Thoughts to ponder. . .

I love this study I'm doing by Eddie Rasnake-
"Using Your Spiritual Gifts" and he has some
great lines that he shares, so I thought I'd
pass them along. They make you think if you
pause long enough to take it in:

1. God has a purpose for the REST of our time
on Planet Earth- and it isn't to make money. God
leaves us here because He wants others to come
to know His love and mercy through our witness.

2. The outcome of God working in us ought to
be His working THROUGH us.

3. Church life in a lot of places is much like
a sporting event, where you have a hand full of
people in the action in desperate need of rest being
cheered on by thousands in the stands in desperate
need of exercise.

4. Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him
who sent Me and to accomplish His work." John 4:34
What is the purpose of food? It is necessary to sustain
us, but it is also to SATISFY us.

5. There is all the difference in the world between
us working for God and allowing God to work through
us.

6. In John 15:5, Jesus said, "apart from Me, you can
do nothing." There are two different ways Jesus could
have said "nothing" in Greek, and the one He chose means
"not even one thing."

7. In a word, the key to power serving is surrender. It
is saying to the Lord, "I can't, but You can."

8. Andrew Jackson once defined courage in this way:
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness
to do the thing you fear."

9. True ministry is received, not achieved. Colossians 4:17:
"Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord,
that you may fulfill it."

10. It isn't a sin to be afraid, but it can become sin
if our fears keep us from trusting the Lord and obeying
His instruction.