Today’s Readings: Psalm 89:1-51; Nahum 1:1-13; Mark 13:1-8; Ephesians 3:8-19
About 18 months ago, I started focusing my energies on helping people identify the spiritual gifts with which they had been blessed. I did this using a short assessment found on the website for the United Methodist Church. In case you are interested in taking the assessment yourself, you can find it at: Spiritual Gifts Inventory. The assessment identifies the spiritual gifts with which an individual has been bestowed. Out of all the spiritual gifts included in the assessment, the one that most intrigued me was the gift of miracles. As the authors of the assessment pointed out: “The gift of miracles is not about performing miracles…” Instead, it is “about living in the miraculous reality of God’s creation. Those gifted with miracles never doubt the power and presence of God in creation, and are able to help others see and believe in God’s power.” I was reminded of this spiritual gift as I read today’s passage from Ephesians where Paul wrote: “My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along” (Ephesians 3:9 from The Message). In so many ways, that sentence from Paul captures a piece of the call that we all share as Christians – to help people (including ourselves) find God in the midst of our every day lives. For some who find themselves bored by the routines of their daily lives, it might at first seem impossible to find God’s miraculous presence in their everyday lives. If you’re among this group, I would encourage you to slow down and find time to start carefully observing things around you that you often overlook – the gorgeous sunrise, a spontaneous hug from a loved one, an unexpected call from someone you didn’t expect to hear from… The list of ‘miraculous’ things could go on and on. Instead of doing what you normally do - take these things for granted - stop and give thanks for the ways in which these miracles help you feel God’s presence in your life. Til next time…
About 18 months ago, I started focusing my energies on helping people identify the spiritual gifts with which they had been blessed. I did this using a short assessment found on the website for the United Methodist Church. In case you are interested in taking the assessment yourself, you can find it at: Spiritual Gifts Inventory. The assessment identifies the spiritual gifts with which an individual has been bestowed. Out of all the spiritual gifts included in the assessment, the one that most intrigued me was the gift of miracles. As the authors of the assessment pointed out: “The gift of miracles is not about performing miracles…” Instead, it is “about living in the miraculous reality of God’s creation. Those gifted with miracles never doubt the power and presence of God in creation, and are able to help others see and believe in God’s power.” I was reminded of this spiritual gift as I read today’s passage from Ephesians where Paul wrote: “My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along” (Ephesians 3:9 from The Message). In so many ways, that sentence from Paul captures a piece of the call that we all share as Christians – to help people (including ourselves) find God in the midst of our every day lives. For some who find themselves bored by the routines of their daily lives, it might at first seem impossible to find God’s miraculous presence in their everyday lives. If you’re among this group, I would encourage you to slow down and find time to start carefully observing things around you that you often overlook – the gorgeous sunrise, a spontaneous hug from a loved one, an unexpected call from someone you didn’t expect to hear from… The list of ‘miraculous’ things could go on and on. Instead of doing what you normally do - take these things for granted - stop and give thanks for the ways in which these miracles help you feel God’s presence in your life. Til next time…
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