Solution to All Problems : Praise God

Psalms Chapter 67

1	God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; Selah.
2	That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.
3	Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
4	O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
5	Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.
6	Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7	God shall bless us; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.

Spiritual Gifts

We have been studying Spiritual Gifts this past month at Discipleship Training. I took a test today, to discover what my Spiritual Gift(s) might be, and I thought I'd share.

On the test I took there where 22 possible Spiritual Gifts. You could score anywhere from 0 to 20. With your highest score or scores being your Spiritual Gift or Gifts. My highest score was a 16 and I scored a 16 on three different Spiritual Gifts: Prophet, Craftsmanship, and Missionary.

Here are the definitions of each.

Prophet
It is the special gift whereby the Spirit empowers certain Christians to interpret and apply God's revelation in a given situation.
1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 1 Corinthians 14:30-33, 1 Corinthians 14:37-40

Craftsmanship
Its is the special gift whereby the Spirit endows certain Christians to use hands and minds to build up the Kingdom through artistic, creative means.
Exodus 28: 3-4

Missionary
It is the special gift given by the Holy Spirit to certain members of the body of Christ to minister whatever other spiritual gifts they have in a second culture or second community.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23

As my pastor said, "We are supposed to be in prayer for God to show us our Spiritual Gifts. This test was just a guide line, not God's Line."

I can really see how the gift of Prophecy relates to me, because I have a great desire to study God's Word and determine right from wrong, God's Will, and how we are supposed to live our daily lives for God. As for the other two, I'm not so sure right now. Especially the gift of a Missionary. I've always dreamed of traveling the world, and I could really see myself taking in orphans in another country, but I wouldn't be able to go alone. I would be so home sick that it would make me emotionally and physically sick. If my Husband and animals went with me, that would be a whole different story! I would be totally fine, and probably have the time of my life serving God. My Husband hasn't yet taken the test. So, we're not for sure what his Spiritual Gifts are. But we're both pretty sure that Music would be one of them, probably his most prominent! So, we'll see how these gifts turn out.

Debt and Scripture

I've been wrapping presents all morning. I still have several more to wrap and several more to buy. I've decided that I'm not going to buy for my Husband's Aunt and Uncle and their family, and I'm going to try and not feel bad about it. We just can't afford it. And it would be putting us deeper in debt, its not being a good steward of what God has given us. We are supposed to make due with what we have and take care of it. But by charging on credit cards, I have took money that God didn't supply and have put my family in more bondage. Hopefully, I will be able to pay it off before any interest is added.

Bible Scripture

1st Timothy Chapter 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Deuteronomy Chapter 15:6 For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.

Psalms Chapter 37:21 The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.

Romans Chapter 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Galatians Chapter 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?

Proverbs Chapter 22:3 The prudent sees the evil and hides himself, but the naïve go on, and are punished for it.

From now on, I'm going to try my best to be prudent and get out and stay out of debt!