Make Them Work! (Part Three)

Good morning.

Yesterday we said that in our parable in Matthew 25:14-30 (please read it) the master actually made quite a good financial move by giving his servants interest in his business. Jesus, the Master, gave all men interest in the earth by giving us talents to develop the earth. If you haven’t read it, please do so, for then you’ll follow this better.

He did the same on a higher level, by giving those who believe interest in His Kingdom. Although the Lord is in heaven, He also lives in each of us through the Holy Spirit. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray ‘let your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven’. Therefore, since a kingdom consists of people, the Lord’s Kingdom is all His people, whether in heaven or on earth.

The practical manifestation of God’s Kingdom on earth is the congregation of His people. This may be as a church, a house group, a mission, a group working together on a task (such as Mission Aviation Fellowship), an Internet group etc. The Kingdom of God comes on earth when the people get together, wherever, to glorify the Lord of the Kingdom through their good works (Matthew 5:16).

These good works done by the members of the Kingdom are the interest or fruit born of the talents and gifts they’ve received - its multiplication (Matthew 25:16, 17). Talents were given to every inhabitant of the earth to help us develop the earth as explained in our previous posting, and these talents are also invaluable to make God’s Kingdom come on earth and to make it grow in numbers and strength.

In Romans 12:6-8 more gifts are mentioned. “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” We are born with these gifts and they are specifically designed to make the Kingdom work here on earth wherever people congregate. These gifts are activated at the time of rebirth and are driven by the Holy Spirit, but they are part of our make-up, which is why we get small children with discernment and prophetic gifting.

In 1 Corinthians 12 we find the gifts that relate to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, which are Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Distinguishing between Spirits, Speaking in Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues. These gifts the Holy Spirit gives to anybody who needs it to accomplish a specific purpose He’d like to accomplish in a specific situation. If e.g. the Lord needs you to know something about somebody so he could be challenged and his soul be saved, He’ll give you a Word of Knowledge about the person. This will baffle the person that you know and will give you an open door for ministry into his life.

The Lord is concerned about making His Kingdom come and making it grow – in numbers and in faith. He equipped us with talents and gifts to make it happen under His guidance and He will keep us accountable.

Lord, please show me my gift and help me to go all the way in obedience.

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