It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTmas...every where you go...
I love Christmas! I love the way we can celebrate Christ's birth. It can be controversial amongst believers...We know Jesus wasn't actually born on Dec. 25th because the sheperds would not have been "keeping watch" over their sheep in that cold weather...Nonetheless, we have redeemed Dec. 25 and choose to celebrate the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Love it!
The focus of course for the world is "outward" not inward.
The focus of course is on money---focus on gifts and purchases and sales and new gadgets and good deals, etc., etc., etc....
Well deep in my heart I have been thinking a lot about gifts, but not the kind that can be wrapped and put under a tree.
I've been thinking of SPIRITUAL GIFTS.
(There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 1 Corinth 12:4-6)
The other day I went to a lovely Christmas gathering. I noticed the cute Christmas towels in the bathroom embroidered with "Noel." They were very pretty. They seemed to sparkle with the glittery thread. Here's the thing though...They were for display only. There was another type of towel there too.
The paper towel.
The Christmas disposable, paper, "throw away" napkins were the ones folded beneath the cloth towels and these paper napkins were the ones our host intended for us to use.
The Christmas towels were not meant to be used...they were more for decorative purposes. The disposable paper napkins were the ones you actually "used" to dry your hands.
Funny! I thought about this last year too.
God spoke to my heart:
Are you Laura like a Christmas towel? Nice and neat on the outside. Nice looking to the world...but your gifts are for decoration only. I am not using you and you display yourself proudly once a year. Once in a while you will shine for me...but then you go back into the Christmas box....only to be stored in the dusty garage for another 12 months.
NO LORD I prayed! I don't want to be like that.
I want to be used over and over again by the LORD. I don't want my gifts to be "shelved" or put away like the Christmas towels. I would much rather be useful to the LORD. You see, the Christmas towels are nice. Don't get me wrong. We all like "looking" at them...but they are not of any use. They are only for decoration. They are really a phony if you think about it. They bear the name "bath towel" but really they are not meant to be used at all. The disposable napkins, however, are USEFUL. (See Matt 7:18-23)
God really used this picture to get my attention about spiritul gifts. Do I desire to be a prayer warrior, or memorize scripture, or be an evangelist or encourager, or to have a generous heart just for "decorative purposes?" Are these gifts just for display? Or do I desire to truly, truly be used by God? If I choose to allow God to use those gifts and talents He has given to me for HIS PURPOSE, for HIS GLORY, believe me, I may feel at times like a crumpled up, tired, worn out, disposable napkin. But guess what? That's OK. Because our temporary emotional state doesn't really matter in light of eternity. I will GLADLY allow my life to be poured out for Christ's sake. (present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.Rom.12:1; Also, Phil 3:20-21)
So on that note- Think about this my dear friends. Are you a Christmas towel? Or are you a disposable napkin? I want to be the napkin. I want to be used over and over again by God, encouraging others and living that sacrificial life God called me to live.
Paul said, "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ." Phil 3:8 and "And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor" 1 Corinth. 12:23
"Till He appeared! And the soul felt it's worth.....fall on your knees!"
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This reminds me of 2 Tim. 2:20,21
ReplyDeletev 20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
v 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
There are vessels of Honor and dishonor. There are Christians that God shows off... and others that are simply put aside for when they are ready to be used.
I have a shelf full of my favorite nicknacks, that I love to show off,and there are others that I hide behind picture frames that might be broken and need to be fixed or simply not that radiant. I was just learning, that if we want to live a Spirit filled life...we must please God. If our vessels are filled with envey strife, malice, hatred,contentions, and simply the fleshly appitites that war against the Spirit, then we can not be filled with the Holy Spirit, and therefore not able to be used for the masters good work, because we are not prepared, because we are wasting our talents on this world and the fleshly appitites of wordly things. In a nutshell...are we a vessel of honor? I share this because I am in the refining pot right now, so that I can be used. I have allot that needs to come up out and skimmed off so that I can shine. I am not having fun, but I don't want self in the way. And I don't want to be one of the foolish virgins that is caught off gaurd when Christ comes for His bride.
Thx for posting. Love Nettie
Thank you for your comments and for that verse. So true, may we be vessels of honor for the LORD. I agree, being pruned and refined is hard..but well worth it when we hear, "Well done good and faithful servant" from Jesus :)
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