OK folks! It is day three already! Have you completed the Spiritual Gift Inventory yet? You can do it right now! Go ahead and take five minutes and do it. That work will wait! Here is the link again... Well, it is Day 3 of our 40 Day journey to get our lives in SHAPE both physically and spiritually. I don't know about you, but I have been busy. No really! I have been busy. In fact, I don't mean to complain, but the last week has been stressful. I have preached in a revival in Pine Bluff. My transmission went out on my truck. Who had to write six devotions about spiritual gifts? Me! I've been stretched kind of thin financially after the holidays. I had a full weekend filled with lots and lots of activities. See what I mean? Stress. Moan and groan! Do you feel sorry for me yet? Did you notice in the above paragraph some of you were going, Amen! Me too, Brother! That is nothing compared to what I've been doing or facing. What's your problem? Notice how everything in the above paragraph was about ME! Whenever stress gets tough in our lives it is because of the ME, MYSELF, AND I disease. Did you now this disease affects the ministry, leaders, evangelism, and mission projects of a church? You know you have the disease when you hear things like this, "I have to just do everything myself it it is to get done. You just can find any help. No one will volunteer to lend a hand but me. I am all alone in this ministry. I am the only one who cares about this." Ever hear these kinds of words or think these kinds of thoughts? God has the prescription for this disease, and it is called Spiritual Gifts. We are not alone in the work of ministry. We have one another to work alongside, to encourage, to motivate, and to hold accountable. Maybe it is time you started using your gifts to working in a new ministry or an existing ministry with another believer starting this week! Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:9, "We are laborers together with God." Today's Prayer: Dear God, Help me to stop focusing on Me, Myself, and I and start focusing my life on you and on others. Show me how I can use my spiritual gifts to make a difference in the life of another person starting this week. Help me to remove all the excuses of my life so that I might be free to serve you and others. Amen. Dr. Clay Hallmark is the pastor of First Baptist Church of Marion, Arkansas. Click here to read his latest blog post.

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