The Christian & Money / tapping into your gift

In today's world one of the main topics to talk about is money because life evolves around it. The rich are finding ways to receive a better return off of their investments and become richer while the middle class and poor are looking for other ways to make more. For many people money also is an ego booster that prompts them to show off the latest style car, home or clothing. People who trust money will do just about anything to acquire it, even if it means hurting another physically or emotionally. The bible says in 1 Timothy 6 that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Notice it is the love of money, "not money itself" because money is neutral in that it is neither good or bad, but depending on the character of the individual who has it money will simply display that character. For example if a person is a giver before they have money, they will be bigger givers when they do have it, if a person is a thief without it, then they will become a bigger thief with it. So you see money only amplifies the character of a person.

Wall street is bigger than ever with people investing into everything from penny stocks to real estate with many people making money while others lose it. In this world where investing is so wide spread, why are more people not moving toward investing in themselves? well some reasons may be that a person may feel they have nothing to offer, while others may feel that there is no market for what they do have to offer. Nursing homes today are some of the wealthiest places on earth because of the wealth of untapped gifts talents and abilities.They are filled with millions of aged individuals who never tapped into their God given gifts talents and abilities, and now they may look back with regrets wishing that they could be twenty-five years old again and do things differently. Well life is not over until it is over, and as long as there is breath in the body, one can do something. Moses was 80 years old when he began tapping into his gift.

As he is on the backside of the desert he sees a bush burning but not being consumed. If we today are going to tap into our gift,talent and abilities, God must get our attention just as he did for Moses. Could it be that for some, the unemployment crises came to get their attention so that they could begin focusing in on what they may have to offer and then receive the money that they need? how many people hate the job that they spend half of their lives in? every now and then God will allow events to come into our lives to get our attention so that he can send us toward our true destiny. Moses' occupation changed from shepherding sheep to shepherding people. When things are bad, making it hard to make ends meet, pray and seek God to find out if the trial is simply an attention getter, because to continue to herd sheep (Moses example) will not bring fulfillment if the will of God is for you to shepherd people.

The next thing that happens is that God speaks to Moses from out of the burning bush and calls his name.What I like about this is that out of everyone who may have been named Moses, God was talking specifically to him. Only he could do what God was about to ask him to do, only he had the gift talent and ability to carry out his purpose and he could except the challenge or reject it. Today you and I have the same challenge, we can find our purpose and use our gift talents and abilities to flow with it, or continue complaining about what we are doing is not fulfilling. I'm not saying to go out and quit your job tomorrow, but to change your mindset and begin to look into what Gods plan and purpose is for your life. God calls Moses' name because the bible says that a good name is rather to be chosen than many riches, wow!! many people are concerned with the riches at the expense of their name, so they ruin it with cheating and lies until they cannot be trusted. Listen... character is the most important thing when tapping into a gift because a gift can take a person a long way toward fame and fortune, but only character will keep them there! this is why God is more concerned about character than riches. He told the rich ruler in Mark 10 to sell all that he had and give to the poor because he was concerned about his character first, but the money would soon follow because Proverbs says that he that gives to the poor lends to the Lord and that which he has given will he give to him again. God will never become indebted to us and the rich ruler was no different

Before I go on with using Moses as an example,I would like to explain what I mean when I mention tapping into your gift, to begin lets look at what the bible says about it ...

A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men (Proverbs 18:16)

To begin everyone has been created with something that they can do (ie look at all of the gifted writers on hub pages!). But until a person focuses in on that dominant gift, it will be a waste. Some people can do more than one thing and they may have many gifts such as...art, music, singer, actor, carpenter, plumber, teacher, and the list goes on and on. Your gift is something that you do and do well because other people recognize it and respond with compliments, money, etc. but it is also something that time is not a factor because you can engage in it and lose sight of time because you really enjoy doing it. Most people would not see a personality as a gift, but it is. who are the first to be seen when walking into an office in the business world? secretary's... and if they have a personality of a door knob,then the company loses business, so they are compensated well. Years ago a commercial was on television advertising a product with simply hands being displayed. No face, body, speech, nothing but hands and this person was compensated well because they had gifted hands. I mention these examples because many people think that they have nothing to offer.

What is it that you do that if you were not present you would be missed? you see your gift effects the lives of others, and you become a problem solver for someone and because of this, people are willing to pay you well! so tap into your gift by sitting down and taking some paper and writing down everything that you can think of that you can do. You will find some things will dominate others but that's OK. Once you have created your list now choose which one you would like to pursue after praying about it first, remember our purpose will be connected in some way to our gifts talents and abilities because God gives the ability to do whatever with our "purpose in mind"

Our gifts must also be cultivated because they are only raw material and are not as excellent as they can be, so one must be willing to invest in themselves through more education mentoring, money and anything else needed to enhance the gift. (ie Hollywood actors did not just show up wanting a job, but many had to go to school to perfect their craft) and so a polished perfected gift gains attention and brings one before great men according to Proverbs.18:16. Great men are people in key places of authority and power to promote someone.How many people have been discovered by someone willing and able to promote them? according to Psalm 75 true promotion does not come from the east, west or the south, but true promotion comes from the Lord, he takes down one and sets up another!

So in your endeavors stop trying to show people and do what God requires and show him and he will turn the hearts of men (Proverbs 21:1) to see what you have to offer and promote you.

As the burning bush gains the attention of Moses, God begins to call his name and Moses answers the call. Practically speaking he answered the call because he knew who he was. If someone calls your name you answer because you are aware of your name. In biblical times names reflected the character of the person, for example Jacob means supplanter, schemer or trickster, and his name fit who he was in character because he tricked his brother Esau out of his birthright and tricked his blind dad Isaac into blessing him. Another example is Abraham who's name means father of many nations because through him came Isaac and through Isaac came the nation of Israel.Moses' name means "drawn out" because he was actually drawn out of the Nile by the daughter of Pharaoh,

So when God calls Moses name he is actually saying drawn out . May I tell you that many today are not tapping into their gift because they are not willing to allow God to...1. draw them out from their familiar surroundings, people cannot see what they have to offer because they may not be willing to become uncomfortable by stepping into new territory and experiencing a different environment. For Moses, God was drawing him out from the comfort of Jethro his father-in-laws house to send him back into hostile territory that he had left 40 years earlier because of a contract on his life. If Moses is going to tap into his gift, he must do what he really does not want to.

Remember this principle the next time you may believe God is leading you to do something that you do not want to do, because he may be drawing you out to position you for tapping into your gift.

Excuses continue to come from the mouths of people who focus on their liabilities instead of their assets. By this I mean everyone has flaws that could use some fixing, but unfortunately people tend to focus on what they cannot do rather than what they can. God tells Moses to go down to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let his people go, and Moses chickens out and says I cannot speak. Stop making excuses and start tapping!