I Choose Today...

I Choose Today to do my part

In describing the motivational gifts that God gives, it is describing characteristics of Christ. He is the perfect example of all those gifts; He embodies these gifts. We, as the body of Christ, represent parts of Christ. The same chapter, Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭5‬‬‬, tells us, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” We each need to do our part. We are all different and have different gifts to complete the whole.  But it start with us knowing the gift God has made us with, and develop and use it for His glory. We are born with a bent toward one of these gifts, but we need to do our part in developing and working them to maturity, to being useful in its intent. The Israelites experienced this when God gave them the gift of food in the way of manna. Manna wasn’t bread; it was a seed. Numbers tells us that, “The manna looked like small coriander seeds, and it was pale yellow like gum resin. The people would go out and gather it

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I Choose Today to know my Motivational Gifts

Have you ever watched an artist at work, marveling at their God-given talent that allows them to create incredible masterpieces? Or witnessed an elite athlete with such natural gifting that their instincts in making the perfect shot or catch seem almost divinely inspired? Perhaps, you’ve been in a church service where the speaker, impassioned by their God-given message, left you in awe of the spiritual talent they possess. Or a musician, chef, mathematician, designer, teacher? I could go on and on, but you get the point. You may even wonder how they can physically, mentally, or vision that enables them to accomplish such things. God’s Word tells us how and why these people could accomplish all these amazing things. God has gifted each person the ability to fulfill the purpose He intended. Paul talks about the seven motivational gifts God gives us to complete our mission here on earth. Romans 12 says, ”so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. “So if God has given you the ability to [motivate] prophesy, speak out with

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I Choose Today to know I have a purpose

A few weeks ago I talked about God giving us the gift of His breath in our lungs. He designed us on purpose, for a purpose. As a reminder of David’s worship to his Lord when he said, ”You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.“Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ God wasn’t arbitrary about how and why He made each and every one of us. He knit us together, as David said. He designed us with intentionality, as Paul tells the Ephesians church, ”For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.“Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ This verse reminds us that He planned good things for us to do a long time ago. So when He is knitting us together and making His masterpiece with purpose and intentionality, why wouldn’t He equip us by giving us the gifts needed to succeed and flourish in the Master’s plan? He wouldn’t and He didn’t. He has given us Christ Jesus, who perfectly lived out these gifts while being fully man and fully Devine. He embodied all these gifts so

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I Choose Today to be a good gift giver

I love Christmas. I love the twinkly lights, the gathering together with family, friends, and co-workers to celebrate the birth of Christ. One of my favorite things is to buy gifts for the people in my family. I have a rule, “buy what they want, not what they need.” This gives me so much joy to give them something they want to open up on Christmas morning. It is so much fun for me to give gifts! I remember one year I wanted to buy my daughter a diamond ring for her middle finger. I wanted it to be classic, to stand the test of time, so she would want to wear it for years to come. I searched for the right one and finally found one that I thought she would like. She absolutely loved it! That was 13 years ago and she still wears it whenever she can. It brought me so much joy to give it to her. God loves to give good and perfect gifts to His children (James 1:17). I am sure it delights Him when we use the gifts He gives with joy! Gifts given by God are to be used to leave a

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I Choose Today to store up!

Ever heard of ‘saving for a rainy day’? Just as we stash money for unforeseen circumstances, what are we depositing in our heart bank? In Psalm 119, David emphasizes the importance of storing God’s Word to navigate life’s challenges without sinning. “How can a young person live a clean life? By carefully reading the map of your Word” (vs 9 MSG). He tells us why we need to read, study, and know God’s Word as he continues in verse 11, “I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (ESV‬‬). David was intentionally banking, or storing, God’s Word in his heart for the future “rainy day.” He knew that the unexpected issues, opportunities, and emergencies would come up in his life. So he intentionally stored up God’s Word, His teachings, His principles, His promises, His hope, His love, His breath in his heart so when those times came up, he would be ready to know what God wanted him to do, to react, to respond in the heat of the moment. God told Joshua the same thing when He said, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so

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