Making the Most of What We Have, Part 7

I want to help us understand that not only is our treasure, a trust given us from God to give him a return on that investment, and not only is our time, a trust from God, but we need to see that our talents, our abilities also trust from God.

Perhaps nothing demonstrates our love for God more than being faithful stewards of all that he's given us hello and thanks for joining us for today's destined for victory message Pastor Paul Sheppard wherever you are and how we may be listening.

Thanks for making this part of your day increase parable of the talents, the master entrusted certain things to three of the service will he was away on a journey.

We honor God by giving of our tithes and offerings and by investing our time in his kingdom today. Pastor Paul turns his attention to 1/3 way we can bring glory and honor to God using our God-given gifts and abilities to build up the body of Christ, stay right here or visit Pastor Paul.net delisted destined for victory on demand can also subscribe to the podcast a Google podcasts modify or wherever you enjoy your cats right now. Here's Pastor Paul.

Today's message making the most of what you have. I want to help us understand that not only is our treasure, a trust given us from God to give him a return on that investment, and not only is our time, a trust from God, but we need to see as we begin to wrap this up that our talents, our abilities are also trust from God. Now, just to be clear in this passage when you see the word talents here. It is not referring to ability it is referring to money in the day of this writing talent was a word used for monetary value from culture to culture.

The value differ depending on what particular metal was used for talents. But regardless of which metal talents represent money in this passage but you and I are more familiar with using the word talent to talk about our abilities, our personal endowments.

Our aptitude those things that we are able to do that we are inclined to do that we can get good at doing and that's what I want to talk to you about in this portion of the series. I want us to make sure we understand that God has entrusted to us, finances, and he has entrusted to us time, but he is also entrusted to us various abilities that he placed with in us when you came to the planet you came with certain abilities stored in your potential.

And when you came to Christ, then he also gave you spiritual abilities or spiritual gifts, and so all of us who are in Christ have spiritual gifts. We all also have natural abilities and talents and we need to understand that goals are not there for any other reason then to give God our return on his investment. God wants to use those to glorify himself and to help us bless others in his name as well as they are to be used, to bless our own lives, so that's kinda plow the ground here and look at how this parable would speak to us about the matter of our abilities and our personal endowments now. First of all I want to encourage you if you're going to give God a return on his investment of ability of endowment in your life. The first thing you want to do is take inventory of the gifts the talents and the abilities that God has given you take inventory of them. In other words, you need to have a working knowledge of what are my strengths. What are my God-given abilities. What are my spiritual gifts and natural gifts. What are the things that God has built into me.

He has placed in me that he is expecting me to give him a return on I want you to take inventory of the things in your life now, lest there be anyone here who has been misinformed. Let me help you understand something you're not necessarily being prideful or arrogant to recognize your strengths. Now that's important to know because I know some Christians very well intentioned would suggest that the way to be humble is to be ignorant and some of them aren't even ignorant. They just choose to look the other way and not pay attention to their strengths or abilities. I want to suggest to you that while your intentions may be good. Your desire is the make sure you don't become prideful or arrogant. I applaud that desire but let me help you understand something you can't give God a return on an investment in your life until you acknowledge that he placed the investment value. In other words, you will never be able bless God to glorify God in the bless other people with your gifts. If you don't acknowledge the gifts so I want to help you understand it's not a function of ignorance for you to be humble. Humility comes from recognizing But Every Good and Perfect Gift Comes from God. He Is the One Who Gets to Go so You Don't Practice Humility by Denying Your Gifts, You Practice Humility by Saying Yes, by God's Grace. Here Is What You Have Placed in My Life.

Here Is What He Has Blessed Me to Be Able to Do and I Want to Turn around and Glorify Him and Bless Other People with the Gifts He Has Given Me. And Every Time You Do Something Well and Every Time It Results in God Being Glorified Another People Being Blessed.

You Know, the Praise Goes to, You Know, Gets the Glory and Honor the One Who Gave the Gift in the First Place. So Please, Please Don't Practice False Humility. Please Don't Act like a Nobody, and I Can Do Nothing. Glorify God You Can Do Anything What You Want to Do Is Say in Me That Is in My Class Dwells No Good Thing. Like Paul Said I Can Do All Things through Christ Who Gives Me the Strength. In Other Words, If He's Given Me a Certain Set of Gifts and Abilities. I Can Blast Him with Goals and I Will Be Sure to Give Him All the Glory Because They Sure They Are Prideful, Arrogant People Who Are Full of Themselves Because of What They Can Do You See It in the Secular World and You Also See Unfortunately in the Christian World. There Are People Who Are Full of Themselves That Are Not Only Confident That Downright Conceited. There Are People That Are Megalomaniacs in the Body of Christ, As Well As outside of the Body of Christ Was That Word Mean I'm Aware of Egomaniac, Not Megalomaniac. Well, Maybe I Just Take Eagle to Another Level and What It Means Is You Have a Pregnant Ego That Refuses to Give Birth, It Just Keeps Getting Bigger and It Won't Do Anything Good It's Just Full of Itself and People like That.

And When We Are in the Body of Christ, We Have Absolutely No Business People Don't Know Christ. They Don't Have a Proper Worldview and so We Can Understand Where Their Misguided Living and Values Come from.

But We Are Supposed to Be People We Ought to Know Better. We Know That If It Were Not for God, Not of Us Would Have Anything More Talking about or Bragging about God Who Picked Us up Out Of Our Sins Out Of Our Degradation Saved Us by His Grace God Began the Good Work in a Job Who Took Our Potential and Built It and Put into a Divine Purpose and Is Allowing Us Now to Be Used of Him. It Is All God's Will to God Be the Glory of Being Stuck up When You're Gifted Just Stop and Think about It When You Have Giftedness inside of You That Bless Other People Give Me about a Gift That Blessed Other People with the Gift of Encouragement. Then You Have To Find Somebody That One.

That Leaves Happy and You Were Just Sold You Encouragement to Somebody Else. They Are the Recipient of the Gift You Have Nothing to Be Conceited about What We Don't Live in the Humility That the Word Calls Us to. The Bible Says Humble Yourself. Humility Doesn't Happen to You, Out Of the Clear Blue Sky. You Have To Choose to Walk in Humility. Some Folk Well-Intentioned, but They Say Well Truly Humble People Don't Even Notice Humble Because They Do I Think I Know What You Mean, but You're Put All Because I Chose to Walk in Humility. The Bible Says Humble Your Self under the Mighty Hand of God and He Will Exalt You in Due Time, You Humble Because You Got Make the Decision Recognizing That I Am Limited. I Serve an Infinite God. But I'm a Fine Not Being Yes I Have Strength but Also Have Weaknesses in Idiosyncrasies and Things That If God Doesn't Help Me Go Make a Mess of My Life so I Have No Business Being in Humility, and the People God Can Use Coming up Next. The Rest of Today's Destined for Victory Message Making the Most of What You Have with Pastor Paul Sheppard, Pastor Paul.net Is the Place to Go to Hear Pastor Paul's Recent Messages on Demand. Also Find a Host of Great Resources That Are Online Store, Including Books and DVD Messages from Pastor Paul about the Ministry and but All the Great Things Friends like You Are Doing through Your Prayers and Financial Support. Go to Pastor Paul.net If You Love Listening to Destined for Victory We Know You'll Enjoy Watching Selected Video Clips by Subscribing to Pastor Paul on YouTube to Find More Details and Links to All the Social Media Sites, Visit Pastor Paul.net Now with More from the Parable of the Talents Here Again Is Pastor Paul with the Second Half of Today's Message Making the Most of What You Have Seen Are Again Christians It's a Sad Sight. I've Seen People Who Don't Understand That the Gifting Comes from God and It Is for His Purpose Is Not to Make You Large and in Charge and Obscene. It's a Sad Sight.

Now That God Has Blessed My Ministry to Kind of Be Expanded in and Reach for Than What Have You Not Meeting Some Folk and I'm Telling You – Some People in the Body of Christ.

Thank God for Those That Are Learning to Walk in Humility, but We Got Some Superstars in the Body of Christ, Who Think They're All That Some of the Folk You Enjoy the Music. I Promise You. Some of Them a Wonderful and Humbling in Good Churches and Learn in the Work and Thank God for Them and Their Some Folk. The Best Thing You Can Do Is Bite SCD but Do Not Meet Them. I Promise You That I Met A Few of the Low Gifted but You Need an Attitude Adjustment. Somebody Told You Wrong so Mom You Don't Want to Meet Him. I Promise You You Will Come Away Disillusioned Not Only Single. I Met Some Preachers like That When They Were Small They Know God Could Use Them" Could Have a Decent Conversation with Her, but Now That They Have Somebody and Is Quite a Different Thing There People Who Years Ago I Did Some Conference. Just As in the Tender Young Pastor Aspiring to Be Used of God.

Learning One the Speakers They Be Somewhere in the Facility. Afterwards, Not Locked up for Several of Them and Just Wanted to Shake the Hand and Say You're a Real Blessing in My Life and My Name Is Paul Sheppard.

Pastor Little Church in California Looks at Me down Just Believe in God and I Just Want to Tell You How Much I Prayed and I Have Been through Not Looked at Look through Because I Wasn't on the Radar. I Wouldn't up on That Level and so the Attitude Was Who Are You and Why Are You Talking to Me You Would Note for the Preaching of the Preachers Powerful but When You Meet Them Use Old Lord I Think What I Will Put You on My Prayer List.

And Now I'm Coming.

God Has Chosen to Expand Our Radio Ministry. What Have You and Going around the Country Speaking in These Large and What Have You. Now Get to Meet Somebody Say and When the Green Room behind This Thing Started on a Marketing Mug Back There and What Have You. And so Now God Has Chosen to Put Me in That Room, and Now When They See Me Smiling All Know You Know My Face Now You and You Will Swap Email. I'm Still Got You All My Prayer List so You Have To Chose to Walk in Humility That You Remember You're Just Somebody Got to Use with Your Gifts and Ability of Body Special Way. Paul Put It in Second Corinthians Chapter 4 All of Us and God Has Put a Treasure and Are Excited about the Map Plot.Thank God and Respect People Because the Way God Uses the Bible to Honor Those to Whom It Is Due, but the Bottom Is What Is Changing People Make Different Changes That the Pot.but When You Build Find Another Pot with Another Treasure and Keep on Believing and I Tell You What I Don't Do It You One Day to Go Take down Drop the Whole Thing Is so on. Go Back and Eat Salad so We Gotta Learn to Walk in Humility but I Want You to Take Inventory of Your Gifts and Abilities so That You Can Know the Areas in Which God Is Expecting a Return on His Investment, Take Inventory, What Are My Strengths What Are My Spiritual Gifts, Natural Abilities, What Are the Things That God Has Obviously Put in Me According to His Divine Purpose. Also Look at Your Passions. Look at the Passions of Your Heart. Once Your Prayerful and Surrender to God Say Lord I Only Want to Be Used of You Look at Your Passions and Allow the Lord to Purify Your Motives and Everything but in the Process Say Lord of the Way You Can Use the Things I'm Passionate about. I Want You to Reveal It to Me Because I Want You to Get a Full Return on Your Investment in My Life. Get Your Dreams and See If These Are Dreams That in Fact God Has Given, Not Things You Have Dreamed up.

But Things That God Has Dream down into Your Spirit and Giving You a Preview of That Which Is to Come and Look at These Elements in Your Life and See What It Is That God Will Do to Bring about His Purpose in Your Life and Soul Paul Put It This Way in Colossians 317. Whatever You Do in Word and Deed, Do It All in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Giving Thanks to God the Father through Him and in Order to Do That You're Going to Need to Know What Is in You, so Make Sure That You Have Taken Inventory of the Gifts and Abilities God's Place in Your Life.

Secondly, I Would Encourage You to Set Aside Time to Devote Your Talents to Ministry Not Effective. Just like with Money. God Gives You Money to for so Back into the Kingdom, and Then He Will Bless You to Know How to Use That Which Remains the Same Is True of Your Talent If You Will Soul Your Abilities First into the Kingdom of God Will Help You Organize the Rest of Your Life and Help You to Know How to Maximize It Where Your Vocation Is Concerned and All of That so That God Will Actually Bless the Work of Your Hands Because You Have Dedicated Your Time and Your Abilities to the Kingdom of God Seeking First Jesus Said the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and Then Everything You Mean the Lord Will Add to You so Given That Kingdom First Principle I Want to Encourage You to Set Aside Time and Devoted to Ministry. Now What I Was Talking about Time in the Series.

I Said That I Believe Christians Would Do Well to Take At Least a Tie of Our Waking Hours and Dedicated to Spiritual Development and Ministry and so Most of Us Awake. Somewhere around 120 Hours in a Given Week. And so, If You Will Devote 12 or More Hours per Week to Your Own Spiritual Development to Worship to Private Bible Reading and Devotion and Bendable. Some of That Time to Ministry and Say Lord, You've Given Me Abilities and I Want to Give Them Back to You As an Act of Service and Ministry. Now Let's Make Sure You Don't Get Hung up on the Word Ministry. A Lot Of Folks Think Ministry They Think Preacher or Missionary or Something like That Christian School Teacher or Something like That Not All I Want You to Expand Your Definition of Ministry. Here Is the Best Working Definition of Ministry. I Can Give You Drop This down or Memorize It and Really Keep It in Your Heart. Ministry Is Everything We Do Out Of Love for God to Win the Lost, Edify Believers and Meet People's Needs Ministry Is Everything We Do Out Of Love for God to Win the Lost, Edify Believers and Meet People's Needs. Now, Given That Definition. You Can See That Ministry Goes Far beyond Appropriate That Goes Far beyond the Missions Trip Goes Far beyond Being on Staff of the Christian School. All of Those Are Expressions of Ministry but Ministry Goes Far beyond That Ministry Is Any and Everything I Do Based on Motivated by My Love for God That Will Help Contribute to the Saving of Souls Be Equipping All Believers and Meeting People's Needs in the Name of the Lord, and with That in Mind, I Want to Encourage You. There Is a Ministry for Every One of Us, All of Us Are Called to Ministry. Not All of Us Are Called to Vocational Ministry or Specialized Ministry, but All of Us Are Called to Ministry Any Growing Church Has a Constant Need for People to Volunteer Their Time and Their Efforts to Serve Any Growing Church Understand That the Only Way a Big Reason Can Be Met Is Not by A Few People but by Everyone Being Equipped to Do the Work of Ministry. In Fact, Let Me Help You Understand Something That A Lot Of People Have Missed in the Scriptures Is Found in Ephesians Chapter 4, and This Will Really Help Put in Perspective What My Role Is and the Role of People like Me in the Body of Christ. Ephesians Chapter 4, Beginning with Verse 11 It Says It Was He Speaking of Christ Who Gave Some to Be Apostles, Some to Be Prophets, Some to Be Evangelists, Some to Be Pastors and Teachers. Now, A Lot Of Us Think That's It. Goals Are the Ministers, but Look at What It Goes on to Say He Gave Those Categories of People. Why Verse 12 to Prepare God's People That You for Works of Service so That the Body of Christ May Be Built up.

See, We Are Called to Be Coaches and Equip Burgers. The Ministry Is Really Done by You Is Holy Huddle. This Is All of Us Getting Together Getting Our Instructions Get Together. Having the Holy Spirit Point out the Word. What's Still Not Right in Our Lives What He Wants to Fly in Shade and Getting Us Together and Giving Us Our Marching Orders so That When We Leave Church When We Stop Listening to the Message That We Now Go out and Practice Do What God Says We Are Equipped He Said Are Prepared for Works of Service, All of Us Do the Ministry and so We Gotta Get Away from That Old Model of You Ministers and Then the Rest of Us Watching Them Do All the Work We Put on Them so They Come. Ministers Know Their Ministering to You That You Might Get Right with God and Man That You Might Go out and Help Others Get Right with God by the Way You Serve God Has Given Each of Us Unique Gifts and Abilities. We Have Varying Degrees of Financial Resources, Varying Amounts of Time on Earth, but All of Us Have the Same Spiritual Mandate to Go into All the World and Make Disciples of All Nations. That's Pastor Paul Sheppard's Mission Here Destined for Victory to Share the Gospel All over the World to These Radio and Internet Broadcasts Your Faithful Prayer and Financial Support Makes It Possible in Appreciation of Your Generous Gift Today.

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Charges have to stop having football stadium dynamics is what I made all stadium you have thousand people or more in the stands desperately needing exercise watching 22 people on the field who desperately need rest this tomorrow with Pastor Paul Sheppard shares his message, making the most of what you have until then, remember, he will begin a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory