1 Peter 4:10-11 - Gifts with Grace to the Glory of God.
1 Peter 4:10-11: Gifts with Grace to the Glory of God.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT) God has given each of you a gift from his
great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.
11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God
himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping
others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then
everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory
and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Our abilities should be faithfully used in serving others; none
are for our own exclusive enjoyment. Some people, well aware of
their abilities, believe that they have the right to use their
abilities as they please. Others feel that they have no special talents at
all. Peter addresses both groups in these verses. Everyone has some
gifts; find yours and use them. Peter mentions speaking and serving.
Paul lists these and other abilities in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians
12:8-11, and Ephesians 4:11. Even as you seek to discover your gifts, if
you see a need in the church, seek to meet it. You may find gifts in
areas you might not have guessed! [Life Application SB]
God shaped you according to your purpose. How else can you
explain yourself? Your ability to diagnose an engine problem by the
noise it makes, to bake a cake without a recipe. You knew the Civil
War better than your American history teacher. You know the name of
every kid in the orphanage. How do you explain such quirks of skill?
God. He knew young Israel would need a code, so he gave Moses
a love for the law. He knew the doctrine of grace would need a
fiery advocate, so he set Paul ablaze. And in your case, he knew what
your generation would need and gave it. He designed you. And his
design defines your destiny. Remember Peter's admonition? ''Any who
serves should serve with the strength God gives." from Cure For The
Common Life [Grace For The Moment SB By Max Lucado]
COMMENTARY ILLUSTRATIONS
I once had the privilege of snorkeling in the Red Sea and
observing the bluestreak cleaner wrasse fishes doing their thing. In
amazement I watched as a big grouper edged into a cleaning station where
several of the brightly colored wrasse waited. The grouper opened its
mouth and flaired its gills, and the wrasse swam into the monstrous
mouth cavity and began cleaning the teeth and picking off dead skin
and mucous around the lips, gills, and fins of a fish much larger
than they were. The grouper is a slow-swimming fish that does not
chase its food. Rather, it waits quietly for other fish or crabs or
octopi to come near, then it suddenly opens its mouth and with a
powerful sucking action it simply vacuums the hapless prey into it. So I
stared, fascinated, as the tiny fish swam in and out of the grouper's
mouth and gills, providing a service to the larger fish. In return the
grouper didn't eat or even snack on them. It seemed to know that the
wrasse were helping it to have a healthier life. When two different
species aid each other like this, biologists dub the relationship as
"mutualism."
In reality we were created to serve others. It is a fact that
our greatest joy as humans comes when we help others with no thought
of gain for ourselves. We call this kind of unselfish service
altruistic behavior. It would be nice to think that the bluestreak cleaner
wrasse are giving altruistic service to the grouper and other fish that
come to their cleaning station. They aren't, though, because the
wrasse actually benefit. Cleaning other fish is the way they survive -
by eating parasites, bits of food particles in the teeth of the
bigger fish, and dead skin and mucous on those big fish that cruise in
for a cleaning.
Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "Everybody can be great
because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to
serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You
only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
Our Father in heaven, bring me an opportunity for altruistic
service today. And then help me to recognize that opportunity and to
serve joyfully as if I am serving You. [God of Wonders by David
Steen]
My wife passed me with her cleaning supplies, headed for the
sliding glass door. A couple of "little ones" had left handprints all
over it. Just then our two grand-boys - the ones responsible for the
handprints - noticed what she was about to do. "Can we help?" they asked
with pleading eyes. My wife smiled, knowing full well that the job
would now take much longer with two pint-sized helpers involved.
My wife is a wise grandmother, though. She could see that
there were valuable lessons to be learned, so she said, "Sure!" I
watched from my recliner as the three of them chose a spot and got to
work. The boys felt important and needed. They got to be part of the
solution.
When people come into our churches and recovery groups, their
hearts are longing for a place where they can feel at home. They want
to feel useful and needed. They want to be part of the solution.
The best thing we can do is put them to work serving others. And for
those times when we are struggling to feel like we belong, the answer
is the same - get busy serving others. Serving others always puts
us right in the thick of things, where God can heal and encourage
us.
Father, make us sensitive to those who need to feel needed,
and give us the wisdom to ask for their help, even when we could do
it faster without them. In Jesus' name, Amen. [Celebrate Recovery
Daily Devotional by John & Johnny Baker]
CLOSING THOUGHTS
If you are a publisher or a pastor, a ditch-digger or a
pilot, a fisherman or a fruit grower, a garage mechanic or a furniture
maker, a writer or a homemaker, an office worker or a congressman ...
there are unique things involved in your moment-by-moment work since
you are a child of the Creator of the universe....
You are to do well, whatever you are doing, to the glory of
God (1Pe.4:11). Just as flowers that grow on the Alpine peaks,
beauty in the cracks of rocks with perhaps no one ever passing that
way, are not growing in vain because God sees them, so it is true of
the human being. A person may live alone, walk alone, and feel that
no one is recognizing that he or she is being patient in the
tribulation of loneliness ... but God does know, and is aware of the
whisper, "I love you, God. Please accept my praise as I walk alone
today." This is true of people in prisons, in concentration camps, in
hospital beds, or in wheelchairs.... "Work" to the glory of God can be
done in every part of life ... which is what makes it all so fair.
No one gets a bigger opportunity than another. And no one is "out
of work"! Edith Schaeffer [Time with God SB]
When you know Gods grace, youll want to show Gods
grace. by Julie Ackerman Link [Our Daily Bread by Les Lamborn]
LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2014/20141128-1554.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
Seeking God Made Real: http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES AND SEMINARS
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: http://www.bibleresearch.info/
http://www.aBible.com
