30 Shaped For Serving God

 

 

 

PURPOSE # 4

 

 

You Were Shaped For Serving God

 

 

We are simply God's servants.... Each one of

us does the work which the Lord gave him to do:

I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant,

but it was God who made the plant grow.

1 Corinthians 3:5-6 

 

 

30 Shaped for Serving God

 

 

Your hands shaped me and made me.

Job 10:8

 

The people I have shaped for myself

will broadcast my praises.

Isaiah 43:21

 

 

You were shaped to serve God.

God formed every creature on this planet

with a special area of expertise.

Each has a particular role to play,

based on the way they were shaped by God.

Each of us was uniquely designed, or "shapec," to do certain things.

 

"We are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works."

Ephesians 2:10

You are a custom-designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece.

"You made all the delicate,

 inner parts of my body and knit me together

in my mother's womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous."

Psalm 139:13-14

As Ethel Waters said,

"God doesn't make junk."

 

"Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed."

Psalm 139:16

God never wastes anything.

He would not give you abilites, interests, talents, gifts, personality,

and life experiences unless he intended to use them for his glory.

By identifying and understanding these factors

you can discover God's will for you life.

 

To help you remember five of these factors,

I have created a simple acrostic: SHAPE.

In this chapter and the next we will look at these five factors,

and following that, I will explain how to discover and use your shape.

 

 

How God Shapes You For Your Ministry

 

 

Whenever God gives us an assignment,

he always equips us with what we need to accomplish it.

This custom combination of capabilities is calle your SHAPE:

 

Spiritual gifts

Heart          

Abilities       

Personality  

Experience  

 

 

SHAPE: Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts

 

 

God gives every believer spiritual gifts to be used in ministry.

Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12;

Ephesians 4:8-15; 1 Corinthians 7:7

"Whoever does not have the Spirit

cannot receive the gifts

that come from God's Spirit."

1 Corinthians 2:14

"Christ has generously divided out

his gifts to us."

Ephesians 4:7

"It is the one and only Holy Spirit

who distributes these gifts.

He alone decides

which gift each person should have."

1 Corinthians 12:11

Because God loves variety

and he wants us to be special,

no single gift is given to everyone.

1 Corinthians 12:29-30

Also, no individual receives all the gifts.

 

"A spiritual gift is given to each of us

as a means of helping the entire church."

1 Corinthians 12:7

An unopened gift is worthless.

"There are different kinds of service

 in the church,

but it is the same Lord we are serving."

1 Corinthians 12:5

God has shaped you in four other ways, too.

 

 

SHAPE: Listening To Your Heart

 

 

The Bible uses the term heart to describe the bundle of desires,

Hopes, interests, ambitions, dreams, and affections you have.

Your heart represents the source of all your motivations—

What you love to do and what you care about most.

"I love you with all my heart."

"As a face is reflected in water,

so the heart reflects the person."

Proverbs 27:19

 

Your heart reveals the real you—what you truly are,

not what others think you are or what circumstances force you to be.

Your heart determines why you say the things you do,

why you feel the way you do, and why you act the way you do.

Matthew 12:34; Psalm 34:7;

Proverbs 4:23

 

Another word for heart is passion.

God had a purpose in giving you these inborn interests.

Your emotional heartbeat is

the second key to understanding your shape for service.

Repeatedly the Bible says to "serve the Lord with all your heart."

Deuteronomy 11:13; 1 Samuel 12:20;

Romans 1:9; Ephesians 6:6

 

God wants you to serve him passionately, not dutifully.

God wants you to use your natural interests to serve him and others.

Listening for inner promptings can point to the ministry

 God intends for you to have.

 

How do you know when you are serving God from your heart?

The first telltale sign is enthusiasm.

When you are doing what you love to do,

no one has to motivate you.

You do it for the sheer enjoyment.

 

The second characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness.

Whenever you do what God wired you to love to do,

you get good at it.

Passion drives perfection.

Don't waste your life in a job that doesn't express your heart.

Remember, the greatest things in life are not things.

"A simple life in the fear-of -God is

better than a rich life

with a ton of headaches."

Proverbs 15:16

 

Aim instead for "the better life"—

serving God in a way that expresses your heart.

Figure out what you love to do—

what God gave you a heart to do—

and then do it for his glory.

 

 

 

DAY THIRTY

Thinking About My Purpose

 

 Point to Ponder: I was shaped for serving God.

 

Verse to Remember: "God works through different men in different ways,

but it is the same God

who achieves his purposes through them all."

1 Corinthians 12:6

 

Question to Consider: In what way can I see myself

passionately serving others and loving it?

 

 

p 234~239

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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