Character

Lately, yes. Well, perhaps  more lately than previously, I’ve been so wrapped up in watching personalities. I’ve been quite amazed in seeing the way God gives us different styles, different traits, different characters. It’s not by happenstance that the Maker of the universe created each of us completely and creatively unique. Upon attending a Bible study at my church last night called “Overflow” I heard a message by a friend who serves in our church’s Junior High Ministry. As I listened to the way he presented the things God had shown him, I was so excited. Excited you ask? Yes! Excited because I saw the way was this guy was reaching out to a completely different group of people then I could. I mean, of course we all have one thing in common and that is that we are Brothers and Sisters in the Body of Christ, but God uses the personalities and passions He gives each one of us to reach out to someone of that same Genre, Agreed? Please don’t mistake me for saying we should be segregated by our styles. That is very much the opposite of the point which I present to you. What I am saying is, that as you look at your own life, the passions you have, the desires of your heart, what makes you thrive, what gets you excited, (Go ahead! Ponder on that for just a moment) As you do, you can see so clearly that The Makers hands have shaped, and are shaping you, like clay in the hands of an exceedingly wise Potter.

To put things into perspective I would love to use some examples. ( that is, if you’d spare the time)  My mother. My mother loves the country. She loves country and bluegrass music. She loves to be out in the woods. And she loves to hear accents that are stronger than her own. haha I love my mother so much. Anyways, she loves the Lord with all her heart and she expresses it though these characteristics! This is the character that God has given her! My Father now. My Pops, Loves the blues. Haha It gets him so hyped! He dresses country but his heart is in the blues and rock n’ roll and when he hears or writes blues-rock songs displaying guitar leads that proclaim emotion and lyrics proclaiming the Lords return or the life of a believer it feeds the fire that the Lord has lit in deep inside of him. My sister. My sister is a photographer, an artist, and such a hard worker. And I can see how she can so effectively relate her love for the Lord to people wherever she is. Even a bunch of Junior Highers that she is so faithful to serve and lead on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. Her love for the Lord is SO strong! Not to mention she’s a pretty grand big sister. And If time would allow I could go on and on about my other two oldest sisters who amaze me in their love for God and the way they raise their families! As for me, I am a musician. And I express art in other areas as well. But I get so enthused on things I see and hear. Thing like seeing God’s creation, Hearing God’s word, Seeing old hardback books, and hearing a folk song with lyrics that express a heart.

What are the unique things God has placed in your character?

Maybe I’m not making sense. Maybe I’m rambling. Maybe this is all in my imagination. But maybe take today, just start with today, and look at people. Look inside your self. But most Importantly look at Your Sovreign, Provident, Everlasting Creator. Read Psalm 139 and then ask Him what He made you specifically for and how you can glorify Him. As He begins to show you the things He has placed in your personality, start using those things to glorify Him! Friends, we are created to declare His praise! So today start giving all glory, honor, and praise to Him by serving Him in the ways He has given you to do so.

I encourage you to look at the parable of the talents in Matt 25:14-46  Also read the Scripture below:

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You [are] there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You [are there]. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light [are] both alike [to You]. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And [that] my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When [as yet there were] none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! Ps 139:7-17

I can see You. I can hear You. Although only a  glimpse of an unimaginable sight and the lowest chorus of the most glorious roar. – I only wish Your fullness could I behold. However, what I see I love, what I hear I adore. – You are so far beyond what this world could express, but I can see what your hands resemble. The working of Providence so brightly displayed in Your creations and this elaborate ensemble.