Gifts and Talents

        There are a lot of people who are seeking a title to go with their name. They may spend 12 years or more, just to get a degree. There are many degrees available for those who spend a lot time getting them. There is an Associate Degree, a Bachelor’s Degree, a Graduate Degree, a Professional Degree, a Joint Degree, and a Doctoral Degree. There are many reasons for getting a degree. Some want the money that a title brings, and some want the prestige that goes with the title. The highest title is the Doctoral Degree in many different professional Jobs, such as M.D. for a doctor.

      In God’s kingdom everything is the opposite from the earthly realm. The more a person holds onto anything, the less he has. To receive anything from God we must first give it away. We may be a Pastor, a Prophet, or a Teacher. Those things are what we do. They are not who we are. The highest level we can attain on this earth, in God’s kingdom, is after our name is the title, a Servant of the Lord Most High. We are not here to obtain a title after our name, we are here to serve any way we can, in the service of the Lord.

   When the apostles, James, Peter, and Paul, wrote to the churches, they said they were bondservants, of Jesus Christ. A bondservant was a person who chose to be a servant for life. When Jesus (The Lord Most High) came to earth, He was humble and He served everyone, He also washed the apostle’s feet. We are to be humble also and not lift ourselves up. We are to be a servant to everyone with whom we come into contact. The highest level we can achieve is to be a servant of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The highest prize is knowing Jesus.

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      New King James Version
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

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Luke 12:15 And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses."

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Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ

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James 1:1 James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings.

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2 Peter 1:1 ¶ Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

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Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.