The Origin of Every Good Gift
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17
Has God gifted you? What do you have that was not given to you? (1 Corinthians 4:7; James 1:17) Do you realize that the Giver of all good gifts is watching exactly what you do with those things He has put in your hand?
“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7
Are you gifted? Are you endowed with something – anything – from God? If you are reading this, the answer to that question is a resounding “Yes” and we have the opportunity to use that gift to bring God glory. A talent is something given to you by God and He is holding you accountable for how you use it. Are you using what God gave you for your glory or for His glory?
For the sake of encouragement, please allow me to share this humble example of stewardship, one that pales in comparison to that of other blessed saints: I once had a friend who did full-time ministry. He was a sincere, New Testament servant and so, every time I received money, I would joyfully call him up, go buy him a cup of coffee, and give him a “firstfruits”portion of what I had been given (Proverbs 3:10-11). Giving is an act of worship and our hearts flourish and thrive when we put God first. Jesus told us to do this in all things and not to worry about tomorrow or preserving our own lives because He who provided what we just received is infinite in His supply and will continue to provide – “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:33-34)
Are you yet familiar with Jesus’ parabolic teaching of the talents? Read Matthew 25:14-30. Read it over and over prayerfully. Get this in your spirit and thinking processes. Let the truth rule and be your thoughts and constitution. Remember that a talent is essential and simply, a gift. And that gift is from our Maker and the Judge of our eternal souls. We shall soon give account before Him for how we are using that which He has placed in our hands.
“All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” 1 Chronicles 29:14
In our modern definition, many reduce a “talent” to some ability they have. In Christ’s parable of the talents, a “talent” is primarily an amount of money which is the gift of God. This parable is not principally speaking of some gift or ability to sing or anything else that one uses to bring attention to himself. Yes, the ability or talent to sing is a gift of God to be stewarded by the one He has given to.
Of this important teaching, Williams MacDonald notes:
“Those who desire to be used for God’s glory are given the means. The more they do, the more they are enabled to do for Him. Conversely, we lose what we don’t use. Atrophy is the reward of indolence.
The mention of the bankers in verse 27 suggests that if we cannot use our possessions for the Lord, we should turn them over to others who can. The bankers in this case may be missionaries, Bible societies, Christian publishing houses, gospel radio programs, etc. In a world like ours, there is no excuse for leaving money idle. Pierson helpfully recommends:
‘Timid souls, unfitted for bold and independent service in behalf of the kingdom, may link their incapacity to the capacity and sagacity of others who will make their gifts and possessions of use to the Master and His Church … The (unprofitable) steward (in the parable of the talents) has money, or it may be other gifts, that can be made for use, but he lacks faith and foresight, practical energy and wisdom. The Lord’s “exchangers” can show him how to get gain for the Master … The church partly exists that the strength of one member may help the weakness of another, and that by cooperation of all, the power of the least and weakest may be increased.’
The unprofitable servant was cast out – excluded from the kingdom. He shared the anguished fate of the wicked. It was not his failure to invest the talent that that condemned him; rather his lack of good works showed that he lacked saving faith.” William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 1298
The “talent” of my time and treasure must be invested wisely.
Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men who have talent they refuse to use.
Stewardship: There Will be No Excuses
IF you have time, ability, opportunity, and treasure (money) to help with God’s work, you are talented! Those gifts are from the LORD who is personally watching exactly how you are using them.
Nothing quite tests the true value of one’s place with Christ as does his stewardship of those things God has allowed to be placed in his temporary possession. The mettle or true and actual value of one’s faith is seen in His stewardship actions or lack thereof.
If you aren’t called to lead up a ministry serving, simply discern one that is fulfilling the purpose Christ gave to His church and jump in. Humble yourself and diligently serve, serve, serve. Give, give, give. Lay down your life and pour out all for Christ’s eternal sake and glory! Refuse to “lay up for yourself” wealth in this fleeting world. Send it forth into eternity!
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light (focus) of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single (singularly focused on Christ), thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:19-24
If you are not willing to give up some of the money God is putting in your hands it’s because you have made an idol of money and are trusting it instead of God.
In stewardship, there will be no excuses. There are more opportunities now than there has ever been in the history of mankind. Those who are not using what God has put in their hands will have no excuse when they stand before Him to be judged. If you are reading this message and are not using what God has and is putting into your hands for His kingdom glory, like the unprofitable/fruitless servant, you also will be cast “into outer darkness.”
“And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness (hell): there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:30
The Bible repeatedly teaches us that the fruitless are not abiding in Christ and will be in the lake of fire for eternity (Matthew 3:7-10; 7:19; John 15:1-6, etc.). What is it that is more important to you than Christ and therefore His work that He sent you to participate in?
Your use of the talents, the gifts God has given you reveals whether or not you are fruitful or fruitless.
“Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Matthew 7:19
Of this important biblical teaching on stewardship, Stephen Michels writes:
“Christ’s parable of the talents should provoke all of us who profess to be followers of Jesus, to reaffirm and diligently dedicate ALL that God has placed into our hands, including time, money, abilities, and any other resources He has blessed us with to further His kingdom every day of our lives! The parable of the talents is one that I must always remember, as I challenge myself to be a 10-talent man with the time our Father gives me here. I must ask myself every day, ‘What am I doing for Jesus today and what am I doing to advance His kingdom? What am I giving to advance the Gospel?’ We must all work for the kingdom while it is still day.”
What now?
- Repent, asking God to forgive you for squandering and wasting that which He has given you.
- If you have something that is not being used constructively, sell it at one and put that money into God’s work (Acts 4:32-35).
- If you have money that is sitting in an account – money that could help another and God’s Word – you have a buried talent that you should release for God’s glory immediately lest you suffer the eternal fate of the one who buried his talent (Matthew 25:30).
- If you have something another believer needs, give it to them freely as God gave it to you. Refuse to make the body of Christ pay for the same thing twice (Acts 4:32-35).
- Get your checkbook out and give to a worthy, New Testament ministry.
- Cry out to the LORD daily for His wisdom in His holy fear.
- Get into God’s Word and devour it like never before!
- Place God’s work first from here forward. Every time you receive money, give a “firstfruits” offering to bless His work and workers to further His Gospel (Proverbs 3:10-11)
- Ready Haggai 1 and find out why God was judging His people.
LET’S LEARN GOD’S WORD TOGETHER – ONE TRUTH AT A TIME: This message was sent out to each person who is on the Moments for My Master e-mail devotional list. In supplementation to your personal daily study of God’s Word, we would love to add you and have the privilege of nourishing your heart with God’s Word (Jn. 5:39; 1 Tim. 4:6, 16; Heb. 5:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:2). Sign up here.
Abiding
Fruitfulness is Found in Abiding in Christ [podcast]
“A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.” Proverbs 28:20
Jesus is the True Vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:1-7
“The understanding is, if I am truly abiding in Christ (the Vine, my first love) then the fruit will come from Him, and not from me—of my own making—but through me. Again, it’s relationship with Christ that is the root of the matter, and not just outwardly keeping a list of rules (living under the law).
‘Abiding fruitfulness’—so loaded with meaning!
-
- for your own state of abiding in Christ
- for the fruit that is brought forth because you are abiding in Christ (the Vine) Who gives life to and bears the fruit
- that the fruit itself (fruit of the Spirit, souls of men and all good works that are born of the Spirit) will abide (remain) and flourish in God’s kingdom on earth and in eternity.” Debbie L.
IF JESUS is purging you, rejoice—because that means He’s born good fruit in your life and wants to bring forth more! Boom.
“Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” John 15:2
*Read that again.
IF you are not a DOER of God’s Word, it proves you are not saved and are a lukewarm hell bound rebel. Repent now and bring forth fruit to prove it (Matthew 3:7-10; 7:21; Titus 1:16; 1 John 2:4; Revelation 2:26, etc.).
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22
HOW DID JESUS tell us to know/discern ourselves and others?
The FRUIT of our lives (Matthew 7:16,20).
The root determines the fruit.
Are you rooted in Christ?
Our works are the good fruit born out of Christ’s salvation and present work in our lives. Those good works do not save us but are a mere outworking of His great salvation in us.
FRUIT vs GIFTS
There are lots of people bragging about their GIFTS which alone tells you they are not in Christ who taught that the greatest among us will be the SERVANT of all—the FRUIT of God’s love in the true remnant disciple (Matthew 20:24-28; 23:8-12).
Gospel Hint: God is interested in a real relationship with those who choose Him. That relationship will always bear good fruit. FRUIT is the crop of an abiding relationship with Jesus which is the stated reason that God the Father sent His only begotten Son (John 15:1-16; 17:3). Anyone can operate in or even fake gifts. Gifts are glitter. Fruit is foundation! The root determines the fruit. What fruit is being born, produced in your life? Are you asking God to make you one with Him? Read John 17.
In the divine economy, FRUIT is much more important than GIFT because good FRUIT can only come out of relationship.
GOD is interested in FRUIT that only comes from a ROOTED abiding relationship! See Matthew 3:7-10; John 15, etc. Jesus foretold that on Judgment Day “MANY” will call out to Him with “Lord, Lord” as they boast of the GIFTS they operated in. “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:19-23).
Taking up the cross, suffering the death of self, is not earning us salvation… it’s simply rendering worship-filled “obedience to the faith” (Romans 1:5) – faith in the ONE who bled on that cross to earn salvation for us, all by Himself!
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Articles
The Only Way Up is Down [podcast]
Chapter 8 from the book Raised Up (narration)
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
The Down and Up Principle of God’s Kingdom
“And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root DOWNWARD, and bear fruit UPWARD.” Isaiah 37:31
The Scriptures follow a pattern of death and resurrection, a downward death and upward life. See if you can observe such a truth in the following verses:
“The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth UP all those that be bowed DOWN.” Psalms 145:14
Do you possess the blessed desire to be raised up by the Almighty? According to His divine wisdom given us in His precious Precepts, in order to be “raised up” we must first be “bowed down.” The LORD will not raise up any person who is still alive in his own power – He only raises up “those that be bowed down” in sincere humility before His majesty (Ps. 145:14; Jn. 12:23-25; Rom. 8:11).
“Those that be bowed down” will “take root downward” and be raised up in blessed fruitfulness (Isa. 37:31).
In order to “bear fruit upward,” one must first be planted in the house (kingdom) of the LORD and “take root downward” in the rich soil of His truth. The resurrection life of Jesus and ample fruitfulness will be the result.
Going deeper in God necessitates going down deeper into death and burial with Christ! Read Romans 6. There are no shortcuts (Galatians 5:24). Christ’s kingdom is a cross economy – one of utter humility and death to self that He might reign (John 12:23-25; 2 Corinthians 4:10-12; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3, etc.).
“And whosoever shall exalt himself (upward) shall be abased (humbled); and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:12
“He must INCREASE, but I must DECREASE.” John 3:30
“And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat FALL INTO THE GROUND (downward) and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (upward). He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life (downward) in this world shall keep it unto life eternal (upward).” John 12:23-25
“Humble yourselves (downward heart posture) in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:10
The life of Christ will raise a man upward and this is after that man bows down his life or humbles himself under the mighty hand of God – first at initial salvation then in the consecrated life that brings God glory. Blessed resurrection life is the upward result of the life planted downward and this is the place from which ministry springs. Look at what the apostle Paul wrote in this regard:
“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-12
Jesus declared to us that He came to make captives free from sin and Satan – “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Lk. 4:18; Jn. 8:31-32, 36).There is chain-shattering, freeing power (liberty) in the redeeming blood of Christ and by the power of the Holy Ghost (Lk. 4:18; Jn. 8:36; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:12-14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 12:11). The divine promise is that when one bows down before the LORD, every yoke shall be broken by Him who is above all (Isa. 58). No stronghold or bond of Satan has power when Christ’s blood is applied in sincere repentance and by the power of the Holy Ghost! The saint who is raised up after being bowed down, will glorify God in rich fruitfulness being “changed into the same image (Christ’s) from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
It is the divine Person of the Holy Ghost who raised up the LORD who was bowed down before His Father in death in order to purchase His Church with His own sinless blood (Acts 20:28). In like manner, it is the Holy Spirit with His resurrection power who raises up those who be bowed down before His throne of grace.
“And he (Jesus) was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God… And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.” Luke 13:10-13, 16-17
There can be no resurrection until there is first a death. A seed is dead or dormant then is planted and then germinates and brings forth bud, then a stalk and ultimately fruit – but first it must be buried downward in order to bear life-giving fruit upward. The life buried with Christ will be lifted up by divine power and bear much fruit to God’s glory (Jn. 15:8).
“But if the Spirit of him that raised UP Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised UP Christ from the dead shall also quicken (make alive upward) your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Romans 8:11
Our LORD had to first die and be buried “downward” in order to be raised “upward” by the Father in resurrection life to raise up and justify all those who would call upon Him in repentance (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 10:13). In order for fruit to be borne “upward,” the disciple must first be planted “downward” in “the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Isa. 37:31; Phil. 3:10).
“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Romans 6:3-5
“Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12
He created man with a choice (Josh. 24:15). In the end there will be “the resurrection of life” and also “the resurrection of damnation” (Jn. 5:28-29). Each of us will be in one of these resurrections – either everlasting life or eternal death (conscience separation from God in hell). The entrance into Heaven or termination into hell will hinge upon whom we served – God or self (Rom. 6:16).
Real promotion comes only from the Giver and Sustainer of all life – from the north (Heaven).
“For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” Psalms 75:6-7
That person who freely chooses to believe God, taking Christ at His Word, bowing under His infinite Majestic glory, will be raised up both now and forever and eternally glorified with the Alpha and Omega (Phil. 2:5-11; 2 Thess. 2:13-14).
“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.” Psalms 92:12-14
PRAYER: Please draw me deeper into You LORD Jesus. Father in Heaven, You sent Your only begotten Son to die for me in order that I might be raised up in new life in this brief life and eternally. I love You Jesus and ask You to lead me to that crucified life that you lived when here on earth and as You gave Your life blood on the cross to save Your people. Please quicken me by Your Holy Spirit and fill me afresh O LORD, that this life You gave might be fully one with You and fruitful and pleasing to Thee. Lord, I am watching and praying in light of Your soon return. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
If you truly desire to know more about how to really know the LORD, go here okay: Born Again: What is It?
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