The talent of writing can fit into many spiritual gifts, and not every writer has the same spiritual gifts. Our words can teach about God’s word and provide encouragement. Our writing ministry can build the church and motivate others. We may have the ability to teach God’s Word and make it clear for others.
However, spiritual gifts can cause writer to feel fear and timidness. What if we don’t correctly discern God’s Word? What if our encouragement doesn’t reach the right person? What if my blog doesn’t have a large enough following?
These questions can be intimidating, but we have hope that God created us with a spirit power, love, and self-control. So, today, fan the flame of your writing and know the Holy Spirit is on your side.
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)—for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Romans 12:10 (ESV)—Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Travel. It can bring out the happy, carefree us; it can bring out the hands-on-hips, ready-for-a-showdown us.
And how do I know that?
Just yesterday, my hubby and I hopped into the car for a two-hour drive to watch the eclipse. About halfway there, we stopped at a gas station for snacks at my request, much to the chagrin of my hubby, who very much wanted to get to our destination. Still, he filled the tank while I went inside for a leisurely browse of the snacks. A bit too leisurely if I correctly read my hubby’s facial expression when he came inside to collect me. Even so, I argued a bit and continued my browsing, albeit with my gaze moving faster over the selection of goodies.
Immediately, in the car, God prodded me: Apologize. He said I should have swallowed my wants (not quite as tasty as my snacks), paid for the drinks in my hand, and left the store without looking further. He finished with, “Honor one another above yourselves.”
Yep, one of those memory verses I’d tucked away, a verse about love that applies to every relationship, not just spousal ones. This characteristic of Christ allows us to be humble, to sacrifice our selfishness for the wants of another. Humility helps us to push aside our worldly feelings and love with zeal, joy, and faith. And we can sacrifice these human faults to live as Christ did because we have the peace of knowing Christ overcame the world (John 16:33).
On this day, I sinned. But I chose to turn from the darkness and walk in the light (1 John 1:7), to apologize for my behavior of not honoring another above myself. My hubby forgave me—and for good measure, we sealed the deal with a kiss.
I sometimes become obsessed with the idea of writing a devotional based on a particular verse. My fingers fly over the keyboard for a minute or two before freezing, the well of words running dry all because I didn’t bother to inject wisdom into my writing. Instead, I tried to produce words to publish a post or to submit to a publisher.
Devotional writing is more than putting well-constructed sentences with a clear theme to the page. Discerning God’s Word through the use of commentaries and other resources helps us produce well-thought-out ideas. Our prayers during writing and before posting guide us to biblical connection and sureness. After publication, these thoughts speak to others and encourage further contemplation of God’s Word.
God has entrusted us with the power to wield words to spread his Word. This thought makes me want to put my words in his hands. How about you?
Ecclesiastes 9:17 (ESV)—The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.
Matthew 13:11–12 (ESV)—And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
While walking along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, I spied a sign. My husband and I laughed at the picture of moose, its ears pushed back, like our cat’s ears do when he’s upset. The caption read, “Upset moose. You’re in danger now!” The sign also had information on what to do if the moose looks angry.
The cautionary sign puts information in front of people like me who aren’t super outdoorsy yet want to remain cautious in the outdoors. The visual opened my mind to the dangers of the Alaskan outdoors and readied me for a walk in nature.
Like the Anchorage park service, Jesus saw the value in readying people’s hearts. Jesus spoke in parables, visual images, to prepare people for his insights into God’s Kingdom. By using parables, Jesus gave everyone, not only the disciples, a chance to understand—to hear and to see—God’s Kingdom.
Jesus also knew that not everyone wanted to learn more about the Kingdom. For these people, their hardened hearts prevented them from hearing the truth in the parables. They became lost in the wilderness of their ideas, not wanting to hear Jesus’ message.
For anyone who wants a glimpse of God’s Kingdom, understanding the Scriptures requires an open mind that is receptive to learning and willing to engage in information provided through trusted sources. Gaining understanding helps us to make decisions in the worldly wilderness.
I stared over the edge of the rock wall beyond which lay ten feet of rock and patches of snow ice, followed by a precipitous drop into the Grand Canyon. Gazing at my ice-cleat-clad feet, I gulped even though the cleat’s grip made slipping almost impossible.
“Come on, Amy,” the tour guide encouraged. “Kneel behind the wall and reach up like you need help!” After my husband and I kneeled and posed as if we dangled over the edge, the tour guide encouraged me to stand on the wall. “Amy, grab your husband’s hand.”
I stood and grasped my husband’s hand, saving him from a fictitious tumble sure to break a bone or two. If this situation were reality, and I had to use my hands to pull my husband from the cliff’s ledge, would I be able to do it? Maybe, because the hands are powerful and not only in clasping, pushing, and pulling but also in praising, praying, working, as well as other things.
On the basis of my search of Bible Gateway for the word “hand”—a search pulling up 1,591 results—I know, one, that God’s hands are powerful (obviously!) and, two, that human hands are powerful too, but in a different way. Human hands can fail without God to guide them.
Human Hands
The Beautiful
Nehemiah 8:6: Human hands praise God.
Deuteronomy 2:7: Human hands work.
Deuteronomy 1:25: Human hands share.
1 Corinthians 16:21: Human hands encourage.
1 Timothy 2:8: Human hands pray.
The Ugly
Genesis 27:17: Human hands deceive.
Matthew 17:12: Human hands bring suffering.
Matthew 26:45: Human hands betray.
Jonah 3:8; Number 22:29: Human hands commit violent acts.
God’s Hands: Always Beautiful
Zechariah 4:8–10: God uses human hands to fulfill prophesy.
Acts 6:6; 2 Kings 4:34: God uses human hands to heal.
Judges 7:20: God uses human hands to fulfill his plan.
Ephesians 4:17: God uses human hands to inspire faith and belief.
Numbers 20:11: God uses human hands to provide.
1 Peter 5:6: God’s hand provides a place of refuge.
Hebrews 8:9: God’s hand leads us.
Matthew 14:31: God’s hand saves us from our doubts.
Matthew 8:2–3: God’s hands heal.
Human hands alone, without God, are so powerful and capable. Capable of deceit as well as kindness. Able to share as well as kill. Fit for hard work as well as destruction.
With God, our hands are a powerful tool to work as if working for the Lord, to encourage one another, to share with others, to do God’s work.
Ephesians 3:20–21 (NIV)—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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Born in Schwäbisch Hall, German artist and calligrapher Thomas Schweicker lived a life of celebrity. He wasn’t an actor or a model or even a musician. Schweicker painted and wrote in calligraphy…with his feet. This man, born without hands or arms, made a name for himself as an artist.
I don’t know if Schweicker worshiped God, but his story is inspirational. It makes me ask, what would happen if I said “I can” or “I’ll try it” instead of “I can’t” or “it’s not possible”? What if I said “yes” to God when he calls, even though I feel unable or incapable of doing the things he asks?
Feeling weak or less than gives me a chance to bow down before God, who gave every family on earth their name, and pray for my identity in him. I pray because I know my strength comes from God, my talents come from God, and my gifts come from God. And I know that God, from whose image I was created, delights in molding me into the person he created me to be.
God is calling, and it’s time to believe I am able and capable of his plan. It’s time to believe he can do more than I imagine.
If God can create an artist and calligrapher of Schweicker, what can he do for me?
Exodus 23:20 (ESV)—“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”
Stepping out of the bustling mall in the Zürich Hauptbahnhof, I clutched my guide book, finger marking the page for the start of a self-guided tour. Chock-full of information, the book led me through the Altstadt (Old Town), into churches whose decor left me in awe, through courtyards surrounded by charming buildings, to the shore of Lake Zürich. The book laid out a history of the area, a step-by-step path for me to walk in the present.
At Mount Sinai, God prepared a path for the people of Israel to follow in the present. He gave them not only the Ten Commandments but also rules for righteous living.
In return for their obedience, he promised to send an angel to protect them and bring them to the place he had prepared for them. He’d drive away their enemies and grow their population, one step at a time to protect the land from desolation and wild animals.
Like Israel’s path, our path comes from God if we choose to walk in obedience. God will help us to grow, one step at a time, on our path for today, our path for tomorrow, our path leading to our place in heaven.
In the writing and editing community, we have the power to pray that our fellow writers and editors be given the words to “fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.”
Ephesians 6:19 (NIV)—Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.
Deuteronomy 30:6 (ESV)—And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.
On the day I visited the Grand Canyon, clouds softened the rays of the sun, except for one brilliant spotlight of sunshine far in the distance. This spotlight offered the hope of warmth on this breezy thirty-some degree day, where the shadows on the rocks made the canyon look like a painting, the layers of red and beige sandstone in stark contrast to one another and the sheer cliff face dotted with patches of snow and shrubs.
In Deuteronomy 30, Moses reminded the Hebrews of this spotlight of hope. He said that if they’d turn their lives over to God, fully and completely, they’d experience a stark contrast from curses to blessings and they’d no longer be scattered like shrubs throughout the lands. God would turn the spotlight on them, gathering them together and circumcising their hearts.
God’s promise reaches us today. If we turn our lives to him, working toward our eternal reward, he’ll shine his spotlight on us, gathering us in Christian community and circumcising our hearts to restore our spirits.
