This is part of our Freedom Journey 2 Study; Previous page: Spiritual Gifts

It blesses God when we yield ourselves to him as vessels for his purposes. Like the right tool in the craftsman’s hand, our gifts and talents are uniquely designed and shaped for the work that God brings us into.  He has tasks he desires to accomplish on earth that are best done through human instruments. Though he has many tools he could use, there are certain tools that are better than others for each job.

God has designed you with a special purpose, as a special tool for a special job. He has uniquely gifted you with talents, passions and spiritual gifts to best fulfill his purpose for your life. No one else has ever been or will be designed and created quite like you! God wants to help you experience the thrill and satisfaction of finding that perfect niche you were made for.

What does being faithful mean? Colossians 3:23 explains what being faithful means: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (NKJV). Whether we are caring for our elderly parent, making widgets at the factory, driving a bus, or spending quality time with our children, we are to do it heartily as we would for the Lord Himself.

Having a “kingdom mindset” will greatly help us in being faithful from day to day. A person with the kingdom mindset sees himself as God’s servant and is aware that he is under his authority at all times. Jesus illustrated the kingdom mindset in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). In the parable, the master entrusted his money to his three servants prior to a journey. Upon return, he rewarded the two servants who had invested the money. He rebuked the third who had not invested, gave his portion to the most profitable servant, and had him punished severely.

The kingdom mindset recognizes that we will give an account to God, just as the servants gave account to the master. God entrusts resources to us and expects us to put them to use for his interests. At the end of the age, we’ll have to give an account to God for how we lived and what we did with what he gave us. Paul wrote:

“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 NKJV

What has God given to you? Consider that God has entrusted you with many things. These may include:

  • Family
  • Finances
  • Relationships
  • Body
  • Time
  • Influence/power
  • Authority of Christ (for example, authority over evil spirits)
  • Talents
  • His Word (the Bible)
  • Spiritual gifts

Though we may have taken these for granted in the past or used them selfishly, we can now see them as opportunities to serve Jesus.

Applying a kingdom mindset, here are a few examples of how we could employ the above resources for Jesus:

  • Setting God-honoring priorities and sticking to them
  • Spending quality time in building our family relationships
  • Honoring our commitments, keeping our word and not over-committing ourselves
  • Taking care of our bodies (eating right, exercising, getting rest, etc.)
  • Speaking uplifting words to encourage others
  • Speaking thanks and praise to God
  • Showing God’s love to those we’re in contact with each day
  • Obeying the Holy Spirit’s instructions
  • Tithing
  • Being generous
  • Investing time each day with God in a quiet time

In the parable of the talents, the master commended the faithful servant, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21 NIV) Obviously we’ll want to be rewarded like the faithful servant in the parable. If we are faithful, God will entrust more of his kingdom to us and allow us to share in his happiness with us.

Obstacles to faithfulness

Satan will try to prevent us from being faithful. He may use direct temptation to sin, or he may use a more subtle approach, appealing to our will and/or intellect. Here are two common obstacles to watch out for:

Obstacle #1: Our will

God gave us the wonderful and powerful gift of a free will. We have the power to choose whether God’s will is done in our life or not by the daily choices we make. It’s easy to say we’re sold out to doing God’s will, but the sticking point comes when it conflicts with our desires.

Human nature is to live to please ourselves. Our goals in life will reflect what we are living for and ultimately who is controlling our lives. If we are living to please ourselves instead of God, then we must take action to bring our will into submission to God’s will. This should be part of our daily “dying to sin” mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:31 and 1 Peter 2:24. Here are some steps we can take:

  • Surrender our selfish ambition (Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition and vain conceit” NIV)
  • Surrender control of our life to God (Matthew 6:10 “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..” NKJV)
  • Live to please God instead ourselves (1 Thessalonians 4:1) – Example: Align our life’s goals with God’s mission

We can accomplish these steps with God’s help. A prayer we can pray to address the above issues is:

“Father God, I confess my sin of using my will to block your will from being done in my life. Specifically, I confess that I have ___________(list your specific obstacles). Lord I see these attitudes as sin. Please forgive me and cleanse me from them. Lord, please help me die to these attitudes daily. Help me to bring my goals and decisions under your Lordship. Father, may your will be done in my life on earth as it is in heaven. I commit myself to living to please you from this point forward. May I bring glory to your name always by how I live. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, be on guard for temptations to take control of your life back from God. The moment things don’t appear to be going the way we want, it can very tempting to grab for control. We must resist this urge and remind ourselves to trust God with the situations at hand. Philippians 4:6-7 is an excellent scripture to call to mind in such a situation.

Obstacle #2: Doubt

Doubt has probably squashed more works for God than we will ever know. The enemy loves to flood us with doubt when we try to be faithful in serving God. God may have shown us a mission that seems like “Mission Impossible” given our present resources. We have to remember that God is with us and will help us tackle God-sized missions.

I’m reminded of how Peter stepped out of the boat in faith. He kept his eyes fixed on Jesus, and didn’t let the physical circumstances of the wind and waves deter his faith at first. The moment he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink. Likewise, when we fix our gaze on Jesus, we will be sustained by faith in completing the task at hand. As soon as we start looking at our circumstances, worrying and doubting God, we’re likely to get beat up by the wind and waves of the enemy. As James said, “He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6 NKJV). Nothing weakens faith quite like a storm of doubt!

The power of doubt is based on the lies involved. Satan will tell us many things in attempt to get us to doubt. He’ll say things like:

  1. “God will not help you”
  2. “You’re going to lose it all”
  3. “You didn’t hear God correctly”
  4. “You’re a miserable failure!”
  5. “God is punishing you”

In order to stave off an impending “storm of doubt,” we must call to mind the truth about whatever lies we’re being tempted to believe. For example, here are possible answers to refute the above lies:

  1. God will help me; the word says, “For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor you surround them as with a shield” (Psalm 5:12 NKJV)
  2. I will not lose it all; my faith is in God, who is my provider; I have been generous and have tithed on my increase, therefore God will provide for all my needs according to his riches in glory (Philippians 4:19; Malachi 3:10-11).
  3. I heard God correctly; the word says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27 NKJV). Jesus is my shepherd, I hear his voice and I follow him.
  4. God has not given up on me, because he sent his Son to die for me, that I might have abundant life. His Spirit lives in me and will guide me in all my ways (Proverbs 3:5-7; Psalm 32:8).
  5. God is not punishing me, because all of God’s wrath toward me was taken by Jesus on the cross. I have peace with God and can boldly approach his throne of grace through the blood of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1; Hebrews 4:16).

After we remind ourselves concerning the truth, we can then encourage ourselves in our faith to stand strong. I find the story of Abraham to be very encouraging to my faith. Paul recounts the sturdy faith that Abraham exercised:

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” Romans 4:18-21 NIV

Abraham stood on God’s promise and did not waver in unbelief during the fifteen years between when God made the promise and when it was fulfilled. He was fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he promised. As a result, God strengthened Abraham’s faith even more and he kept his promise. Likewise, when we stand on God’s word in faith as we strive to be a faithful servant, we can expect to be strengthened in our faith. Though it may seem impossible in the natural, God can work the impossible in the supernatural!

It takes a step of faith to believe that God has GOOD plans for us…that he won’t let us down when we step out to serve him. A great verse for encouragement is Jeremiah 29:11, which says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (NIV). Remember that God is a superb planner. He won’t give you a mission to complete without being certain you can complete it with his help. He believes in you and has confidence in you!

Here is a prayer that can be helpful when you are facing doubt:

“Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus to die for me, so that I have peace with you and can boldly come to your throne for help. Please forgive me for the times that I have doubted you. I renew my trust in you and ask you to remind me of the truth concerning any lies that I have believed or am tempted to believe from this point forward. As I stand in faith against the enemy, please strengthen me so that I will not waver. You are my anchor, rock and fortress. Thank you, Father! I praise your name now and forever, Amen.”

Prayer for faithful servant-hood

Perhaps the most important concept in this page is that we have the opportunity to reaffirm our allegiance to God. If you are ready to commit to serve God as a faithful servant, please take a moment to pray this suggested prayer to him:

“Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me so many talents, resources and spiritual gifts. Lord, I want to serve you with all that you have given me. Please forgive me for using these things in the past for sinful purposes. Please cleanse me with the blood of Jesus from anything that is not pleasing to you, Lord. I offer myself as a vessel for your honor and service from this day forward. I ask that your will be done in my life and I submit my will to yours. Please help me recognize any situation where I am not submitting to your Lordship. Please help me adopt Godly goals with pure motives. Please help me to catch the wonder, excitement and adventure of living for you. I am your servant now and forever. I praise your holy name! Thank you, Father. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

Personal Application Questions:

What aspects of God’s mission for your life do you already know?
What does being faithful mean to you?
How close are you to having a “kingdom mindset” in your day to day living?
What can you do to make the “kingdom mindset” more prominent in your life?
Please make your own list of resources that God has entrusted to you. (leave some space between each item)  Beneath each resource, write down one or two practical ways you can be a faithful servant with that resource.
What obstacles has the devil thrown into your path when you’ve tried be faithful in the past?

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