August 30, 2024 We Are Bound
Friday, August 30, 2024
We Are Bound
What I’m getting at, friends,
is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning.
When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience.
Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts.
Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God.
That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you,
God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed!
Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society.
Philippians 2:12-16, Message
God calls each of us to do something – to solve something, provide something, lead or discover something, teach, or create something, bear or overcome something. In so doing, He created us to improve the lives of others and move us a little closer to restoring Paradise here on earth under the Lordship of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Whatever that something is, God did not leave us alone to accomplish this purpose. He gifted each of us with the unique and necessary combination of spiritual gifts, personality, experiences, skills, and resources to fulfill the call upon our life. He also gave us His Spirit who works within us to transform our will as well as enable our actions. And He is pleased to do so.
From the focus on spiritual gifts this week, I remembered a college friend’s poem written at graduation. I’ve carried the now tattered sheet from a Steno pad with me through the years to remember my purpose. Armed with the love of God the Father, the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to carry it forward, too:
I stand on a hill
And shout to the wind,
I am free!
I am free!
In my soul, I am free!
Then my gaze falls on one
Slowly trudging the road
And I know,
I am bound!
I am bound!
~Margaret J. Zednik
Be Still and Reflect: As you reflect on this week’s devotionals about spiritual gifts, how do you sense God working in you to will and to act according to what will fulfill His good purposes?
Pray: Gracious God who loves me so much that You sacrificed Your only Son that I might live free, I give You thanks for this life in which You adopted me as Your very own child. And I give You thanks for the outpouring of Your Holy Spirit to direct, counsel, and enable me to work according to Your good pleasure. To You and for You alone, I am bound. Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader