Coffee With The Lord

A shout out today to all those whose calling and Spiritual gifting is NOT to preach, or teach, or give oversight to a church or ministry! They instead are divinely gifted to use to use their abilities for the glory of God in other ways to bless others and help facilitate and extend the Kingdom of God in our world! Often ignored, forgotten, and not mentioned – they labor with dedication and devotion – but God notices! He is aware of every effort, every sacrifice, every attention to detail given, every hour, and every moment of their service! So today I salute (and hopefully we all salute) those who serve in the wide variety of ways that help others and make the Kingdom of God and its ministries a success on earth!

What prompted this reflection today you ask? Well it is the incredible record of service and the use of Spiritual gifts by a man called Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and his protégé, Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, found in the Old Testament… Individuals with “Spiritual gifts” and “anointing” as valid and authentic as any preacher, teacher, or Spiritual overseer…

Here’s what the Bible says…

“Then Moses said to the people of Israel, ‘See, THE LORD HAS CALLED BY NAME Bezallel… and has FILLED HIM WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge and with all craftsmanship…and HAS INSPIRED HIM to teach, both him and Oholiab. He has FILLED THEM WITH SKILL to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroider in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen or by a weaver – by any wort of workman or skilled designer.’” (From Exodus 35:30-35)

And then in Exodus 36 and 38 you read these words over and over again in the construction of the Tabernacle… “Bezalel made… and he made.. and he made… he made… and he also made… He made… and he also made… over and over and over! Finishing with these words, “Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; and with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan” (From Exodus 36 – 38)

So today we salute the “Spiritually gifted” and “anointed” servants of the Lord who serve God and His Kingdom in the marketplace… Do all that they do “for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) and sharing a witness as they are able with anyone who will listen as God gives them opportunity! We also celebrate their efforts within the Church to make it’s ministries a success for the glory of God! These are incredible people – gifted by the Holy Spirit – often using their gifts “free of charge” as volunteers to extend God’s Kingdom and serve others in a host of ways with excellence! These are wonderful, dedicated people who understand, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ then according to the grace given to us, let us use them…!” (Romans 12:4-8) What would the Kingdom of God be without people like this!

The bedtime story had been read, the prayers had been prayed, and her parents turned to leave the room… “Mommy… Daddy… Please leave the light on in the hallway, OK?!” she pleaded with them. And as her parents turned down the hallway to their room, if the truth were known, there is a sense in which their fears about tomorrow… about the future… about the things they were facing were really no different than their child’s…

I thought of that this morning as I read these words from Psalm 27 this morning…