Press the arrow to listen to Kristian Stanfill sing “Jesus Paid it All” as you read today’s devotion on letter writing for Jesus.

Scripture
You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Observation
The greatest counsellor I’ve known never wrote a book. I asked Margaret Belesky to put in a volume her life-changing methods. She declined and instead pointed to the healed marriages and lives rebuilt out of brokenness and said that what had been accomplished in their lives could never be written into a book it could only be recorded on their lives.

Her words reminded me of an episode in my life back in 1986. I was a graduating seminary student in the office of my lead professor. His room needed no paint, for it was floor to ceiling lined with books. He looked at my grades and urged me to go on to an Ivy League school for my PhD and devote my life to scholarship. When I told him of my plans to be a pastor, he said, “Don’t waste your time with preaching, for once the message is spoken it is forgotten. Devote your life to books for they speak long after you are gone.”

I replied, “But don’t our words last forever in a changed human heart?”

There is a letter I write everyday in the hearts of those around me. Just as a letter writer must chose his words carefully, so too, I must select my sentences with care. What I speak will be forgotten but the crater of its impact will last forever.

A pastor is the secretary of God, the people are the stationery and the ink on their hearts are the footprints of the Holy Spirit. The pastor must choose his words carefully, not for eloquence sake, but for eternity. Each day a pastor has the potential of speaking sentences that will echo in heaven, because someone will hear his words, make life change, and enduring alterations to character will outlast this life and make it into the next.

Application
I need to be purposeful in planning what I say, so that the words I speak make a difference. There is so much activity in life that pulls me away from careful reflection. I cannot apologize for quiet moments, for this is part of my call. It is only as I listen that I will have anything to say.

Prayer
Father, today, I ask for sentences to speak that will last forever.

Press the arrow to listen to Casting Crowns sing “Life Song” while reading today’s devotion about usefulness.

Scripture
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. 1 Corinthians 15:58

Observation
What brings burn out is not hard work but work that feels pointless. Hard work, at least for me, is exhilarating. But work without reward is debilitating.

There is a sweet word I can drop into my day like sugar into my coffee that sweetens everything. That word is “useful”. If I am confident that what I am doing today is useful to the Lord, then I will work enthusiastically.

Application
I was reflecting about some major exertions of energy in my life and the works that they have produced. I wonder about the usefulness of some.  But I have to ask myself, “Did I do them for the Lord?” My answer is, “Absolutely.” Then I must exercise faith that what I have done will be useful to the Lord, given time. I can’t let disappointments about the past slow my present pace. I must leave the past in the Lord’s hands with faith that he will make it work for him, somehow. Then I can move forward into what is given me to do today.

Prayer
Father, I’ve heard on the radio of songs dedicated to loved ones. I dedicate my life-song today to you. Make it useful. It may never be in the top 40. I do not ask that my song be louder than any others, only that it will last forever. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Hillsong sing “With All I Am” as you read today’s devotion on desiring spiritual gifts.

Scripture
So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:31

Observation
There are many wonderful assessment tools that can help a person discover the ability God has woven into their personality. There is the Meyers-Briggs, DISC, Strengths Finder and even spiritual gifts tests of various kinds. These are helpful in discovering our personality and how God has formed that.

But we must remember that gifts of the Spirit are quite different from personal traits. These gifts are not something we are born with, these, as gifts, are something that come to us extra after birth. Otherwise Paul would not tell us to desire spiritual gifts and to ask for them. These spiritual gifts are not the result of DNA and something innate in us. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are really Christ in us, working through us to show him to others.

Because these gifts come in addition to personality, they are dynamic and change. For new seasons, God can give new things. The conditions around us combined with the prayers within us can evoke new abilities from the Lord.

We are to desire gifts, because there are additional things that God wants to give to us. The desire that God responds to is not the selfish desire of self-development, but the selfless desire of serving others. We should earnestly desire the gifts that will be the most helpful to those who are around us. Our spiritual gifts are not given for us, but to us for others. Our gifts belong to others and their gifts belong to me. The nature of any gift from God is that it must be given away.

Application
God wants to give me more than I have and my asking is only limited by the need of those around me. Throughout my life, I’ve said yes to the Lord for so many things. That yes seems to pull me out into the deep where I need more than I currently have. It’s happening again today.

Prayer
Father, continue to expand the work of the Holy Spirit today. Show me what others need through me Lord and do something eternal through me I pray. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Michael W. Smith sing “A New Hallelujah” while reading today’s devotion on spiritual fathers.

Scripture
For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. So I urge you to imitate me. 1 Corinthians 4:15-16

Observation
There is a flightiness in life today, a detachment and indifference that enables us to hold ideas at the distance of a remote control. When we don’t like what we hear we flip past to other channels. We can tailor what we hear to our playlist of favorite teachers, whether they sing to us or speak to us.

There is a need to be committed not just to truth but to the person who speaks it to us. We need to identify our spiritual father and be loyal to him and his message. We need to mature to the next level and become spiritual fathers to others so that truth can live 3D before their eyes.

Application
If ever I need to know what a man of God should do, I need only consider my own dad’s life. I need to be that father for others and I also need to be faithful to those who have so patterned life for me. I need to be a dad and I need to follow my spiritual dads.

There comes a point in manhood, where a man defines his own life. That is what fathers hope for their sons. And yet, there comes a maturity that even if a man gets it all together, he will not forget where he got it from.

Prayer
Father, save me from becoming disloyal to truth by being indifferent toward those who have lived it out for me. I think there is something in this loyalty to spiritual fathers that reaches beyond a person and really into you. You are the shadow behind every father, and in faithfulness to them I find faithfulness to you. Amen.