My name is Debbie Drake. My husband and I became disciples in 1989 and 1990 after moving to Boston with our youngest two teen-aged children. Although we were very religious all our lives, there were many heart issues we needed to deal with as our eyes were opened in a new way to what the Scriptures taught. Thanks to the patience and vision of many disciples who showed us what it meant to truly follow Jesus, we have been learning since that time to always start with the heart and go back to the basics of faith, love, and obedience. The particular area that I have had to grow in over the past 20 years has been seeing the talents that God has given me and using them vigorously to honor Him and help others.God has blessed us tremendously as we have made small steps of faith to use those talents. We have been able to travel to Cambodia many times to support the work of the Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE, lead a family group in our region, and participate in many programs for the poor and needy through HOPE worldwide.
Finding and Using Your Strengths
Bringing Our Thoughts Under Control
Key Scriptures:
Matthew 25:14-30 and 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
What do we need to do in order to be free to develop our talents?
- Take responsibility for my life.
What happens when we are hurt early on in life? What do past hurts have do with the present? How can we deal with past hurts and move on? - Recognize the power of Satan and sinful responses to temptation. Satan is vicious and relentless—I Peter 5:8; Gen. 3:1. He tempts us to question God’s plan and purpose for our life.
Satan tempted Eve to forget what God said were the consequences of sin—and she ate. Satan tempted and Eve sinned—James 1:14-15. What are some ways Satan tempts you to doubt God?
Winning the battle against Satan and our own sinfulness takes a tenacious commitment to Jesus as Lord of our life. - Make choices today that are based on God’s truth, not on the lies Satan throws at us or the lies we believe about ourselves. We are greatly influenced by our past, but it is still our choice as to how we will respond to temptation.
How can we change negative self-talk, develop our strengths and live purposefully for God?
- Examples:
- “I’m not good at anything.”
- “I have nothing to give.”
- “I’ll never get beyond my past.”
- “I’ll never be as good as ___________.”
- “No one really cares.”
- “I’ll always ___________.” “I’ll never ______________.” “I can’t ________.”
- Write down God’s truth, the weapon you will use to take these thoughts captive. When we fight the inner spiritual battle with the right weapons, we are free to develop our talents.
How can each of us develop our talents?
Matthew 25:14-30
- God gives everyone at least one talent.
- What would have happened if the “1 talent” individual had responded differently?
- Psalm 38, 39 and 40
The battle of bringing our thoughts into submission to God is a life-long battle that we
need to be engaged in every day. We are ordinary people, but God has given us all at least
one talent (and maybe more!). The journey of developing those talents is exciting, especially
when we look back and see where he has led us.
Questions for reflection:
- What is(are) your talent(s)? Ask 2-3 other people close to you, what they think you do well and what you enjoy.
- What insecurities (lies that we listen to about ourselves) keep you from acting?
- Who in the Bible suffered with insecurities and either overcame them or blamed others for them?
