Jeremiah 20:9… “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (KJV).
Many people are born with talents and gifts. Those gifts burn within their hearts. But fear keeps them from stepping out and using those gifts. Many are born with a “burning desire” to be creative and to excel in their talents. Like Jeremiah in this chapter, they get angry at God because their gifts are not doing what gifts are for. Peter teaches that God can give supernatural abilities. In other words, God can empower your talents. 1 Peter 4:11 says, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God, if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (KJV).
Paul gives us a great principle of truth in 1 Corinthians 15:46. The “natural” comes before the “spiritual.” When we were born again, the natural gifts that we were born with carry on, only now they are enriched by the Spirit. Have you a burning desire to do something with your gift or talent? Note what others did by their example… Moses tended the sheep (natural), then God came in the burning bush (spiritual). Moses cast down the rod (natural), then God did the miraculous (spiritual). Moses led Israel out of Egypt (natural), then God opened up the Red Sea (spiritual). Joshua marched around Jericho with his chosen few (natural), then God felled the walls (spiritual). Elijah prepared the altar on Mt. Carmel (natural), then God sent the fire (spiritual). Gideon was threshing wheat (natural), then came the angel of God (spiritual). Peter and John walked to the temple to pray (natural), then a miracle happened (spiritual). Peter and Andrew were casting out the nets (natural), then Jesus came and called them (spiritual).
God needs us to go on doing our “natural” things faithfully; then He comes with the supernatural. He looks for faithfulness and accountability from us. Out of the natural comes the spiritual. Ninety-eight percent of what we do daily is natural. If I initiate the natural, God will initiate the spiritual. The natural and spiritual are intertwined together. If we do the right thing, God will reward that. God has gifted us all. He has invested great talents and gifts in us. Each of us have different abilities. Consider… many people were born with terrible handicaps, yet their hearts burned with a desire to do creative things and they have done it. They have sung, played music, and painted pictures, and the world marveled. This motto says it best… “In the heart of man, a cry and a desire. In the heart of God, supply.”
Pastor George Belobaba
Copyright © 2011 by Scripture Nuggets Ministries
All rights reserved
Scripture Nuggets 