Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

gifts

Gateway Sins

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gateway drug,sin,satan,temptation,Christmas,Easter,Easter bunny,santa clause,easter egg huntimage © Mangojuicy – Fotolia.com

According to Wikipedia, “The gateway drug theory (also called gateway theory, gateway hypothesis and gateway effect) states that the use of less deleterious drugs can lead to a future risk of using more dangerous hard drugs or crime.” I think sin is a lot like this. Satan uses a “gateway sin” strategy to lure us into situations where we never expected to find ourselves. I’ve observed that the strategies of Satan are fairly consistent, merely variations on a theme. His goal, much as it was in the Garden of Eden, is to only slightly blur the lines for us. He doesn’t try and whitewash the entire canvas.

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Discover Your Gifts

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skills,gifts,spiritual gifts,passions,life's purpose,calling,whay are we here,God's will

By far the most common question I receive from readers is, “How do I know what gifts and passions I have?” Since it is such a recurring theme, I want to take a bit of a different turn with this blog post and try to help you answer that question. In my coaching business, I run programs of six weeks and six months to help people dive into this question, so covering this in 500 words here will not provide a complete solution, but I hope it will give you a framework to get started. It’s important to understand that God has given each of us a unique set of skills, gifts, and passions. You did not get left out; they are within you.

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Using Your Talents

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talents,skills,god's will for your life,why am I here,life purpose,spiritual gifts

Most of us are familiar with the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. In the story, the master gives his servants a varying number of talents before he goes away on a long trip. To one he gives five, to another two, and to the other one. When the master returns, he calls in his servants to see what they have done with what he gave them to use. The first two servants doubled what they received, but the other one simply offered back exactly what he had been given. The servants who multiplied what they had were praised, while the one who had done nothing received harsh judgment from his master; he was stripped of what he had and thrown out of his master’s presence.

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A Morning Prayer

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global leadership summit,gls 2012,bill hybels

Bill Hybels recently concluded a leadership event with a challenge to those in attendance. He read a prayer he encouraged us all to pray for the next 30 days. You can download the prayer by clicking here. Essentially the message is to commit yourself each day to fulfilling your purpose in God’s plan. You’ve probably prayed similar prayers at various stages of your life. It has almost become rote to commit our lives and our hearts to Christ each day. However, some of the other specifics of this particular prayer challenged me to consider how I live my life with a new perspective. Three of the commitments that have changed the way I approach my day are pledging to use my talents, energy, and creativity to fulfill my role in building His church.

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Much is Expected

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Jesus is Lord,Lord of your life,Jesus first,God first

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Luke 12:48, which says, “Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.” I feel like I have been given much, and perhaps even more than that. Chances are you are in the same boat as I am. I’ve referenced the site before, but in case you are a new reader, check out the Global Rich List web site. Simply type in your income to see where you rank among the rest of the world. My guess is you will see that you have indeed been given much.

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