The Gifts in the Body of Christ

Last night I had the privilege to sit with a group of gifted leaders of New River Ministries in Radcliff, KY. As many of you know I have been working with this group in a new church plant in Radcliff. In January of 2009 the Lord began to deal with my heart concerning an outreach effort to this area that sits next door to Fort Knox. We conducted our first service on September 11, 2009 in a school cafeteria; we are now renting a facility and conducting services on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon. The Lord began to put a team together that would become captured by the same vision and desire that God had placed in my heart during prayer. I am always amazed at the greatness of God who truly "orders the steps" of people who are willing to seek the heart of God and who are also willing to follow the direction that comes from the heart of God. I could continue talking more about the team and the direction of God but I will save that for a later time. Today I need to write about an observation that God placed on my heart as I reflected on the meeting once I arrived home. I was reminded about the great diversity of the Body of Christ. God can take people of different backgrounds, different personalities, different talents, different gifts and mold them into a team with a desire to please the heart of God. I truly believe that the diversity of the Body of Christ is a very strong positive and not a negative. Is it possible that we do not celebrate the gifts that God has placed in the heart of different individuals? Is it possible that we have forced people to overlook their gift and walk in some role that we have defined for them? Each of you reading this blog need to spend time in prayer asking God to reveal the gift, talent, or ability that He has placed in you. I will remind you that the ability or gift that He has placed in you is not meant to exalt you or elevate you to a spirit of pride or haughtiness. NO, a thousand times NO; rather the talent, ability, or gift that resides in your heart is meant to edify (build up), encourage and strengthen the fellow members of the Body of Christ. I ask you to do two things today: 1) Recognize and appreciate the gift that God has placed in you; 2) Recognize and appreciate the gift that God has placed in the other members of the family of God.