Does God have a plan for your life?

Luke 19:12 A nobleman called together ten servants and gave them ten pounds of silver each to invest for him while he was gone. When he returned, the king called in the servants to whom he had given the money. He wanted to find out what they had done with the money and what their profits were. The first servant reported a tremendous gain, ten times as much as the original amount! 'Well done!' the king exclaimed. 'You are a trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.'  "The next servant also reported a good gain, five times the original amount.  'Well done!' the king said. 'You can be governor over five cities.'  "But the third servant brought back only the original amount of money and said, 'I hid it and kept it safe. I was afraid because you are a hard man to deal with.'  "'You wicked servant!' the king roared. 'Hard, am I? If you knew so much about me, and how tough I am, why didn't you deposit the money in the bank so I could at least get some interest on it?'  Then turning to the others standing nearby, the king ordered,  'take the money from this servant, and give it to the one who earned the most.'  "'But, master,' they said, 'that servant has enough already!'  "'Yes,' the king replied, 'but to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away.

Each one of us has gifts and abilities that God has given us, and he gives them to us to use to grow his kingdom.

Romans 12:4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

1 Corinthians 12:4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church(not a building). To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another he gives the gift of special knowledge. The Spirit gives special faith to another, and to someone else he gives the power to heal the sick. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and to another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to know whether it is really the Spirit of God or another spirit that is speaking. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, and another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Holy Spirit who distributes these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is, with the body of Christ. We have all been baptized into Christ's body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit. God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. Now all of you together are Christ's body(if you're a Christian), and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.

So the question is:

How well are you using what you have been given?

God has given each one of you certain gifts & abilities. But it’s our choice how & when we use what we've been given. We can use them for good or for evil.

If God has given me the ability to sing with the voice of an angel, I could sing praises to God or I could sing songs that glorify the devil, or I could not sing at all.

Either way, one day I will stand before my Creator & give account for how I used the gifts & abilities he has given me.

How terrible to come to the end of your life & wish you had done more for God. To wonder how many lives could have changed if I had done more. Yes! You can change people's lives with the gift God has given you!

What keeps us from using our gifts & abilities as intended?

Hebrews 12:1 Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus.

You can be the fastest runner in the world, but if you’re distracted or if you have sin or something else hindering your progress, you will loose the race.

The sooner we realize the problem & eliminate it, the sooner we can achieve our full potential & accomplish what we’re intended to accomplish.

Maybe you're thinking, “I don't know what my gift is?”

Here are 3 steps that will hopefully help you find out what your ministry is:

Step 1: Look for the obvious. Ask yourself; “What is it that I can do better than most people I know?”

Step 2: Ask your friends & family what gifts & abilities you have.

(Sometimes others can see those in us better than we can.

Step 3: Another method is:

Just try stuff & see if you enjoy it & see if you're good at it.

Volunteer to help with the youth at church, you might find that your good at it, or you might see that that wasn’t it!

If that wasn’t it, volunteer for something else, do that until you find your niche.

You would be amazed at how many people found their calling by simply volunteering for something.

The good news is, God rewards those who work for him.

1 Corinthians 3:13 There is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward.

I don’t know what the rewards are, but I know that they will be amazing, well worth whatever efforts we put forth.