aBible.com     

1 Peter 4:10-11 - Gifts with Grace to the Glory of God.

1 Peter 4:10-11: Gifts with Grace to the Glory of God.

1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT) God has given each of you a gift from his 
great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 
11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God 
himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping 
others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then 
everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory 
and power to him forever and ever! Amen.  

INTRODUCTION

Our abilities should be faithfully used in serving others; none 
are for our own exclusive enjoyment. Some people, well aware of 
their abilities, believe that they have the right to use their 
abilities as they please. Others feel that they have no special talents at 
all. Peter addresses both groups in these verses. Everyone has some 
gifts; find yours and use them. Peter mentions speaking and serving. 
Paul lists these and other abilities in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 
12:8-11, and Ephesians 4:11. Even as you seek to discover your gifts, if 
you see a need in the church, seek to meet it. You may find gifts in 
areas you might not have guessed! [Life Application SB] 

   God shaped you according to your purpose. How else can you 
explain yourself? Your ability to diagnose an engine problem by the 
noise it makes, to bake a cake without a recipe. You knew the Civil 
War better than your American history teacher. You know the name of 
every kid in the orphanage. How do you explain such quirks of skill?  
   God. He knew young Israel would need a code, so he gave Moses 
a love for the law. He knew the doctrine of grace would need a 
fiery advocate, so he set Paul ablaze. And in your case, he knew what 
your generation would need and gave it. He designed you. And his 
design defines your destiny. Remember Peter's admonition? ''Any who 
serves should serve with the strength God gives." from Cure For The 
Common Life [Grace For The Moment SB By Max Lucado] 

COMMENTARY ILLUSTRATIONS 

   I once had the privilege of snorkeling in the Red Sea and 
observing the bluestreak cleaner wrasse fishes doing their thing. In 
amazement I watched as a big grouper edged into a cleaning station where 
several of the brightly colored wrasse waited. The grouper opened its 
mouth and flaired its gills, and the wrasse swam into the monstrous 
mouth cavity and began cleaning the teeth and picking off dead skin 
and mucous around the lips, gills, and fins of a fish much larger 
than they were. The grouper is a slow-swimming fish that does not 
chase its food. Rather, it waits quietly for other fish or crabs or 
octopi to come near, then it suddenly opens its mouth and with a 
powerful sucking action it simply vacuums the hapless prey into it. So I 
stared, fascinated, as the tiny fish swam in and out of the grouper's 
mouth and gills, providing a service to the larger fish. In return the 
grouper didn't eat or even snack on them. It seemed to know that the 
wrasse were helping it to have a healthier life. When two different 
species aid each other like this, biologists dub the relationship as 
"mutualism."  
   In reality we were created to serve others. It is a fact that 
our greatest joy as humans comes when we help others with no thought 
of gain for ourselves. We call this kind of unselfish service 
altruistic behavior. It would be nice to think that the bluestreak cleaner 
wrasse are giving altruistic service to the grouper and other fish that 
come to their cleaning station. They aren't, though, because the 
wrasse actually benefit. Cleaning other fish is the way they survive - 
by eating parasites, bits of food particles in the teeth of the 
bigger fish, and dead skin and mucous on those big fish that cruise in 
for a cleaning.  
   Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "Everybody can be great 
because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to 
serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You 
only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."  
   Our Father in heaven, bring me an opportunity for altruistic 
service today. And then help me to recognize that opportunity and to 
serve joyfully as if I am serving You. [God of Wonders by David 
Steen] 

   My wife passed me with her cleaning supplies, headed for the 
sliding glass door. A couple of "little ones" had left handprints all 
over it. Just then our two grand-boys - the ones responsible for the 
handprints - noticed what she was about to do. "Can we help?" they asked 
with pleading eyes. My wife smiled, knowing full well that the job 
would now take much longer with two pint-sized helpers involved.  
   My wife is a wise grandmother, though. She could see that 
there were valuable lessons to be learned, so she said, "Sure!" I 
watched from my recliner as the three of them chose a spot and got to 
work. The boys felt important and needed. They got to be part of the 
solution.  
   When people come into our churches and recovery groups, their 
hearts are longing for a place where they can feel at home. They want 
to feel useful and needed. They want to be part of the solution. 
The best thing we can do is put them to work serving others. And for 
those times when we are struggling to feel like we belong, the answer 
is the same - get busy serving others. Serving others always puts 
us right in the thick of things, where God can heal and encourage 
us.  
   Father, make us sensitive to those who need to feel needed, 
and give us the wisdom to ask for their help, even when we could do 
it faster without them. In Jesus' name, Amen. [Celebrate Recovery 
Daily Devotional by John & Johnny Baker] 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

   If you are a publisher or a pastor, a ditch-digger or a 
pilot, a fisherman or a fruit grower, a garage mechanic or a furniture 
maker, a writer or a homemaker, an office worker or a congressman ... 
there are unique things involved in your moment-by-moment work since 
you are a child of the Creator of the universe.... 
   You are to do well, whatever you are doing, to the glory of 
God (1Pe.4:11).  Just as flowers that grow on the Alpine peaks, 
beauty in the cracks of rocks with perhaps no one ever passing that 
way, are not growing in vain because God sees them, so it is true of 
the human being.  A person may live alone, walk alone, and feel that 
no one is recognizing that he or she is being patient in the 
tribulation of loneliness ... but God does know, and is aware of the 
whisper, "I love you, God.  Please accept my praise as I walk alone 
today."  This is true of people in prisons, in concentration camps, in 
hospital beds, or in wheelchairs.... "Work" to the glory of God can be 
done in every part of life ... which is what makes it all so fair.  
No one gets a bigger opportunity than another.  And no one is "out 
of work"! Edith Schaeffer [Time with God SB] 

When you know Gods grace, youll want to show Gods 
grace. by Julie Ackerman Link [Our Daily Bread by Les Lamborn] 

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2014/20141128-1554.html

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

Seeking God Made Real: http://vimeo.com/31489782

Prayer Made Real: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES AND SEMINARS

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: http://www.bibleresearch.info/

http://www.aBible.com