{"id":1422,"date":"2009-10-19T07:00:34","date_gmt":"2009-10-19T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/?p=1422"},"modified":"2009-10-20T07:22:59","modified_gmt":"2009-10-20T11:22:59","slug":"chapter-16-what-should-you-do-with-your-gifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/chapter-16-what-should-you-do-with-your-gifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 16 – What should you do with your gifts…"},"content":{"rendered":"

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?\u00a0 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.\u00a0 If one of you says to him, “go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?\u00a0 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

James 2: 14-17<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Jesus<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey God, It’s me Lori,<\/em><\/p>\n

I know you gave me these talents for a reason.\u00a0 Help me to find out the reason and share them with others.\u00a0 I know I have a purpose please guide me so that I can fulfill it.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you have discerned your gifts what should you do with them…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your options are endless.\u00a0 God will continue to guide you in prayer and opportunities to share your gifts with others.\u00a0 The way you decide to do it is up to you.\u00a0\u00a0 If you have left your church, no matter what religion it was, you could\u00a0go back.\u00a0 Believe me when someone comes back to the church people\u00a0welcome the return.\u00a0 I believe in a God who is compassionate like the parable of the Prodigal Son he will kill the fatted calf and celebrate for the one who has returned to him.\u00a0 If the church you left is not the right fit for you look around.\u00a0 Churches even in one religion are all so different.\u00a0 I belong to a Catholic church and there are many people who have walked into our church and said they felt welcomed and loved from the minute they arrived.\u00a0 I have been in other catholic churches in the same area that were cold as ice.\u00a0\u00a0 Just remember the church is made up of people not bricks and stones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Find a church that you feel you can become what God wants you to be.\u00a0 It could mean many different\u00a0services at lots of different churches.\u00a0 It is worth the search.\u00a0 As I said before your relationship with God should be more than just the two of you especially if you have children.\u00a0 Have you ever heard the saying “It takes a village to raise a child” well it takes a community of believers to support and lift up your faith.\u00a0 God wants us to do it together.\u00a0 So start looking.<\/p>\n

Once you have settled on a church how do you get involved?\u00a0 Just show interest.\u00a0 I am involved in many different aspects of our church and it all started with a person who called and asked if I would come to a meeting.\u00a0 You don’t have to wait for that call.\u00a0 You can ask the priest\/minister, tell he\/she what you are interested in helping out with.\u00a0 Most churches have a printed list of the different committees and organizations within the church.\u00a0 Call the church office the people working there are typically very helpful.\u00a0 If you want to get involved with your children’s school talk to the principal or your child’s teacher.\u00a0 Believe me if you put it out there that you are interested in getting involved and do a little searching the right people will find you.\u00a0 Then you can use your gifts within your community.<\/p>\n

If you want to get more involved with the bigger picture look on the Internet for volunteer opportunities in your city or area.\u00a0 There are always mission trips to other countries and every area has a need for volunteers.\u00a0 From people who will pick up litter to people who volunteer to hand out water bottles in charity races.\u00a0 Nursing Homes always need people to visit the elderly, they love it when you bring kids with you.\u00a0 Zoos take volunteers.\u00a0 Soup kitchens always need another pair of hands and children’s homes as well.\u00a0 There are very few exceptions of places you cannot help.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The opportunities are endless when you decide to get involved and to give back what God has given to you.\u00a0 Look at all your options.\u00a0 God will give you guidance if you ask for it.\u00a0 You will feel very drawn to a particular cause or need.\u00a0 Don’t just pick something that you don’t care about, you will not enjoy it or stick with it.\u00a0Choose something that you can truly use your talents in and develop them even more.\u00a0 You will do it to help others and in the process find that you have also helped yourself to become more than who you are today.\u00a0 Give it all away and the return will be ten fold in heaven.<\/p>\n

It is never easy to find time to do anything extra in this hectic life we live.\u00a0 But we always find the time to eat, sleep and breathe, isn’t it time that we make listening to God’s call to us a priority.\u00a0 I ask you are you ready to listen to his call and spread His word like only you can do it, with your talents and experiences and love of God.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So I say to you:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Don’t just make this life into what it is<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0but<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0make this life into what God has planned for you.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

LISTEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

PRAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

SEEK HIM OUT<\/strong><\/p>\n

LET HIM SEND YOU<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Jesus\u00a0said to them again, “Peace be with you. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As\u00a0the Father has sent me, <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

so I send you”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

John 20: 21<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?\u00a0 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.\u00a0 If one of you says to him, “go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?\u00a0 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.” James 2: 14-17 \u00a0 Hey God, It’s me Lori, I know you gave me these talents for a reason.\u00a0 Help me to find <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[129,163,143,76,264,324],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithfilledmom.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}