It has been this servant's custom to inquire of the Lord around new year what His message is for the upcoming year. If you remember the message from 2019/2020 right before the scamdemic hit the message was to focus on your talents and abilities in service to the Kingdom. What was the message for 2020/2021? Same thing but with more emphasis. And what is the Spirit of the Lord saying as we transition from 2021 to 2022? The exact same message which is this:
We have each one of us been given unique set of talents and or abilities that were given to us in advance for us to develop and use in service to His Kingdom.
Where can we find this in the Word? Here:
Matt 25:
14“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servantsc and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents,d to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.e You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
And here:
Luke 13
6Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8“ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’ ”
In case you missed it, the Lord was not playing in the language He used to convey these messages. Notice what happened to the worthless servants who produced nothing with the talents given to them and what the "remedy" was for the fig tree that produced no fruit. The Lord is not playing, the consequences are quite serious.
Also, in case you have'nt noticed (many in this world have not noticed) this world or at least the world as we knew it is already gone and the world as we know it today is also coming to an end. This has happened and is happening to a population that has largely ignored the changes as transitory. They do not see the forces of evil arrayed against them nor do they see the shortness of time. For those of us with eyes that do see, we must take action accordingly. Instead of playing the "lets get back to business as usual" game that so many are playing we should be praying, fasting and preparing as if this were the end of the world (which it is, one world has already died (life as we knew it)).
Our brother over at TLR had an encounter with the Lord recently that confirms what the Spirit has been saying to this nobody for going on 3 years now. Video here. The pressure is increasing and the amount of time we have on this earth is decreasing with each passing day making each day more important that we find a way to make some kind of incremental progress for the Kingdom of our God and King. The Lord God is not asking us to do something we cannot do, He is asking us to do what He has put right in front of each of our faces right now today. You have some kind of talent or ability you are supposed to use in His service, that is what He expects you to do.
Romans 12
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your a faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, b do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
The Lord gives us some examples here but this list is not even close to all inclusive ^^. Some people are good at fixing rocket engines, can that be used to serve the Kingdom? You bet it can, and the list goes on and on of all the things the Lord our God has empowered us to do. Also be aware that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Make some progress, take one step, do something that moves you along the path toward fulfilling the mission the Lord God has set before you. He is asking us to do something with what we have been given. The parable of the talents tells us not all the servants had the same return on investment but the Lord expects to see something instead of nothing.
Now is not the time to feel overwhelmed rather it is time to do the small things every day that add up to big things over time. This year of 2022 should be a year of prayer and fasting unlike anything you have done in the past. Push the boundaries on your own personal limits. If your gifts are fully developed find a way to put them to use, if they are still in development then work on developing them further so they can be put to maximum use when and where the Lord decides to use them. Also understand that we are all tools in the Lord's toolbox. The Lord is not always using a hammer but when He decides to use the hammer and reaches into the toolbox to get it the hammer better be ready to do its job.
We are the hammer and the screwdriver and the wrench etc, each fit for a job as the Lord sees fit to use us. The servant who writes to you today has alot of work to do. Instead of being overwhelmed our Master would have us be disciplined and diligent. Do something with what you have been given, something......None of us wants to be found to be a worthless servant or a tree that is cut down because there was no fruit on it.
If you cannot sprint, then walk, if you cannot walk then crawl, if you cannot crawl then find a way to inch yourself forward. Never stop, never quit, never give up. Find a way to win. If we have breath in our nostrils today then we can find a way to win. We have been given prayer fasting and all of the promises of God to fight the good fight of faith. If you are clueless then pray and fast about your situation and the Spirit of the Lord will lead you, be patient but also be persistent.
Each one of us is here on planet earth for a reason right now. Not one life was put here to be wasted away. We are here to give and serve in a way that only we can based on the skills talents and abilities we have been given. It is time for us to get to work. Lord help us. Amen.
Grace and Peace
