Nathan McGee

9/22/2013

“Use your Gifts”

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

-1 Peter 4:10-11

 

We have special gifts, spiritual gifts that God has given us. Have you ever wondered what your spiritual gifts are? Do you think you don’t have any? God has given us spiritual gifts which we are to use. We may not know of them or know how to apply them right away but over time they will become evident to us.

In these verses up above, we are shown that we are to use the gifts that God has given us to glorify His name and to serve Him. There are many different gifts that one could have. For example, we are shown in Romans 12:6-8 that,  

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

Romans 12:6-8 exemplifies so well how we are to utilize our gifts. Our gifts do not have to be “super” gifts; a gift could be as simple as encouragement. People need to be encouraged everyday especially in the Christian community. I want to challenge everyone right now to prayerfully seek after what your gift is from God. We have these gifts for a reason. They are something that God empowered us with. We can use them in to advance the Kingdom of Heaven by mutually edifying one another in the body of believers.

I always thought that our gifts had to be extra special and “super” if I may say. Up until recently I thought that I didn’t have any spiritual gifts to offer. I thought that I was just mediocre in everything that I did. I thought to myself, “how can I be used, I don’t have any special gifts”. It wasn’t until I read this verse that I realized we are to use these very ordinary but powerful gifts such as encouragement, teaching, leading, and so on to glorify God. These special gifts that you have can be used for so much more than we know.

God has placed these specific gifts in our lives so that we may utilize them for Him, that we may use these gifts to serve God, not ourselves. As we search for our gifts and find them, I encourage us to use them for more than our own benefit. God put them in our lives for a specific reason, utilize and use them to serve the kingdom!

 

Nathan McGee. '98.6 Too Cold' Blogger

9/15/2013

“Make it Count”

 

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

-Matthew 6:19-20

 

          Every day we have our own agendas and plans. We have our short term goals and our long term goals, but are they goals that will last in the long run? Do you get too caught up in materialistic things? I know I do. I put too much of my time and energy into thinking about how much money I will make, how much I will save, and how much I can spend. After a while it becomes too much and your life starts to revolve around these materialistic things.

           I believe that the verse stated above is very important to remember especially in the realm of lukewarm Christianity. As we live our lives and walk in our Christian faith we should all remember that verse. This has spoken to me lately. The time and energy that I put toward achieving my materialistic goals and making money could be used for advancing the kingdom of God and storing up treasures in Heaven. At times I don’t realize that I’m doing exactly the opposite of what I’m supposed to be doing, which is storing up treasures in heaven while here on earth, but overall that’s what I want to become aware of on a daily basis.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity..."

           As Christians we should really use this advice given to us by Paul in Ephesians. We should make the most of every opportunity that God presents us with. These opportunities may interfere with our own plans, such as our everyday plans. Yes, they [God given opportunities] may interfere with our short term goals and our long terms goals, but when God presents us with these opportunities we need to take them and utilize them. In the past I have been presented with opportunities to advance the kingdom of God and to store up treasures in heaven, but I choose not to do it God’s way and stick to my own plan and I regret doing it that way.

As Christians we need to set our mind on Christ like goals. We need to build our goals and our lives on things that will last, things that are kingdom- oriented!

 

Nathan McGee. '98.6 Too Cold' Blogger

 

 

9/8/2013

“Do You Mean It?”

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.”

-James 1:6-7

When we ask God for something, do we expect it to happen? Do we ask just to ask, or ask half heartedly? Or do we ask God wholeheartedly knowing that He hears us and will do something? I know that many Christians ask, but ask with God in a “box”. Some pray, but do not expect that He will actually do something.

Limiting God’s power is a component of lukewarm Christianity….

As we seek a Christian life that is not lukewarm we should not have prayers that are lukewarm. I must admit, that I sometimes tend to pray half-heartedly. I know that God hears my prayers, but sometimes human nature gets the best of me and I have monotonous prayer in which I “pray just to pray”.

          Prayer is powerful; it is a way in which we communicate with God. When we talk to God, we should not have a doubtful or hesitant mind about things, we should have faith and trust in God that he will answer and that His will, will be done in our lives. God is as powerful as he was in the Old and New Testament times. We should expect God to do the same things today as He did then.

          Ephesians 3:20 says, “ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”. God can do way more that we could ever imagine. We should not limit God to our way of human thinking. We need to be extraordinary with our prayers. We should not hold anything back and fully trust and rely on God.

          We need to remember that God sympathizes with us; He has gone through everything that we have gone through which is evident through the life of Jesus and His time spent on earth. We have a God who cares and loves us. Through our prayers we should exemplify our understanding of this. Every time I pray I need to remind myself that God can do anything and that I cannot limit my thoughts and prayers to my own understanding.  Instead I should seek to understand the endless potential my prayers have when I ask expecting God to show up.

Nathan McGee. '98.6 Too Cold' Blogger

 

9/1/2013

Trials & Control

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”.

-1 Corinthians 10:12-13

 We all go through trials and problems in our own lives. The question is what do we do about them? Do we try to change the scenario or situation ourselves?

Or do we let God take control?

          It is scary to think of giving up being in control and letting God guide and control your life especially when you have an idea of how things are “supposed” to be. When you arrive at a problem do you try to figure it out or do you seek God? We can try to reason with ourselves why we know best and that our way will work but in the end our way never works. Proverbs 14:12 affirms this: “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death”. So why start with our way? We should start by seeking God. It’s definitely not an easy thing to do especially when there is uncertainty in our struggles. 

            Looking at the base verse of this blog, I want to focus on the last part of verse 13, “But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it”. When we encounter problems, difficult times, and temptations, God is there; He has a plan and He has a way in which we can endure and persevere through them without running or turning back. It is better to follow the way of God than our own because God has a reason and purpose for whatever is going on in our lives (Romans 8:28). It’s not our job to figure out how to get around it but to endure it with God.

            Giving God control is a hard thing to do; each and every day you have to give God control of your life. The Bible refers to this course of action as surrender. I find it difficult to do every day. I always have my own ways in which I want to do things, but I’m slowly realizing that I can’t keep doing that. We all have very different lives and different problems that we encounter, but we all have the same God who is there to endure and help us through each and every day. Let go and let God control your life; you will feel a burden lifted off of your shoulders and you will be able to see straight again.

Nathan McGee. '98.6 Too Cold' Blogger