it is and wonderful why
am i here
and i should ask you some of you to be
honest enough to say
well yeah you know what i’ve asked that
about myself why am i here god
am i here just because i got born did
you have a purpose for my life the
answer is yes he did
listen because you may be going through
a hard time maybe
most of your life’s been difficult
doesn’t mean that you don’t have a
spiritual gift
i used to wonder about my mom i didn’t
know about this at that particular time
but i finally figured out what her
spiritual gift was
i know she was sweet and loving to me
and so forth but i got to thinking about
about my relationship to her and things
i would see her do
i knew she loved to plant things she
wanted to see things to grow and she
just
covered over those plants and made sure
this and the other
but one thing i remember when one of her
friends
would get sick or somebody that was a
friend of
her friend my mom said she didn’t make a
lot of money but she’d send him a card
or write him a little note
it’s just something inside of her had to
tell them that she was thinking about
him
and praying for him after working 40
years in a textile mill
she was off for about two months and
then she went to a nursing home
and asked for a job and she wanted to
nurse the people
who were on their way to death they knew
they weren’t going to get well and they
were going to live there the rest of
their life
and die and she spent most of her last
years not all
the last years doing just that giving
herself away
to people who could not help themselves
my mother had the gift of mercy
and i looked back and thinking raising
me she had to have the gift of mercy
but she had the gift of mercy you have
won you have
a gift in other words do you find
yourself
always wanting to help somebody and
you’re talking to them and you find
yourself wanting to encourage somebody
you see that they’re down
you’re more than likely to have the gift
of exhortation
and or maybe you get in a situation and
you see people just don’t seem to know
how to put it together
and you have the gift of leadership and
exhortation sometimes they don’t like
that
mercy does not want you telling them how
to operate sometimes
but that’s your gift that’s that’s the
way you think you think organized
because god made you that way and the
best situation in the world is when you
have
an employment that fits you that fits
your spiritual gift
if you are a leader and you’re way down
here and you don’t there’s nobody you
can talk to about anything you’re going
to be miserable
and many people are miserable in what
they do in life and they don’t know why
they’re gifted in that area but that’s
not where they’re working that’s not
where they’re living
and i’ll tell you many people for
example don’t make it in marriage
because
they don’t understand why the other one
acts the way they do when that’s their
spiritual gift
and for example let’s say your wife has
a gift of exhortation and she uses it
freely
and and the truth is god must know you
need it
and so it’s the way she comes across and
i had
this lady if i called her name everybody
would know who she is
she i was somewhere in the meeting and
she came up to me and she said i got to
tell you something
she said my husband and i were about to
split
and she said somebody sent us that set
of tapes of yours on spiritual gifts
and she says when i was listening to
those and he was listening to him
separately
she said i thought now i know what’s
wrong
because she was acting a certain way she
didn’t understand him
he didn’t understand her and they were
going to be getting to break up
when you understand what motivates you
and your husband or wife or your
children for example
they have spiritual gifts when they’re
saved and they act a certain way and you
think well
what motivates them they’re motivated
by the gift now watch this if that gift
isn’t sanctified it’s not controlled by
god
it can get you in trouble but if we
understand what the other person’s
spiritual gift is then we can give them
some slack you know give them some space
understand who they are so these are the
gifts that god has given
to everyone and the scripture says it’s
very clear here in first corinthians
where we were reading he says for
example that uh
they are given for the for the common
good which means they don’t
he doesn’t give us spiritual gifts for
our sake
but he gives them for the for the common
good and so
uh but to each one is given the
manifestation of the spirit that is how
the spirit operates
for the common good and that means for
example in a church like this
all this whole body right here in this
particular group
we have all these gifts and so
each one of us is to exercise our gift
in behalf of somebody else
for someone else and you see somebody
headed for trouble and you’re an
exhorter
you want to stop them if at all possible
you hear someone suffering
you want to step in when they’re
suffering if you see
somebody who’s making a mistake and it’s
because they don’t know how
you want to teach them how you know why
because
god made us to be a part of the whole
and if you are giving of yourself to
other people
motivated on your gift you’re going to
be happier you’re going to be more
successful of what you do no matter what
that is and i think
when people feel that their life is
meaningless they’re going to make it
meaningful even
if it means to do something wrong to get
recognition
so he says god has given us all of these
that is
for the for the good of everyone not
just for the good of one person
so when i think about the purpose for
which they’ve been given
especially he noticed he says employ it
put it to work in serving one another so
whatever your gift is
god didn’t give it to you for you he
gave it to you
to use you in some way for somebody else
we have all been in situations where
each one of those we need
and been in situations where somebody
needed to give you something
or encourage you or direct you instruct
you for example or
somebody to correct you because of
something you did wrong in other words
all the gifts have a part this is about
us giving ourselves away to each other
what can i do to help the other person
because people who are always looking
out for themselves
they’re not happy they’re not at peace
you don’t even want to be around them
because it’s me myself and i and that’s
all they’re interested in
what what will it profit me what will i
get out of this
and that is not love for example and
it’s not the reason he gave us the gifts
and so i look at mark chapter 10 verse
45
and listen to what jesus said about
himself and i would certainly think that
sort of be our example
he says in verse 45 for even the son of
man
and notice how he said it even i jesus
for even i
the son of man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life a
ransom for many
and who was it washing feet at that last
supper
jesus washing feet because he was
demonstrating
what service was all about and so the
truth is
you have a very definite spiritual gift
with
your name on it given to you by almighty
god
and nobody else can give it to you and
nobody else can take it away from you
the only thing you can do is employ it
for the purpose of god
or waste it by ignoring it and being
selfish
and not living it out as god would
intend you to do and so
somebody says why does god give these
things anyway well let’s think about it
for a moment
if he’s in heaven and jesus is seated by
his right side
the holy spirit’s living within you how
does god get his work done
he gets his work done through his
children
for example let’s say that um here
a group of very very impoverished
children and
they have a need and so what does god do
he stirs somebody’s heart with a gift of
mercy
he stirs somebody else’s heart with a
gift of organization somebody else
with the gift of giving and somebody
else with exhortation somebody else with
prophecy
and each one when you put them all
together
all the needs will be met what a
missionary is all about
they’re all about being evangelists
they’re all about establishing churches
all about reaching people for christ
you have a spiritual gift and god has
given to you a spiritual gift for a
specific reason
and ultimately as he says here for
example it is to get his work done
he’s equipped you he not only has given
you a gift
he not only has given you a talent he’s
given you the holy spirit who is his
guarantee for example that you’ll go to
heaven when you die
and his guarantee and absolute assurance
that he will exercise that gift through
you
to accomplish god’s purpose in your life
that’s why you can never give up
and once a while somebody says well but
you know if you knew about my
grandfather and my past and where i came
from and so forth so
what we thought we’ve all come from
somewhere
that’s not where the question is not
where did i come from where do i want to
go
that’s the issue it’s it’s what’s god’s
goal
what is his destination what is his will
what is his purpose
because he doesn’t give us gifts just to
sit around and say well i have the gift
of doing so and so no
remember what he said he says he gives
us these gifts for the common good
and we’re to serve him and he says it as
good stewards
or excellent stewards which means this
whatever
little i have i am to be a good steward
of it
if i only have a little bit of money i’m
to be a good steward of it
if i want more and be honest if i want
more
i work harder i’m more diligent i may
outwork somebody else or whatever it
might be
he says we’re to be good stewards in
other words look the more truth that you
know
the more truth you’re responsible for
and the reason god gives you truth is to
make it possible
for you to become the full person
god wants you to be what is your
potential you know what your potential
is
you have no idea what your potential is
until you’re tested
and once you’re tested for example what
happens
just like people uh in the sports field
they never know what they can do till
they get in the contest they break all
kind of records
and they think this record nobody ever
breaking somebody else comes along
yes they do people are always in those
areas of striving for the best
they want to be the best let me ask you
a question because
you’re a follower of jesus christ ignore
what the world thinks of you
you’re a follower of jesus christ you
and i have a responsibility to do
our best it may not be as good as
somebody else
but i have the responsibility of being
my best and where i am and whatever i’m
doing
there’s always somebody who can outdo
you but that’s not the issue the issue
am i giving it my best god is not
expecting you to be like anybody
else not expecting to be like anybody
else
he’s expecting you and equipping you
to be your best at what he wants you to
do
while he created you and given you the
gifts and the endowments of the
talents that he’s given you that’s awful
that’s all he’s expecting and he says
you’re living it out for somebody else
for the common good for the whole body
of christ
because if if a person is truthful
and honest and want to do their best
they listen
you want god’s best not man’s approval
god’s best and he’s gifted you so that
you can become something that you aren’t
something that he wants you to be so
this is why you can’t blame your past
when people say well
if out of this if out of this if out of
that well you know what if others has
nothing to do with it
in fact some of the most famous people
in the world
came from the most difficult situations
that for all practical purpose
they didn’t have a chance in life but
you know what they didn’t stop where
they were
they didn’t say this is all i can do and
i’m going to blame it on this and blame
it on that and blame it on the other
they said this is where i am i’m going
to do my best where i am
i’m going to give it all i’ve got i’m
going to trust god
people who make the best are oftentimes
listen and the reason is because
they recognize where they are and
they’re not willing to stay where they
you don’t have to stay where you are
spiritually and so if you think about
this these spiritual gifts
and talents don’t originate with us god
is the one who gives them that what does
he give them
he gives them for the specific purpose
of making you the person god wants you
to be
in order that you can accomplish the
things that he wants you to accomplish
now you can sit here and say well you
know that’s all right if you’ve got this
and got
no that’s not all right don’t
underestimate what god
can do in your life don’t underestimate
it
you don’t have any idea what he can do
in your life
he’ll take you from where you are and i
can think back in my life and if
somebody had ever said
because i was very shy and i wasn’t a
very good student
i had a lot of reasons to say you know i
haven’t never accomplished anything in
life
you know what motivated me primarily
well first of all god motivated me
number one
secondly i worked in a hot terrible
textile mill for two summers and i
thought god
i’ll join the french foreign legion
before i’ll work in this place and
you got to get motivated
and if things get hot enough and bad
enough
you’ll do better but then some people
they just say well
this is the way it is this is my lot in
life listen your lot in life
is to be obedient to god to walk in his
will to will
fulfill his purpose and plan for your
life god
loves you don’t stop where you are
don’t give up and quit you say well i’m
trying to figure this out don’t figure
it out just say god
i’m your vessel i’m available i want you
to accomplish your willingness whatever
that is god i’m going to do whatever you
say
sometimes he’ll miraculously open doors
for you
that you could never figure out if you
live on what you can reason
you’ll never get anywhere you live on
what
god reasons and live on the power of god
not in your own strength and your own
resources that’s why he says
he sent the holy spirit now
you notice he said he’s given for the
common good everybody
and there’s no room for boasting none of
us can say here’s my gift
the issue is you are a child of god
endowed with the spirit of god the
anointing of god upon your particular
gifts that’s why you’ve got to ask the
question god what do you want to do in
my life
what are you up to in my life you said
you have given me
these talents and gifts and i’m to obey
you and to fulfill your purpose in life
that’s what matters and what matters is
not what somebody else thinks
there always be critics and there’ll
always be people who will love you and
be
inspired by what you do the issue is
what am i living for with these gifts
and talents god has given me
if i think i’ve failed at some point in
life
no matter what’s happened to past
everybody’s failed at something
everybody’s failing something you just
get up and do it again
and say okay lord i didn’t understand
oh i blew it there and i’m willing to do
whatever you want me to do god
you would be totally surprised what he’s
got in mind
so when i look at all these passages and
i look at colossians chapter 3 for a
moment
and notice what uh paul is saying here
because he’s talking about this very
idea of doing our best at what we do
and here’s what he says in the third
chapter
he says 22nd verse slaves in all things
obey those who your masters on earth not
with external service as those who
merely please men
but with sincerity of heart fearing the
lord now watch this
whatever you do do your work
heartily thoroughly
completely enthusiastically
do your work heartily as for the lord
rather than for men and i think about
people who
look at their bosses for example and
think you’re not working him you’re
working for jesus
he’s just an intermediary you’re working
for god you do your best no matter where
you
are i remember when i was going to
seminary i worked in a uh
in a grocery store and i was a cleanup
boy
that means after they got all the dirt
out there and all the mess i had to go
clean it up
well i moved pretty fast and
so one day i heard the boss telling
somebody he says
don’t get in stanley’s way he’ll sweep
you right out of here
well you know what i gave it my best
if i had to sweep i had to sweep i
worked in a texas mill in the place it
was next to hades
it was so hot it was high up in the
building
and uh in 30 minutes you were soaking
wet
that’s that’s what it was about i gave
it my best i said lord
i don’t like this but i’ll stay here as
long as you want me to
but i’m not too sure how long i can
handle the heat
and about three weeks god put took me
down put me doing something else
but i would have stayed if i’d have had
to people said
i can’t stand this i quit no you can’t
quit on god
now you say well what did god have to do
with that job
well i needed to go to college i needed
to make some money he had nothing he
gave me a job
and so the issue is you don’t quit you
don’t give up
you remember who you are you are a
creation of almighty god
he loves you he loves you enough to die
for you he gave you
talents and gifts and the holy spirit
living god within you
to equip you to do whatever he has in
mind
sometimes people quit right before they
reach the goal
the biggest gold deposit ever discovered
the men who were there before they
stopped
three feet from absolute
indescribable wealth because they got
tired of digging
sometimes we have to keep digging
whatever that is listen to what he says
he says whatever you do do you work
harder list for the lord rather than for
men
knowing that from the lord you will
receive the reward of the inheritance
it’s the lord christ whom you serve if
we could just get that
it’s jesus whom we are serving this may
be the mediator whoever that person is
and where we work but it’s the it’s the
lord whom we serve
but if i do my best at whatever i do
that’s what matters
so as you think about what your
spiritual gift is
what god’s doing in your life and here’s
what he says now i’ll say this quickly
we’re to exercise our gifts and service
to one another
and in the power of the holy spirit you
know the scriptures in
the second chapter of acts the holy
spirit came
to endue all of those believers with the
power of the holy spirit because he said
to them he said
now you’ve you’ve listened to me and
you’ve been with me for three years but
you’re not ready
any one of us would have said we’re
ready you’re not ready
until the holy spirit comes upon you and
enables you
he’s our enabler he’s the strength and
the energy the power and the knowledge
and the understanding
all of us who is saved by the grace of
god have been
sealed by in the indwelling holy spirit
that’s how we know we’re eternally
secure it’s the same spirit
that works in our life and works through
us to help us to accomplish
what god wants to accomplish in life and
i think about people
for example who retired and once in a
while one of my friends would call me
stanley when you’re going to retire i
said it’s not in the scripture
and they’ve already retired and uh
and this is a tragic thing and i’m not
criticizing my brothers at all but i
know this is true
a lot of them can’t wait till they’re 65
years old and stop
65 years old listen i’ve learned more in
the last 20 years probably not knew the
first 60s so i’m more excited i can say
this
i’m more excited about studying the word
of god today
than i’ve ever been now listen to what
he says
the righteous man will flourish like the
palm tree he will grow like a cedar in
lebanon
planted in the house of the lord watch
this they will flourish in the cults of
our god
they will still yield fruit in
old age they shall be
full of sap that means life energy
and very green to declare that the lord
is upright
so where’s this retirement business
we had to we listen we’re to work as
long as god gives us the energy
and listen we’re to invest in life in
other people
i look at this passage in psalm 92
and thank god you have a life
for every one of your children he takes
some early in life
some later in life but the most
important thing is this
we want to do our best as long as
we live and he gave us the holy spirit
to enable us and to empower us to do
everything he wants to do now
let’s think for just a moment why do
believers fail to serve him
and weaken the testimony of the church
why do they do it
so i’m going to give you a list and uh
may so i won’t have to take too long to
discuss these number one
the ignorant of scripture there are
people who have no earthly idea
that god requires them to exercise
their spiritual gifts and their talents
secondly
people who feel inadequate oh i couldn’t
do this now watch this when people say i
can’t
they’re looking at themselves from their
viewpoint
not god’s viewpoint not what god said
but what they think
which makes them inexcusable third they
have guilt feelings
well i can’t serve the lord because back
onto my life i did this
i did that and so i’m just not worthy
god’s grace takes care of the past not
acceptable
fear of failure well how do you learn
some things
you you learn about how do you learn to
swim you just don’t hop in the water and
just take off
how do you learn to do many things you
learn
by exercising the opportunity then of
course
people are unwilling to make a
commitment
and so they’ll say well yeah i’ll do
thus and so then what happens for
example
listen to this if you have a
responsibility and you commit yourself
that responsibility
don’t show up late don’t show up
and say well i just didn’t feel good you
didn’t call anybody nobody else will
take your place
and here’s my conviction if you take a
responsibility
and you can’t be on time and doing what
you’re supposed to do
resign and let somebody
that god will use who may have less
talent and less ability and less skill
and less less less but they’re but what
they’re faithful they’re trustworthy
those things we don’t
we don’t what happens to trustworthiness
and so we are responsible to god
then i think one of the reasons that
people don’t serve the lord
is a lack of love and caring for other
people they don’t love other folks
some people grew up in a home where they
were never taught to love and never saw
an example of love i understand that
but you know you can get over those
things if you want to
you listen if you just spend your life
excusing
yourself for laziness and tryfulness and
sloppiness and all the rest because
well my family did this might you know
we’ve all grown up in bad situations
about certain things in life but god’s
gifted us he’s talented us he’s given us
opportunities
we don’t stay where we are we move on in
life
it may not be as fast as you want it to
be
but you when you’re faithful where you
are and i can think of some people that
it seems they only have one gift in life
but how faithful loyal devoted they are
and god says he’s the one who gives them
that the reward
then of course there are people who are
selfish with their time
and as we’ve said before they said you
know i just don’t have time
in other words you don’t have you don’t
have time to witness to somebody else
you don’t have time
to serve you don’t have time to sing in
the choir you’re gifted you don’t have
time to play
though you’re gifted you don’t have time
do this that the other and so forth
you don’t have time to visit other
people you don’t have time you don’t
have any time to do anything for anybody
but yourself
that is pure selfishness ungodliness
and then of course people who are poor
managers of their time
and the people who tell you well i just
don’t have time
it’s because they’ve never stopped to
sit down and think now
i’ve got 24 hours in a day seven days in
a week
now what do i want to accomplish you
have to plan it
and you don’t have to be smart to do
that i learned that a long time ago in
the very beginning early in my life
that if i was going to get something
done i better write it down
and decide when i was supposed to do it
and when i’m supposed to get it done
and uh you may have a long list
and say my goodness i didn’t get half of
that done what do you do you start again
the next day
in other words you don’t give up in life
you don’t give up and excuse it and
blame
somebody else as long as you’re blaming
somebody else for what you don’t have
and what you can’t deal with
you’ll never make it in life and nowhere
in the bible does it say
i have the privilege to blame my
circumstances on somebody else
doesn’t say that it doesn’t make any
difference where i came from
who knows where dry fork virginia is
i was born in dry fork and you know just
a few people there and the only thing
there was a mill a railroad crossing
in one little grocery store and that’s
about it and i guess that’s what life’s
all about no that’s not what life’s
about
i’m saying to you don’t give up don’t
be where you are blaming on your past or
blaming on what your grandfather did
your great-grandfather
or somebody else well my grandfather was
in jail and my
father was in jail well don’t go there
you know it’s
you don’t you don’t have to go there
because they went there
that’s not the issue
but that’s the way people think now
here’s one of the worst things
comparing yourself with somebody else
you know why that’s not right
number one nobody else is like you
you look at you put everybody’s
thumbprint they’re all different
i don’t understand how you could have
six by seven billion thumb prints
i don’t know how that works but i can
say this god knows you by name
and when you think about it it’s not
right to compare yourself with somebody
else for example as a nurse
you’re a nurse and you think well you
know i just don’t have the stamina
so-and-so has or
maybe you’re a secretary and you’re not
the best in the world with a computer
don’t compare yourself so much here’s
what you do god i want to thank you for
the gifts and talents and skills you’ve
given me
and god by the holy spirit i am going to
improve
i’m not going to stay where i am i’m
going to improve
i’m not waiting for somebody else to
just give me a break i’m going to
improve by the power
of the spirit of god do you think god
will help you absolutely
he promises to do so you don’t know what
your potential is and as long as you
blame
somebody else and there’s something
about the past where you’re
you’ll never make it that listen
everybody
in fact if you list if you go through
the list of history of people who
have done amazing things in life they
came from
crazy paths you’d think they’d never
amount to anything in life
but you know what they didn’t stay where
they were they didn’t look around and
say i’ll never mount anything
they decided i’m going to give it my
best i may not get there but i give it
my best
and when people get over that then god
will begin to work in their life and of
course
one of the primary reasons that people
don’t really serve god is they’re living
in sin
you live in sin you don’t have any big
desire to serve god
you don’t have a big desire to help
other people you’re just
trying to satisfy yourself and when i
think of anything that breaks my heart
is
when i see people waste talent
skills time gifts
because of this because of that because
the other when
god saved them sent the holy spirit
living on the inside of him and it’s
like
he had to go to sleep you never know
your potential
until you put yourself in the hands of
god and say lord i’m going to do it your
way
and my desire for you is that you look
at yourself
and say god here’s who i am today
what do you want to do in my life where
do you want me to go
i refuse to accept the excuse that i
can’t
and they want the important thing is god
what do you want
and now that i know i have a spiritual
gift and i have i have talents and i
have the holy spirit in me
god i’m going to give it my best
beginning today
i’m listening for direction i’m going to
trust you
and i’m going to obey you today could be
a life-changing day in your life
it’s a choice you make if you’ve never
trusted jesus as your savior
it’s not going to work you know why the
wages of sin is death the gift of god is
eternal life
and my prayer is that you would ask
jesus christ to forgive you of your sins
based on the fact that he went to the
cross and died on the cross and his
blood
paid your sin debt in full so that you
don’t have to pay it
he forgives you of your sin writes your
name in the lamb’s book of life and
sealed you forever
as a child of god whoever you are
wherever you are you’ve just heard the
truth
and i pray in jesus name that you’d be
willing to ask him to forgive you of
your sins tell him you’ve messed up your
life
you’ve depended on other things you’ve
lived it the way you want to live it
you’ve never given him any real thought
in your life about how you should live
you thought you were doing well
you’re not doing well without jesus
you’re going to reap what you sow
more than your soul later than you so
you cannot change it
my prayer for is that you’d be wise
enough to receive jesus christ as your
savior
you have the privilege
of getting further along in life if
you’re willing put your trust in him
ask him to sanctify your thoughts
surrender your will to him and tell him
lord god
i’m going to give it my best with your
with your help and strength
whatever you want to do with me fine i’m
going to give it my best
you’ll be surprised what god can do now
watch
you can walk out here and try to forget
everything you’ve heard
but you will always be accountable for
this message
you’ll always be accountable for it
because it is the truth
and it is a message preached in love and
concern for you
to become the person god wants you to be
it’s nothing to do with me has to do
with
what god can do in your life if he will
allow him
amen father how grateful we are for your
love for us
how many times we have to ask you to
forgive us for not living up to what we
know
is the best we could do
please lord do not allow us
to be satisfied with anything less than
holy living
and holy giving of ourselves to you
to be used by you any way every way
you possibly can i pray that you’ll
seal this message in the heart of every
single believer do not let it escape the
father
and i pray for somebody here today who
is unsaved
they’re already wasting time help them
to see
the first step is to be saved the second
step
is to surrender themselves to you and be
filled with the holy spirit
and the third step is to say yes lord
here am i
use me send me i’m available
and that’s our prayer this morning in
jesus name
amen
as believers we’re called to use our
spiritual gifts in service to one
another
in the power of the holy spirit at
intouch.org
learn more about what it means to follow
jesus and be a blessing to others
there you can see today’s message the
third step
service along with a library of free and
inspiring messages from dr stanley
sermon notes and resources to help you
discover god’s plan for service
in your life download the intouch app to
take the teaching of dr stanley on the
go
or follow us on youtube facebook and
dad
dad
have we tried the drill i’m with you
buddy
okay money relationships faith
employment theology if you’ve got tough
questions
dr charles stanley has biblical answers
in his handbook for christian living
this comprehensive reference is your
go-to guide for both the little gray
areas
and puzzling matters of doctrine
practical scriptual
and easy to use charles f stanley’s
handbook for christian living is the
book you’ll turn to again and again
order the handbook for christian living
at intouch.org
nearly 2 000 years ago the apostle john
recorded christ’s great unveiling
revelation god’s climactic story of hope
fulfilled warning
the day of wrath and judgment
blessed are those who will live forever
in the new heaven
and earth
life principles to live by dr charles
stanley’s exploration of the 30
foundational truths
that continue to guide his life and
ministry order a box set on cd or dvd
at intouch.org
share a personal message on a beautiful
note card from the lens of dr charles
stanley
enjoy six nautical designs featuring
boats from around the world in this 18
card set
this world will pass away and in its
place
god will provide a new heaven and a new
earth and in this wonderful future
believers in jesus christ will enjoy
such fullness and joy
that it is impossible to picture it and
because of this we pray
come lord jesus and yet the christian is
also called to live a productive life
in the here and now delivers both salt
and light in this present world
so how do we find the right balance
between living now
and longing for eternity let’s talk
about that as we read today’s email
question
is it right to pray for god to change
the direction
of the world if the world is set for
destruction
and god is in control shouldn’t we see
the nearness of the end as a good thing
well the nearness of the end will be a
good thing for those
of us who will believe us but now let’s
think about something by the world
what do we mean the world system or the
people in the world
in first john chapter 5 verse 19 the
scripture says the whole world
lies in the power of the evil one we’re
talking about the world system
because all of us do not lie in the
power of the evil one
in first john 2 15 he says concerning
this world system
where we live he says don’t love it know
the things that are in it
so let’s distinguish for a moment the
people from the system
when the bible speaks of the world the
bible oftentimes
refers to the system the governments how
worlds operate wars and economy and all
those things
and so that’s the that’s the system in
which you and i live
but we’re to live above it and not to be
like it and so when you come to
second corinthians chapter four he says
in whose case the god of this world
has blinded the minds of the unbelieving
so that they might not see the light of
the gospel of the glory of christ
who is the image of almighty god so
there’s a difference between
us being a part of the world he says
we’re not to be like the world we’re not
to
partake of it as the world system
operates we’re to live above and beyond
that
christ came into the world the scripture
says to save sinners
not the system revelation 21 1 the
scripture says
we’ll see a new heaven and a new earth
truly
it’s useless to pray for god to change
the world system
because he hasn’t promised to do that
and we live
above the world system as believers
following the lord jesus christ that’s
why we have conflict
that’s why we are persecuted because the
system
doesn’t accept the gospel of jesus
christ
we’re to pray for people to be saved and
the great commission was all about it
jesus said he sent us out and he sent
them out
for the purpose of sharing the gospel
that changes people’s lives
now if enough people got saved the world
system would collapse and we would be
in charge it’s not going to happen the
bible never promises that
the nearness of the end is a great thing
because that means heaven is closer but
the real issue is this
readiness that’s the main thing are you
ready for the coming of jesus christ
when he takes care of all of this that’s
beyond
our comprehension we’re thankful you’ve
joined us today friend touch
and as we close remember this trusting
god means looking beyond what you can
see
to what god sees
leading people worldwide into a growing
relationship with jesus christ
and strengthening the local church in
touch with dr charles stanley
is a presentation of in touch ministries
this program is made possible by the
grace of god
and your faithful prayers and gifts