Christian Living

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The Gifts in Romans

Paul did a great job on presenting the topic of Spiritual gifts and Ministry gifts. I particularly like the book of Romans, because he targets the process needed to be sensitive enough to function in the gift God has for us.

Let’s outline what he said;
1. Present your bodies a living sacrifice: (Romans 12:1)

Paul explained how we are to sacrifice our physical desires. By being holy- that is being totally devoted or dedicated to God, set aside for His special use and set apart from sin and its influence. We are to be different from the world’s standard of living.

We are to be acceptable to God in the way we worship Him. Jesus said we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth (See John 4:20-24). True worship is a lifestyle not a mechanical act when we go to church and say Hallelujah or sing with other members during choir worship. We can worship at any place at any time. The key is to stay focus on Him through-out the day.

Our reasonable service is based on how much revelation we’ve obtained through scripture. The amount of knowledge we have in scripture is what God is going to hold us accountable to practice daily (Luke 12:48/ James 4:17)

2. Renewing your mind: (Romans 12:2)

Part of renewing our mind is by not conforming to this world. This world has political correctness, humanistic views, philosophical theories all of which perverts the practical principles of God.

Jesus taught that worldly cares choke the word of God and we become unfruitful as Christians. We must have a balance in our priorities, time for God and time for work, school, family and friends. (Matt.13:22). John taught that we should not lust after the world (1 John 2:15-17)

The lust of the flesh- we cannot preoccupy ourselves with satisfying our physical desires all the time (over eating, over training, over anything and everything that will bring us under a bad habit.)

The lust of the eyes- we must not bow down to the God of materialism. Craving and accumulating things. The thieves, tornados and earthquakes can easily steal and destroy. We could have these things but not hold to it to give us a sense of value or worth or status in the community.

The pride of life- we should not boast about what we have or do, or be obsessed with our status or importance.

But be transformed by the renewing of the mind- we simply do this by reading the word of God over and over then practice what it says once we understand it. Paul taught the Christians at Ephesus in detail how we can renew our minds (Eph.4:22-32). Paul shared the difference of having a carnal mind and a spiritual mind set with the benefits and consequences if we choose to practice either or (Romans 8:5-8). He also said we have the Holy Spirit to assist us to live and walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:9-16).

That you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God (Rom.12:2 KJV) What this means is we need to test personally and prove by practicing scripture when we encounter the everyday challenges. If someone screams and yell at us and we’re quick to yell back, we should practice the word that says a soft answer turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1) Then when we experienced the person turn away from being angry with you because you did not yell back but maintained a mature demeanor, then we proved that the scripture actually works. Paul challenged us to prove ourselves (2 Cor.13:5-7) Paul said to prove our own work (Gal.6:4)

When I started writing these articles at faith-writers I tried to talk myself out of it. I said who is going to read these articles, I’m a stranger to the world and what difference will I make and so on… But you see that’s the devil and the fleshly mindset that we must overcome and prove our own work by being obedient to God and His call on our lives and by faith write articles. Now it’s amazing how many people God is moving to read these articles. Praise Him, Hallelujah!

If we apply ourselves in verses 1 and 2 of Romans chapter 12 then we can easily live out the rest of what Paul is saying in verses 3-7;

1. Paul taught how we should think about members in the body of Christ and different ministries (Rom.12:3/ Gal.6:3-4)

2. Everyone has a different ministry. The pastor may not sing only preach. The singer may not clean the church or be a doorkeeper. Yet, because they may not choose to do other things doesn’t mean that we need to criticize or bring them under condemnation for not participating in other activities. Remember the story with Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) Martha is all over the place and Mary was at Jesus’ feet. Jesus commended Mary because she chose the better thing to do. Martha was worried about over-hosting the guest.


3. God chooses the weak, poor, despised, the rejected, the unlearned, and the foolish people to make His divine ability made known in their lives. So we may look at one of these believers and second guess their ministry but when God anoints you -look out three words spoken can heal a lame man and bring 5000 people to salvation (See Acts chapter 3 and 4) The religious leaders took notice of Peter and John that they were uneducated men (Acts 4:13-14)

4. We need to understand that the measure of grace and faith that was given to us when we believed in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Can be increased (Read the Power, Faith and Grace article to learn how we can increase these gifts that God gave us.)

5. The next point that we will get into is waiting on God to make our ministry gift full proof and active. I cannot fit it in this article because we are limited on the amount of writing space. This article is 2 ½ pages long. The waiting on God is 3 pages typed up. So if we have time tomorrow I will share this article if not Friday God willing.

May God bless you to present your body a living sacrifice as you work on renewing your mind to prove the word of God and learn that it is good, practical, and very effective; Powerful enough to live among other believers in peace and harmony knowing that we all have different ministries to fulfill the will of God upon the earth.

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