Custom Made

​1 Corinthians 12:4-7 “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” ~NLT
 
I was watching a TV show where one of the characters was faced with a potentially sad situation because of his past. He said, “I wish I had been a better man coming up.” The character of the wife said to him, “Your past made you the man you are today, and I love you.” 
 
That is how God looks at each and every one of us. It does not matter what color your past is, Jesus died on the cross for us all to become a new creature. Whatever happened in our past, God can take that and use it for the Kingdom.  How does He do this? Our past, our memories become spiritual gifts when we begin to live God’s will for our lives.
 
It is because we have all gone down our unique paths that our gifts are different. But we all share the same source of power in healing, strength, and wisdom from God. When we receive our direction from our Father, we begin to encounter other children of God that will be able to benefit from the healings of our past.
 
Our transformations allow us to become aware of the purpose God has given us in the life we lead in His Son’s name. We begin to recognize our position in ‘service’ to others God places in our paths. If any one of us thinks that our existence does not count, we would be sadly mistaken. God does not create failure. Our existence has the foundation of purpose. And that purpose is the soil that nourishes the seed God planted in us for Him to do great things through us. Our services in this world may be different but we, “…serve the same Lord…”
 
God works in different ways and our differences confirmed this. For instance, we are all people yet some of us are men, some of us are women. Ethnicities, how we raise our families may all be different, but it is, “…the same God who does the work in all of us.”
 
Lastly, we must stay obedient. God’s work in us is powerful and Satan can infiltrate our fleshly desires and attempt to use that power for his will. Remaining obedient will keep us from ever giving in to any of those temptations. Remember, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”
 
May God continue to bless and keep you healed, empowered, and directed in Jesus’ name,
 
Amen

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