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

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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