Transcription
Lord, we give you thanks. Lord, we give you praise. We thank you, Lord, for yet another great, great time in your presence. Blessed be your name forever in Jesus' name. You're welcome to the presence of the Lord. And today, we will be sharing on how to discover your talents and special abilities. How to discover your talents and special abilities.
We begin by looking at two scriptures. First, Proverbs chapter 18, verse 16. Proverbs 18, verse 16, King James Version. It says, "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." Then we'll take a look at Proverbs chapter 22, verse 29. Proverbs 22, 29. It says, I'm reading first from King New King James Version. "Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings. He shall not stand before mean men." Amplified Bible Classic Edition, Proverbs 22, 29. "Do you see a man diligent and skillful in his business? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men." Contemporary English Version, Proverbs 22, 29. "If you do your job well, you will work for a ruler and never for a slave." Then we look at The Message version of the Bible, Proverbs 22, 29. "Observe people who are good at their work. Skilled workers are always in demand and admired. They don't take a backseat to anyone." New Living Translation, Proverbs 22, 29. "Do you see any truly competent worker? They will serve kings rather than working for ordinary people."
Discovering your talents and special abilities. A man's gift makes room for him. A man's gift opens doors for him and ushers him into the presence of great men. To be gifted means to be naturally endowed with special ability in a particular activity or service. Talent is often described as a special natural ability. Now, there is a distinction between talents and skills. Whereas you are born with specific talents, skills are what you learn or acquire along the journey of life.
What exactly are talents? Talent means the ability has to do with the ability to do things in an unusual or exceptional way. It has to do with those things you can do unusually or exceptionally. Now, some, there are some traits of talent. And these traits of talent include curiosity and sensitivity. It includes imagination. When someone is talented in a particular field or activity, you begin to see these tendencies in manifestation in such persons. Another trait of talent is creativity. Talented people are very creative in their area of endowment. And yet another trait of talent is wisdom. And we, this dimension of wisdom will be flavored more in the in the alignment with a particular activity or field of talent of that person. And on the trait is inventiveness. When people are talented in a particular subject, in a particular field, it comes with it a special endowment that enables them to become very inventive in coming up with new or better versions of various products, solutions, devices in that particular scope in context. Vitality and vibrancy is another trait of talent. You'll observe that in people's area of clear endowment with some talent, there's a tendency for such a person to exhibit traits of vitality and vibrancy on a consistent basis. Another trait of talent is flexibility. Flexibility. When people are not talented, they become, you know, they become rigid. They are not really able to cope beyond what they have been taught. But when someone is talented in a part, in the same field, the place, the person is very flexible. The person can easily change rules, can easily change rules sometimes without any preparation. And then you, more joy is another trait of talent. And you see this playing out from time to time, playing out on a consistent basis when people are operating in their obvious area of talent. Yet another trait of talent is intelligence. In your area of talent, it will be observed that you are obviously endowed with a higher measure of intelligence, especially relating to a particular thing that is under consideration. And then yet another trait is quick understanding. When you are talented in a particular area, then there is a high probability of you being endowed with a grace or quick understanding. Quick understanding. And this is one of the things that will make you fast, a faster learner. You easily pick things, you easily learn things, you easily adjust, and within a short time, you master what you have just learned when you are operating in an area where you are obviously talented. Other traits include ingenuity, endowment, and sharpness.
Now, your talent always has a strategic function to play in the fulfillment of your divine destiny. Look at the life of Joseph. Joseph was obviously endowed with the gift, the talent, and special ability of interpreting dreams. And it's quite instructive that these talents, as obscure as it may appear, as unconventional as it may appear, was very, very relevant to his upliftment into the major phase of his divine destiny. Every talent that God has blessed you with has a purpose, has a role to play at some point in time in your divine destiny. Sometimes it could be just once in a lifetime. Your talent or your gift may look unconventional, it may look unprofessional, it may look insignificant, but in the race of destiny, in the race of destiny, it has the potential of making you useful and relevant. Your talent and gift can connect and endear you to people, and it could also lift you to the very top, as it did for Joseph.
Now, there are different ways you can discover your talent and special abilities. There are different ways we can recognize someone's talent, someone's special abilities, and his personal strengths. So, how can we recognize someone's talent, his special abilities, our personal strengths? So here, we want to look at some possible clues and signs that could indicate the type of natural endowment in an individual.
Number one: Passion. Passion. What is your passion? What have you been so passionate about over a long time? Now, sometimes there could be some temporary, flash in the pan that could appear to be a passion. And that is why in defining this, we said over a long time, because if it is truly a talent, then that passion would be manifest over a long time, unlike certain things that you could be passionate about, but it fizzles out within a short time. Moses was endowed by God as a deliverer. In him was already embedded by God certain traits of a deliverer. And so you could see this playing out at different times in his life, even before that major point in time when God was finally going to call him, commission him to go forth and lead the deliverance of his people. There was a time an Egyptian was fighting with a fellow Hebrew man, and without being called upon, the endowment of a deliverer in Moses stirred him up to stand up and do something on behalf of his brother. And that was how Moses stepped into that fight. And then when he was temporarily on exile, the daughters of Jethro came forth, and while they were attempting to take water, they come to the well to take water, they were being harassed by the young men that were at the scene. The instinct, the instinct in Moses of a deliverer stirred him up one more time to protect them, to stand up on behalf of those young ladies, to protect them and ensure that they were able to take water, to ensure they were not molested by those young men. What do you have a passion for? The passion of our Lord Jesus Christ for the things of ministry was already evident even from age 12. From age 12, at the age of 12, he went with his parents to Jerusalem, the temple, and he, by the time he sat down with the doctors of theology, they were amazed at the kind of questions they asked, and they were even further astonished as to the quality of answers he proffered. Passion. So, in what area have you shown so much keen interest over a long time that could be indicative of your area of talent? In what area, in what issue, over what issue have you shown so much keen interest? Over what kind of activity, over what kind of business have you shown so much interest for such a long time? Now, even when others have given up, you still continue to show same keen interest. In that light, that could be indicative of an area where God has endowed you. So, in what area are you always highly inspired? Always highly inspired? It could be indicative.
And sign number two: Joy and fulfillment. Joy and fulfillment. What are the things you always enjoy doing from time to time, repeatedly, every day, and you are never bored, you are never tired? This could be very indicative of your area of a God-given talent. What are your long-time hobbies? What are your long-time hobbies? What do you have a flair for? This could very much be indicative of your area of talent, your area of divine gifting. And then the third sign or clue as to your area of gifting, your area of talent, your area of special ability, and possibly a personal strength: Excellence and expertise. Excellence and expertise. In what area, in what activity have you been qualified, has been exceptionally good, or extremely outstanding? If this is true, you would hear this from time to time, from time to time, and not necessarily from the same person. It won't just be someone trying to encourage you. It will just be someone affirming an obvious grace, an obvious ability in your life. In what area or activity have you always been referred to as a genius? It takes a lot. It takes an extremely outstanding performance with some measure of consistency for people to qualify you as a genius in something. In what area or activity have you been referred to as a champion? Even those who don't agree with you in that area, they acknowledge you as a champion. In what area or activity have you been referred to as an expert, an authority? Sometimes they may call you a guru. Even the choice of these words in particular are very, very symbolic, because these words are only used, they notice excellence, they notice extremely outstanding performance that happens on a consistent basis. In what area or activity have you been requested or recommended to be a coach? I'm not talking about you offering yourself. You just find yourself being requested to be a coach to someone, to some people. In what area or activity have you been recommended or requested to be a trainer, to be a mentor, to be a consultant? These are very, very strong signs as to your area of excellence, your area of expertise. And sometimes excellence, expertise in life could be an end product of your talent, your special ability, or your personal strength. In what area do people confidently rely on you to do an excellent job? Confidently, people rely on you to do an excellent job, at least when it comes to a particular thing. When this is happening, you find that they have so much confidence in you, so much confidence in your capability, that they don't even bother to see what you intend to do after you have been commissioned. They are just waiting to see the end product. They have so much confidence in your capability that your personal taste is trusted, your personal design is trusted, your personal initiative is trusted. You are allowed to use your discretion to do a new job for a client without the client having to first of all cross-check what you intend to do. What can people confidently rely on you to do perfectly without supervision? Without supervision? In what area, in particular, do you regularly excel and stand out above others? In what area do you always put up an outstanding quality performance? These could be very much indicative of your area of talent, your area of gifted and special abilities. What do you consistently do much better than your colleagues, than your competitors? I want you to take this very seriously, because as I said at the beginning, your talent is connected to your divine purpose, your divine destiny. And we've seen the role that talent has played in the elevation, impact, relevance of many people to their generation. In what area do people have absolute confidence in your ability, absolute confidence in your service, absolute confidence in your product? Excellence, expertise as a possible clue, sign of your area of talent. In what area are you very sure you can compete favorably with all the people and certainly emerge as one of the best? You are absolutely sure that when it comes to this thing, you will end up as one of the best. When occasions arise when only the best is desired, in what area are you very confident you will certainly stand out? You will steadily stand out. These are very, very strong clues of your area, your possible area of talent, special abilities, and divine gifting.
"A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." "See thy man who excels in his business, in his work, in his job, he shall stand before kings. It shall not stand before obscure men." Talent is capable of taking you out of obscurity into the limelight and relevance, greater impact in your time and generation. I will share, continue with some of the other signs and clues in the second part of this message. But at this point in time, can we then pray? Can we then pray in the presence of the Lord?
Lord, we thank you for your word that has come, even in the reign of discovering our talents, discovering our God-given abilities and giftings. Lord, we pray that you open the eyes of your sons and daughters to recognize their obvious areas of divine gifting and endowment. Whatever talent, whatever special ability, Lord, you have already blessed your sons with, blessed your daughters with, Father, today, more than ever before, let it become clear to them, so they can begin to utilize their God-given talents and abilities to the optimal. I pray that your talent and gifting will make way for you. I pray that your talent and gifting will open doors for you. I pray that your talent and gifting will pave way for lifting, some promotions, in the precious name of Jesus. God bless you richly. Jesus Evangelical Assembly, the House of Answered Prayers.