But Lord, I’m not a Preacher . . .

I’m not qualified to preach to someone, but lately I’ve felt God telling me to write something about this subject.  I’ve thought to myself, that sounds right but I don’t want to be ‘preaching’ to anyone.  I don’t know enough.

Then as I was publishing this morning’s devotional (By the way it comes from Our Daily Bread. ODB.org ) I read something that sealed it.  Wham!  Bam! Case closed!

So here it is.

I’ve been thinking about how far I’ve come as a Christian in Training over the last couple of years.  I know where I was.  I was a scowling, bitter, God hating person who had no faith.  Who could not envision a life after death.  Who could not fathom a Father who loves us unconditionally.

That has definitely changed!

When did it reach the tipping point?  I couldn’t point you to a definite date but it reached critical mass when I started helping with the Men’s Breakfast.  When those gentle Christian men asked me to eat with them and then help cook for others with them, and I accepted.  That is when it tipped.  That is when God’s blessings rained down upon me like a sweet spring shower.

  Even doing the dishes afterwards I just felt JOY. 

It was when I stopped watching and became a participant that God embraced me and began to show me a whole new way of living.  That was underlined for me in this morning’s devotional.  The writer quoted the book of James 2:18,

“Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I can get to Heaven by washing dishes or cooking eggs.  But I can get there by showing compassion and love for my fellow man and having faith in God.  It’s by believing in our Lord Jesus Christ and doing as he would do that I will get to Heaven.

But to do that, you have to stop being the spectator and join in.

All of us have a spiritual gift.  Some it is singing, some cooking, some organizing or teaching.  But there is one spiritual gift that every single one of has available to him.

Time.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Roscoe
(Christian in Training)