Primary Text:

Parable of the talents –

Mathew 25:24-30

Supporting Text –

Proverbs 20:27

 

A Gift or Talent is a heavenly endowment infused (like a capsule) into the spirit-life of a human being. God is the Source of all Gifts – spiritual & physical and the human spirit is the anchor for all gifts even though it may find expression in the body level, soul level or spirit level.

 

To be abundantly clear, every man’s gift(s) is only a fragment of the multi-faceted dimension and expressions that can be found only in God – the creator of Life. So then, the breath of life given (from God) truly gave us life when man became a living soul.

 

However, Interwoven into our soul, were gifts and talents to trade with on earth and to empower man to manifest dimensions that can be found only in God. We must learn to exhale these gifts or we impose on ourselves, a life sentence of mediocrity.

 

As we know through common knowledge, a baby is born into the world every passing minute. What may be uncommon is that each infant that comes into this world also possess a set of gifts to be revealed through the process of time and maturity.

 

However, time ordinarily will not just reveal a gift that was ignored either because it was never activated or its power was never harnessed through the hope of mastery.

The purpose of this article is for the following reasons:

1. to activate dormant gifts in our lives.

2. to help you understand the reason you are gifted

3. to harness the power in your God-Given Gifts so it brings Profit to us and Glory to God.

Gifts come down from Heaven like dew rests upon a mountain top and Heaven is the seat of the Creator Himself. Every Gift is meant to be traded with here on earth (activated, refined, mastered & dedicated) and eventually brought back to God in Heaven in it’s multiplied measure. Ecclesiastes 12:7 gives us a peep into what happens when a man exits the world.

 

It declares “the body goes back to the dust from whence it came from and the (human) spirit goes back to God who gave it” – I believe with all of my heart that the spirit referenced in this verse and which goes back to God who gave it, must come back in a multiplied measure through the trading of each gift. It is this measure we are able to commune with in Heaven and save ourselves from eternal damnation.

 

Now this multiplied measure is an indication of our faithfulness to God and those who fail to use their gifts earn themselves eternal damnation due to being unfaithful while in the marketplace (earth). Just like you go to the market and several people exist there selling apples, oranges, tomatoes and all sorts, your gift is your unique advantage in the marketplace and is the primary motive for coming to the market in the first place.

 

So then what gives validation (life) to our existence is trading with our God

 

For the sake of this teaching I would like to focus entirely on the concept of gifts but at this moment shelve the concept of the amount given to each servant in the parable of talents. That in itself is a deeper teaching, reserved for another day.

 

Now God deposits Gifts in us so we can bring back the Glory to Him. God doesn’t need your money. What makes a Spirit happy is worship which ultimately brings glory. No amount of wealth amassed on Earth can ever be spent in Heaven. It’s no wonder we come naked and go back naked to God. All gifts are His in the first place but we are to trade with it on earth and earn back glory.

 

There is simply no human logic we may attach to the manifestation of a gift (be it physical or spiritual in nature) and attach that reality in its entirety, to genetic coding or ancestral heritage. While it may contribute to its initial crystallization in a person, it lies dormant in its rawest form until its activated by God.

 

That activation may take many forms as you see fit. I once heard the story of a young man who in his brokest form, read the story of a real estate investor and became so obsessed with real estate he became an authority in the field himself.

 

That first experience, dear friends, is what I consider the activation of a gift. It is important to note that a person may receive a gift and it remains unopened for many years just as one would receive a gift from a friend on a the celebration of a special event. Even so, a gift is officially activated (opened up) when an external force or reason compels it to be opened.

 

Your Gift is Heaven’s instrument to help you fulfill your destiny on earth. The latter (earth) being seen as a marketplace, Heaven (or Hell) is therefore the eternal home to the spirit of man. This is true! No matter the amount of years (age) a person spends on earth, the totality of those years is merely a journey and it amounts to nothing more than an adventurous sojourn.

 

Losing sight of this truth, man attempts to reverse the order and we often begin to act as though earth is home while the importance of where we spend eternity at, becomes diminished in our minds. But when we bear this truth in mind, the sting of death is greatly diminished as we begin to see it as nothing more than a visa to get back home to God.

 

This is why it’s not the amount of time on earth that counts, its the impact made within the time lived that matters. The most significant person in history remains Jesus Christ. Spent 33 years on earth with only a short 3 year ministry.

 

The result of this is that after 2000 years and till date He is worshipped by 2.1 billion people (Christians) as the Messiah. Another 1.3 billion of earth’s population (Muslims) acknowledge his ministry as one of the most powerful prophets that ever lived. What a legacy! This is indeed an everlasting impact on 3.4 billion people out of a 7billion (and counting) world population. Powerful impact indeed!

 

What did Jesus know that we don’t? What did he do to have such an extraordinary impact, that man may have lost sight of? 2 things to learn from his life:

 

#1. Jesus lived His life with an eternal view. He knew Heaven was home and earth was only a journey. This awareness made him embrace death as the visa to life eternal. He never for once mixed this up as seen when He prophesied his own death several times before it actually happened. Indeed death, is the pathway to life.

 

And there are different stages of death. Death to self (your desires & will) is how life is breathed into our God-Given Gifts and this is what activates us for a higher purpose. This is the lifestyle we are called to live as humans, not just believers. Anybody, who dies to anything (his desire & will), receives life in Any Gift locked up inside of him or her.

 

Yea, the working out of our gifts are the only true ‘gifts’ we give the world when we serve it with excellence. Excellence is what births real Value in what we now know as Superstars. Ever wondered why people who function at the height of their gift and calling is seen as a superstar?

 

It’s because they discovered their gift, embraced it early and honed into it with laser-sharp focus. You too, can be a Super-Star.

 

#2. Jesus lived out His potential to the fullest and all within 3years by powerful display of the gifts and abilities He possessed within himself as well as leveraging the gift of people (disciples) who projected Him to the World. Till date, we are yet to see anyone make such an ever-lasting impact on the world within such a short timeframe.

 

Random Example to tie these 2 points together – Kobe Bryants death shocked the world. But he lived out his purpose by serving his God-Given Gifts on a dish called Excellence. He had to give up several hours of pleasure (death to self) to refine and master his gift. Now the world values him because of the countless hours of court-stage play recordings that we will forever enjoy.

 

This gift enriched him as a person but also satisfied the souls of the many fans who needed to see such excellence. Believe it or not, his gift being displayed on an open stage like that brought glory to God and will be considered worship in the courts of Heaven. No he did not need to live till he was 85 or 90 years old. Mission had been accomplished in the courts.

 

His Impact had been sealed for generations to come.

The spirit-life dynamic is actually quite simple and not complicated at all. We lose sight of it daily with the progression of science and technology. We are gradually becoming beings who attempt to live our lives from the strength of a physical realm (body) and not from our spiritual roots. We have lost sight of home as a race (eternity and Heaven) and have pitched permanent tents on the premise of a sojourn (earth).

 

Reversing this order has greatly hurt us all and will keep reducing our ability to live extra-ordinary lives from the power of the gifts deposited in us. When the intention for which a thing was created is mismanaged, abuse becomes inevitable. Man now worships the creation by paying our allegiance to it rather than the Creator of all life.

 

1. To trade with it in the marketplace (called Earth) so we can make ourselves a living

2. To worship Him by returning the glory to Him as the gift finds expression

 

To answer this, a universal truth I’d like for you to accept is that there is no mistake in God. This means if He did something it was His exact intention.

 

His ways are so patterned and patented, that if a man gives Himself to study God’s majestic creations it’s easy to find His blueprint in everything.

 

Since God dwells in a realm called eternity, the only limitation is with man such that we do not have a 3 dimensional view of why and how God does a thing.

 

Timing (when) and Purpose (why) is where we are blindsided. It’s no wonder Jesus advised us to lay not wealth here on earth where it will suffer corruption but rather in Heaven where moth and dust cannot corrupt it.

 

To understand why we are gifted in one way or another the spirit-life dynamic needs to be reviewed:

Man being a spirit, lives in a body. We possess a soul.

 

Let me say this again;

YOU are a spirit,

(this is the real you)

 

YOU live in a body.

(think of this as your house)

 

YOU possess a soul.

(consider this the door to get from the front of the house to inside your house)

 

So then your soul, which is the seat of your emotions, intellect and will becomes the doorway through which your spirit expresses itself from deep within your body

 

To better explain this, Your spirit is trapped (or caged) within your body. The key is with God as He has not given us the power to come out of our bodies as we would come out of a regular house at will.

 

Think of this as being locked up in a house till you obtain a key or visa to formally travel out of that house. Using this illustration, do bear in mind that the shape of the house is the exact shape of your body.

 

Now a divine provision was made by God so you can find expression wherever you are even though you are locked in.

 

This provision is possible through the way your soul interpretes signals and messages from your spirit. Whatever your spirit does, is passed through the soul for your body to replicate in milliseconds.

 

Each time this action happens, you notice the people around you get entertained or blessed in one way or another. Kevin Hart May be funny so his jokes make people around him laugh. It therefore becomes his key sustenance while on earth. This is what we call trading with your gifts.

 

The neglect or intentional abandonment of your gift will most definitely cause you to burn out in life as well as be the root cause of intense boredom (metaphor for a number of illnesses that stem up from the soul) only because you were intentionally placed here on earth to find expression through your gift.

These Gifts are the ONLY provision God has made for you to sustain yourself with on this sojourn (called Earth) such that it earns you a living while at the same time bringing Him glory through worship.

Only death has the power to liberate the spirit of man from its cage called a body. Allow me to liberate you from the fear of death.

 

Death is now seen as a key (opens a cage) and a visa (transports and gives you access to Heaven – Home) depending on which perspective appeals better to you. So just like the length of life doesn’t carry much weight the way we leave this earth also doesn’t matter. What matters most, is the impact we made in our lifetime as well as the final destination.

 

So then God created Heaven & Hell to separate those who lived righteously on earth through the use and mastery of their gifts, from those who condemned themselves by reckless abandonment of their gifts as well as lived unrighteously to their fellow men.

 

But I digress, the soul is the intermediary between the human spirit and the body. It’s the pathway through which our gifts travel from the depth within our spirits to find expression through our bodies. This is the pattern God ordained.

 

Gifts come in different forms, shape and ways. We have seen basketballers, singers, dancers, artists, sculptors, preachers, teachers, prophets, comedians, actors, athletes, etc. The common difference these categories have is they operate in different dimensions and find expression in different ways through the different vessels who possess these gifts.

 

But if we embrace a microscopic view into this topic, we would soon realize that everything can be seen as a gift. Even from our skin color, to the families we are born into, our smile to our height, etc. all can be seen as a Gift from God so long as the subject speaks difference and defines one’s uniqueness

 

Proverbs 20:27

The spirit of man is the candlestick of God, searching through the inward parts of ‘the’ belly.

Note that this scripture does not state that the spirit of man is the candlestick of God which searches through the inward parts of his belly.

 

No. It states that God lights up the human spirit like a candle and therefore searches through the inward parts of THE belly. I have often wondered what this scripture meant and just today the HolySpirit broke it down to me in no small way.

 

The search happens not inside man. But rather in the belly of the earth. Yes you heard me right, the earth has a belly and God wants to use your gift to search out gifted like minded people like you in the world so you may light up their candle and give meaning to their existence.

 

It’s no wonder he lit up the spirit of the apostles on the day of Pentecost as what appeared to be cloven tongues of fire sat upon their heads. Dear Friends, the Holy Spirit is the person who lights up every gift inside you so you may burn with meaning and reason for God.

 

A gift is always entrapped within the human spirit and the only way it can find expression is by yielding your soul so it can manifest through your body.

 

Now our gifts may find expression through various means such as the mouth as is for comedians and singers, through hands as it is for artists, legs for soccer players, eyes, hearing, thinking, etc. all expressions are manifested by the same spirit and for the same intent – to bring glory to God.

 

This is the true worship God longs for. This is the sacrifice that rises towards Heaven, like a sweet smelling offering to the Creator of all life.

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us – Marianne Williamson

 

The gift inside of you is directly translated as light. It’s true that we are powerful beyond measure. This power is attained when a person a person stirs up their gift and masters it’s use so it blesses millions of lives in a relatively short time-frame. Technology then becomes an aid to help us shine in the brightness of the light we possess and never as a competitor for our affection that should be reserved for God.

Worship. The sacrifice of worship empowers your gift.

 

Education, Training and Mentorship to attain mastery so that your gift is served with the utmost excellence.

Your gift needs to be Purified. Because it’s possible for a gift to become contaminated by the enemy or negative influence. Every expression found through our gifts are the possibilities resident in the Christ Himself.

 

When a gift becomes contaminated, the bearer begins to emit possibilities from a dark realm foreign to the spirit of God. Every gift has a life being sustained from the spirit realm regardless of our acknowledgement or not.

 

If a song is being sang by a popular singer and receives world-wide dominance, it’s possible for that song to be the anthem of demons (or angels). It’s source is from the spiritual realm and this is what gives it life.

 

The need to constantly purify our gifts cannot be overemphasized because the devil seeks to receive glory from its use just as God Almighty seeks glory from it.

 

The call to deeper realms is a call to mastery. Every gift needs to be mastered by its possessor. Failure to do so can lead to your gift destroying you. Gifts are often mastered as well, through the buildup of character. Character thus becomes the navigator driving the bearer and stirring he or she away from the boundaries of bad decisions. If the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet, then the gifts resident within us are all subject to us. It takes character to master it and express it properly so it doesn’t grow to control us.

Since expressing your gifts are a medium of worship to God you must covenant it to Him and build an altar on the place of discovery of your gift. This altar then begins to draw down the power of God so it further sets you apart from those who may be in the same gift-category as you. Eventually you get announced to the world. Gifts get sharpened and heightened as you begin to live your life from the altar of your gift.

 

The greatest tragedy is a person who isn’t living out their gift. People live their gift inwardly but not outwardly. If it brings glory to nobody, it is sin. A man who isn’t living in his gift is like a 10yr old child who still crawls and hasn’t yet learned how to walk.

 

Are there gifts, dormant inside of You?

 

Are you living a miserable life?

 

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge the fact that you created me for your glory. I thank you for the deposit of heavenly gifts into my life.

 

I realize these gifts are shaped to help me dominate my world and draw men to your glory. I surrender my gifts and talents for your use. I ask that you purify my gifts O God. Trade with my gifts and bring profit which is translated as income for me and Glory to You through this Gifts you have given me.

 

Empower me to master these Gifts and help me remain humble so I may be a blessing to everyone that encounters me. Help me Lord, to live with the awareness of eternity and to die to my desires and will so that you may breath life into the gifts and talents you have invested in me.

 

Let there be a quickening in my spirit man and let this life bring radiate the power of your illumination into my spirit. When all is said and done bring Glory to Yourself. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen.