Where are Your Gifts?

Where are Your Gifts?

10/28/14

Ever wonder what goes on while we are busy tending to our own business?  Most of us do not even think about what actually is occurring even though our immediate surroundings seem like all is normal.  But what seems like a normal setting could later prove that something devious has actually taken place even when we believe that all is well.  How many times have we been robbed by our physical enemies and not known exactly what has transpired?  And the more important question bears to light on the spiritual level as well and poses a more serious issue which could affect our eternal life.

It is always a special deal when a person or group has the opportunity to own their own store.  It does not matter what types of service they provide, owning an individual place of business can provide a great service to a community.  While we all understand that similar companies within the local area can perform some pretty sneaky endeavors to derail their rivals, most would never stoop to stealing or other types of thievery in order to grab an advantage.  So when this type of activity occurs it must come from someone else with a sinister plan of robbing the establishment and at the same time do their best not to get caught ever or at least not recognized until after the perpetrators have left the premises.  This is exactly what happened to one of my friends the other day and it also serves as an important lesson as to how we are robbed spiritually as well, all because of the people who we come into contact with and do not recognize their harmful intentions.

How many times when we are in a store ordering something and after we place our order watch the person serving us move around trying to fulfill our request as soon as possible?  This site is a common theme when one stands at any counter in a sandwich shop, deli or butcher shop and for the most part each just waits their turn until our requests are completed.  Then what do we do?  We pay for the item or items that we have requested and then leave the establishment with our goods.  Seems pretty simple and legit, right? 

Most of you who know me know that I study the human and how their minds operate.  This process of the human and what they can dream up really intrigues me and while many people are fussing about how thing have transpired between two people or within a group of people I am usually taking the setting all in and probably smirking about how things transpired, all because it fascinated me how the human mind works and to what lengths it will go to in order to complete an idea.  I know that seems kind of warped but it is a pattern that God has chosen to see fit for me to have in order to understand many things that He has shown me about our one true eternal enemy and in this case God has shown up again and given me an insight of how that even though we may believe that things are going as planned and that everything is ok, we are actually being robbed blind by our enemy.

The person who owns their own place of business cannot be in any higher position within a community.  They represent the epitome of a working person who’s desire to provide a certain service to a specific community far outweighs the coward’s heart for public service.  It has been stated over and over that the small business owner is the backbone of the country and serves as an example to everyone in the world that if someone puts their mind into a project they can be successful.  I agree with this practice and continue to dream of completing this type of setting myself one day.  I honor those people who have the guts enough to stand out without compromise and take the challenge of this type of adventure, so it really pains me when I read or hear about someone getting robbed without them even knowing about it until the culprits are long gone.

I have a close friend who is a proud owner of a shop here in our small town.  The shop is not large at all and serves a specific talent to its customers.  The store has not been in operation long but is providing great legs within the community and their reputation is steadily growing.  While there are similar stores like hers within the city limits the store provides a unique setting, one that is relaxing and friendly enough to sit a spell and read a book if desired.  And everyone has to admit that having such a place to relax in such a manner is an asset to any village, town, community or city.

The other day she was going along her normal business working away and serving the customers as they ordered.  In front of the counter there is a small bucket that is there for tips, just in case some of the customers enjoy the service enough to leave a little bit extra for the store.  I and my family have continually placed money into this bucket because we thoroughly enjoy the business and atmosphere that is present in her store and shall continue to do so as we wish.  We have never had bad service and do not expect to ever have, but I guess some people have different agendas within their brains which brings me to the meat of this example.

A good example of how businesses run in western societies is something they have called “a good faith” policy, which means when a customer orders a meal, clothes, or almost any other item they will not be required to pay for such items until the item is ready for pickup or fixed.  In this case some customers requested a certain product that my friend supplied who in turn immediately began to prepare their request.  As my friend was preparing their request the customers stood there waiting for her to complete their order.  The shop was not really busy at that time which added to the ideas that these customers had in their heads for as my friend was preparing their orders they were quietly sneaking money out of the tips bucket and were intending to use this money to pay for their orders.

So as she completed their orders she promptly gave them their products and tallied up the bill.  She politely told them exactly how much their total was and they immediately pulled out the cash and paid her the amount owed.  They exchanged a few parting compliments and departed out the door like many other customers do each and every day that the store is open.  My friend has always been so appreciative of all business that she and her co-owner have and are so thankful for each transaction that occurs within their store.

An unspecific amount of time must have passed by before she glanced at the tips bucket and noticed that something was not right.  The amount of money inside the bucket had decreased instead of stayed the same or even increased.  Knowing how many customers that had been in the store since the last time she had noticed what was in the bucket until this very moment was few, her attention turned towards the only ones that she could not account for and it was the ones that had the small order but was not in total and direct contact with at all times.  She remembers their faces and will recognize them if she ever sees them again, but the damage has been done even though she honestly believed that she was making a profit off of the sale.  And this is the point where we lose so much of our focus of our surroundings and allow our true enemy to take advantage of us and to fool us in believing that everything is actually ok when in truth it is very wrong.

The people that committed this atrocity had some specific details in mind when they eventually pulled off their caper.  They understood the surroundings within the shop and they understood the process of making the products that they wanted, along with where the instruments to make the products and how long it would take to complete the orders.  The right amount of money had to be in the bucket in order to ensure correct payment without drawing attention to the tips bucket as well.  All they had to do was to keep calm and “pay” for the orders and walk out like nothing ever happened.  Essentially they received a free service without having to earn the money to pay for their orders; all at the expense of others who had been generous with their money before them.  Does that sound like a certain situation within our country that many of us deal with on a daily basis? 

My friends technically did not lose money for a true transaction did take place but it was the added bonus that others contributed to that was taken from her.  In other words, even though she was paid for the services that she completed, it was not from those customers but from someone else.  Her added bonuses for her hard work and dedication were used instead.  She was robbed and legally paid all at the same time.  Think about this for a moment and it will become clear of exactly how this type of thievery occurs each and every day throughout our world, and many are getting away with it legitimately.

So how does this situation apply to our spiritual lives?  My friend provided a service to the community and through her reputation her business has steadily grown over the past few months.  Whether you wish to acknowledge this detail or not people around you are watching your movements or someone else’s movements and are learning tricks of the trade in order to apply these tricks at that location or some other one down the road.  It is commonly known that if a crime is committed silently enough and subtly enough that the ones who are committing the crime can be more successful at their endeavors, rather than having a large crowd being drawn into the plan with shouting and gun pointing; yet both still occur frequently.

If an act of crime can be committed with the least amount of attention drawn to it is possible, you bet your life that this is the way that the criminals desire it to play out.  How many times have we found out at a later time that we have been played a fool by some circumstance that we had ourselves in?  How do we feel about ourselves when the truth is found out and brought into light?  Of course we are going to be angry, ticked off, mad and want revenge.  These reactions are normal for humans and play a vital part in these types of reactions when the truth is told.  So if this type of activity occurs in the physical world why wouldn’t our spiritual enemy, who has a higher game plan than our physical enemies, try this same tactic as one of our physical enemies?  The answer to this is this: he does do this and he gets away with this type of tactic every second of every day of our lives and we never notice it because of the “normalcy” of our lives that he so operates in.  And with our busy schedules that we all try to keep we are missing the important details that allow him to rob us blind all the while still allowing us to believe that we are receiving every bounty that we deserve.

For those of us who work in some type of business that receive tips from customers, it is a common practice not to publicly recognize a person just upon what items they buy, how much they spend or how much extra they leave on top of the bill.  I wish I could say that every person in these fields believed this way but we all know that if I claimed that to be the truth I would be lying.  Customers who do not frequent and establishment often or ones who are not acquainted with the owners or workers in the store would not be known about spending habits and therefore would not set forth an expectation from the ones behind the counter.  This type of setting would also have to be included in the “normal” setting of a small business and activity of the customers as well.

On the other hand, an owner or worker who puts forth the extra effort to provide great customer service could form a basis that justifies an added benefit in the form of a tip from those who recognize their extraordinary abilities or service towards others. My parents always taught me to watch the environment within a restaurant and notice just how busy the waitress or waiter is before shorting them on tips, for if a single server is waiting on 20 full tables their attention may not be “adequate” for everyone.  However, that server is fully aware of each person at every table in that establishment is wants to do their best with the utmost accuracy.

My Point here is that a tip from a customer is considered an act of approval and acknowledgment from that customer telling to the employee that they approve of the job that they are giving to them.  It is a gift from an unknown source that allows us to know from the public that we are doing a good job and even though we do not know those people, they approve as well.  This is the exact same type of concept that God allows us to have on this earth and it is reflected through our lives with each passing moment that we have to inhale and exhale. 

God gives us so many gifts each day that we fail to recognize them which means that we do not appreciate them either yet we soak in the benefits of these gifts then use them accordingly.  We have been richly blessed with these gifts that we hardly notice them any longer and we casually notice them on occasion, in other words they have become part of the regular fixtures of our personal store and even though they are sitting right in plain sight we pay little or no attention to them.  This is the perfect time for our enemy to take notice by watching our personal movements and then spring his plan into action.

The blessings that we here in the West have enjoyed for centuries have been placed up high enough on our walls that we rarely even consider them as gifts.  They are a part of our normalcy that we have neglected instead of nourished and invested them as a gift should be.  Even though we have shelved these gifts of ours our enemy still recognizes the potentials that each one of our gifts has not only for our own life but also to the many lives that each gift would mean to others. 

Satan understands that each gift that God gives us has a purpose for His Kingdom and if we use this gift, no matter what that gift may be, that His Kingdom will be pushed forward and Satan’s kingdom backwards.  That is the sole purpose of the gifts that God gives us, no matter if it deals in money, jobs, the ability to speak clearly, or even writing, it does not matter the gifts that He gives us is for a specific reason and it is these gifts that we store up on a shelf and allow to become dust covered.  Eventually we will forget them and as we saunter about our business we will allow ourselves to be robbed one gift at a time without our even knowing it, until it is down the road sometime.

It took a while for my friend to realize that the tip money had decreased but by then there was no way to prove that those people, or any one else for that matter had taken it from the bucket.  A blessing was stolen and while it was still a benefit for her store, the added gift was used up and stolen before she knew what had transpired.  Another portion of this example comes into play here and that is the act itself.

Those people stood there and paid for the products without letting on about what was going on.  Because of the timing and the circumstances those people got away with a perfect crime all because my friend was doing what she was supposed to be doing as a business owner.  It did not matter to those people that what they were doing was wrong, they were accomplishing their own agenda and getting what they wanted at the same time.  It is imperative that we understand that this is the exact same way our enemy steals from us and it is even more imperative that we take notice of this event and apply it to our physical world and to our spiritual world because if we do not our lives will be changed so dramatically in the near future that we will turn around one day and realize that we have nothing left – both physically and spiritually!

The gift of the freedom of worshiping within a church building at least three times a week is now threatened in many parts of the world.  Reading of the Word of God is basically now forbidden in our own public schools.  Idol worship and pagan rituals are accepted as educational history about cultures and any mention of God within those contexts are immediately deemed as offensive.  The teaching that God created the earth and that we were formed in His image is quickly dismissed as a lie and not credible as a teaching cycle.  And to top off things a formal group whose fundamental beliefs is to proclaim that there is no God demand that Christians take down articles of religious faith, which is something that they do not even believe in anyway.  How can you want someone to take things down that one says offends them if it deals with something that they do not believe in anyway?

If one stops and thinks about this example I hope that they would understand exactly what is going on here.  God gives us things that He sees fit for us to use throughout our lives as a tool of help.  It is strictly up to us to use these gifts in order that we witness to others about God.  It is ok to work in the soup kitchen that the Catholic Church conducts every week, but if we do not witness to those people while they are eating, then our gift is being wasted in the manner to which it was originally ordained.  If we are not suggesting to a hurting person that there is a person who loves them so much that He sent His Son to die for their eternal lives, then our priorities are in the wrong place.

It is important that we dust off our tips and gifts that God has given us and begin to use them as they were meant to be.  Sitting on a shelf or placed in front of the spiritual cash register without proper instructions is an invitation for our enemy to rob us blind while paying for our given existence to peacefully continue for that moment.  We have plenty of examples where the Church has placed many of its spiritual gifts upon high places within the confines of their walls.  I am not talking about the church buildings and all of the icons that are present, I am talking about all of the personal and spiritual ones that God has given you!  See, the Church is not represented by church buildings, the Church is YOU!  Satan can care less if you have a two acre church building or not, but if your heart represents a two acre place for hurting people you can bet your boots that he is very interested in the gifts and tips that God has given you.

I have written many times before that you are special in every way known and unknown to mankind.  Each life has a purpose for something and God wants us to understand this concept.  God has given us the ability to understand our lives and our surroundings on a second by second grasping, yet we tend to stray from this observation status to pursue other “more important” details that are presented to us.  If we live in this manner for any amount of time the focus of our immediate surroundings will fade and become vulnerable to thievery; all items, gifts and tips to be included.  And there must be a reason as to why God is trying to wake us up to this fact and I have a sure feeling that if we do not, we will soon understand exactly what it means to have absolutely nothing of value left within our lives.

God has given these gifts and tips to you as an added bonus for your life.  In turn we must understand that those gifts and tips are to be used for others so that they may understand the gospel of Christ.  They are not complacent gifts by any means, but ones that are full of life specifically made for you and me to share with others.  For if we allow these gifts to become complacent within our possessions and surroundings, then it is a guarantee that our enemy will swipe them from our proprietorships and destroy them so that they shall never be used again, which so happens to be the same goal that our enemy has for our lives themselves.

The Bible says to study to show thyself approved.  It does not say to read about yourself or even to scan over your contents.  It says to study yourself and to find out things about you and your surroundings that God has provided for you and given to you. Studying about yourself is essential for one’s spiritual survival and when done correctly will throw away the selfish tendencies and promote a full and healthy spiritual life through God.  A spiritual life that will sense when the gifts from God are not being used properly and are being taken from us through the hands of our enemy, not freely given through the name of God.

We must never forget that our physical is not the most important aspect about our lives.  While many of us are defined by this physical realm we must never forget about the spiritual aspect which holds our eternal future.  It is this spiritual aspect that carries our lifeline and it is through the spiritual gifts from God that allow us to survive this onslaught from our enemy and at the same time show others the true meaning of God and His purpose for each life on this earth.  If we allow our enemy to cut or to steal this lifeline from us we will have no opportunity to complete our mission to the dying world, and more importantly we will not know how to defend ourselves when we finally realize that we have been robbed blind.  Our enemy does a fabulous job in convincing us that everything in our world is ok and that there is nothing to worry about.  But he knows the truth about the conditions and he also understands that at some point God will have to step in and enough is enough and then the laughing will begin for our enemy knows that he has defeated God’s prized creations into an eternal death.

DLB