serve your best to live your best (in Christ) // In Rest

Ever wondered about the deep-seated connection between your spiritual gifts and a fulfilled life in Christ? Get ready to embark on a journey with us as we unravel the mysteries of living your best, in rest, with Him. Drawing inspiration from Paul's teachings in Romans 12, (and Deuteronomy 6,) we explore how utilizing our God-given skills and gifts can lead us to an abundant life in Christ. We delve into the significance of loving the Lord wholeheartedly and the joy that springs from recognizing and utilizing our spiritual gifts.

We take a step further to discern God's will for our lives through the lens of Paul's teachings. Offering our bodies as living sacrifices and implementing our gifts in our daily lives might seem challenging, but the adventure is worth the risk. Experience the overwhelming joy that comes from recognizing and using your gifts in faith. Finally, we find solace in His presence as we navigate deepening our relationship with God and finding that peace that surpasses human understanding. Join us on this life-transforming journey as we uncover the essence of rest in Him.

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Shalom,


Noah 🕊

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Transcript

Noah James Wiebe: 0:06

Welcome to the In Rest podcast with Noah James Wiebe. I am your host, noah. I have been a follower of Jesus for over 10 years. I've been a pastor for over 7 years. I live on the east coast of Canada with my wife, brittany, and my four sons, and I hope that you enjoy joining me for the In Rest podcast as we here how to live the Christian life well and how to live the life God intended you to live. Thank you so much for joining me today on the In Rest podcast as you hear how to live your best in rest in Christ. Let's get to it. Today on the podcast, we are going to be talking about how to give your best to live in rest, but also what it means to serve your best, to live your best.

Noah James Wiebe: 0:50

In Romans, chapter 12, paul, who is the apostle to the Gentiles in the first century AD, is the writer of the book of Romans. He's also the writer of many other if not most of I think it is most of the New Testament. Many of the different letters that we see in the New Testament have been written by Paul. Other letters or other letter writers were James, peter, john, other standard dude names. The reason why there are standard dude names is because of these characters, right, these real people who wrote these things down. And Paul is among that list of people who contributed so much not only to Christians but also to the entire Roman world and our society as well, long term, without even knowing it. In the book of Romans, paul writes out how, in our skills, abilities, the work that we do, we can begin to live our best in Christ. The way we do that is by giving our best skills, our best gifts, our unique way of contributing to the world, to others, by offering ourselves, by living out the life that God has for us and in front of other people, and doing it cheerfully, doing it diligently, doing it completely.

Noah James Wiebe: 2:07

One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is in Deuteronomy, chapter six, where it says here O Israel, the Lord, our God. The Lord is one. For those of you who know the Bible, you probably already know what I'm about to say next, which is love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Now, in that passage in Deuteronomy, chapter six, we get this sense of giving God our all, and Paul draws on that a lot in this passage in Romans, chapter 12, in order to communicate this idea of giving and offering ourselves to our fullest. Now, in Deuteronomy, chapter six, this loving of the Lord is meant to happen in our heart, the place of our decision making, our thinking, in our soul, which is our very being, which is our everything. The Hebrew word is nefesh, literally the word for your throat, it's from the thing from which your life comes from, and then everything that goes into your life, you know, it's your being, it's everything you are, and then it's strength. Right, love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength. Now, that word strength is an interesting Hebrew word and basically what it comes down to is not strength like physical strength, the ability to pick things up and put them down, it is muchness. It's your hutzpah, it's your everything, and that word is kind of what we're going to be basing a lot of what we're talking about today on. It's giving your muchness. Now, what would your muchness be, I wonder?

Noah James Wiebe: 3:48

I was talking about this yesterday with a couple of friends of mine at a leadership conference and as we were talking I said, hey, what would you say your spiritual gifts are? And they thought about it for a few minutes, and so I went on from the husband of the couple and went out of the wife and I said, well, what do you think? Because obviously he's got some thinking to do. So she started a few things, but I wanted to explain a little bit further because they are their native language actually wasn't English, it was Spanish. So I was like, well, I'll ask it a few different ways so that we get the actual point across.

Noah James Wiebe: 4:22

What's something you love to do so much that you're so so good at, but that when you do it it makes you feel so immensely joyful that you just enjoy doing it? And so when I asked that question, it helped kind of helped him understand, kind of, what I was asking, and then I ended up giving my answer and it was a great time. So I shared about how I love to encourage others, how I love to identify other people's needs and meet them, how I love to help other people know that they are loved and that they're capable of loving, and so that conversation was revolving around spiritual gifts. But really what we were talking about was what is it that God has put in you that when you do it, you can feel the pleasure of God on you and you feel immensely joyful. I can't remember which runner it was, but a famous athlete who specialized in cross-country running. He said once when I run, I can feel the pleasure of God and that desire, that sense of God delighting in you while you're doing this thing, that you enjoy, while at the same time, you feel this immense joy in doing so, even if it's hard work for you and it spends your energy.

Noah James Wiebe: 5:30

That is the concept of muchness, that's a concept of strength in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, with all of your muchness, with everything in you that is much, with all the things that you do to the fullest extent, with all of that God, you ought to love God. And so, other than Romans, chapter 12, we're also going to look at another story in the Bible, or a natural specific story in the Bible, but before we get there, let's get into Romans, chapter 12. So, like I said already, there's something in you and all of us that God places in us when we accept Jesus as our Lord and our Savior. That goes beyond just a mere talent or a natural ability. It is something in us that God has placed in us that when we do it we feel joyous, and we feel especially joyous when we use that special giftedness, that ability, that talent, that passion, that aptitude for adding value to another person's life, to contributing to someone else through service. And so Paul gets goes through this list of things that he believes are spiritual gifts, gifts that are of the spirit, not spiritual gifts, because they only happen when we're meditating or that there's some sort of superpower. Although they are kind of like superpowers, it is a gift of the spirit. The Greek word for gift in this context is kades, and it's essentially the word grace. It's where we get the word grace, it's also where we get the name karis, it's also where we get the word charisma and it's also where we get the word well, as the Gen Z kids call it riz. But it's a very, very distant relation to that slang term. But drawing it back a little bit, this idea of kades ma, this gift that God gives us from His grace, kades, this gift of grace that God gives us beyond just salvation, which is something that the Holy Spirit does in and through us, and it's a way that he actually manifests His presence.

Noah James Wiebe: 7:32

In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, another passage that's very similar to Romans, chapter 12, paul mentions how we all have the same spirit living in us if we put our trust in Christ One faith, one Lord, one baptism, one God and Father of all and one spirit in us that's doing all of this work and then, through us, he's manifesting His presence, manifesting Himself through these gifts, these kades, ma. And so in Romans, chapter 12, he has just finished talking about surrender and worship and its connectedness to living the life that God has called us to live and offering ourselves to God. I've talked about Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 to 2, many different times in the podcast and I will do so again, but in Romans, chapter 12, verses 3 and onward we're going to look at, I believe, verses 3 to 8, paul talks about how you can use your muchness to not only bring more joy to your life, but also to bring joy to God's heart and to live the life that God's intended for you to live. So let's get into it. Romans, chapter 12. So he finishes up this first passage, so like, if you're looking on the screen here on the YouTube edition, you can see this Essentially in Romans, chapter 12, verse 3, he begins by saying because the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning Don't think you are better than you really are.

Noah James Wiebe: 8:56

That's a sobering thought. Another translation says make sure you judge yourselves with sober judgment, not thinking more highly of yourselves than you ought to. So if you're thinking about yourself as too high and mighty to serve other people or to use God, the gifts God has given you, that immediately keeps you from living the life that God has for you. But let's continue. So he says that. And then he says be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body and we all belong to each other In His grace. God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.

Noah James Wiebe: 10:10

This is one of my favorite passages in all of scripture, and the reason why is because of how clear Paul is with his communication about these different gifts. I mean, think about the clarity that you would receive if you had someone identify a gift in you and they're like hey, I see this gift in you. You should do that thing more often, because I see that potential in you to add value to people's lives. I think you should put that into practice by using your giftedness. And some of those things specifically are not so much the point of the passage. He's not specifically talking about prophesying or serving or teaching or encouragement.

Noah James Wiebe: 10:45

What Paul is trying to get across is if you have a gift from God, use it. Do not lose it. Basically, don't lose it. Don't lose your mind on how high and lofty you think you are. Don't lose your mind on how you think that you have to be able to do this or that or the other thing. Don't think of yourself as more highly, more high and lofty than you really are. Think of yourself with honest, sober judgment and then use the gifts God has given you If you believe that you are going to be the one to define yourself and direct yourself, then you're going to miss out on the life that God has intended for you, at least in a lot of the chunks and the gifts that he has for you, in those elements of your life.

Noah James Wiebe: 11:24

The reason is because what Paul is trying to talk about here is listen, god gives you the gift. If he's given it to you, then, with humility and in accordance with your faith, do the thing that he's given you to do. And this is a really, really helpful way of identifying God's will for our life. I mean, in verse 2 of this passage, paul literally says you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will when you offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, your true and proper worship. Basically, if you're surrendering to God, you're going to have a way, better ability to identify God's will for your life.

Noah James Wiebe: 12:02

And one of the ways that is kind of expressed in this passage for understanding God's will for your life is well, what are your gifts, what are the things that when you wake up in the morning, you are excited to do that day? And that doesn't necessarily mean you're excited to make your morning coffee or blend up that evening smoothie before you watch an episode of your favorite reality TV show. What I mean is what is something that, when you wake up in the morning and you know that's ahead of you in your work day or in a family day, that you are so excited to pour yourself out doing that thing? That might take place in the context of a hobby or a passion or a side hustle or something of that nature. But what is the answer to that question for you? What is the thing that you know that you're good at, or that someone has identified in you that you're good at, that God wants to express through you?

Noah James Wiebe: 12:52

Now, if you have something like the gift of prophecy, for example, now I'm to the persuasion that prophecy is a real, active gift that is currently acting in the church today, or active in the church today, it is still a very valid, helpful way that God expresses and manifests his presence in the context of his people. I also believe that speaking in tongues is also another way that God continues to express who he is through his spirit. Now, I don't think too much of these gifts because, again, the point of this passage and the point of other biblical instruction about spiritual gifts is not the point of establishing some sort of denominational distinctive or communicating some deep theological truth about this or that other divisive issue. The point is if you have a gift, use it. If you have the gift of speaking in tongues, don't be afraid to use it in accordance with your faith. If you're like I don't know, I don't feel like my gift in teaching is developed enough for me to really put into practice fully, that's okay.

Noah James Wiebe: 13:47

One of the ways that you can learn or prepare to use your gifts for ministry or use your gifts for service, use your gifts to help others, is literally just to put them into practice in very small ways, in an atomic habits kind of way. Atomic habits was a book written by James Clear and he talks about how, if you want to have a habit, you want to develop a habit, to establish it. Take it in really, really small, bite-sized pieces so that you can build the habit and then improve from there. The same could definitely be true of your spiritual gifts and putting them into practice. Now, a lot of times when we are first initially accepting Christ, he pours out these gifts into our life and it's hard to deny that they're there. But as life goes on and we become more familiar with our life and with our life with God, or as God introduces new gifts into our life.

Noah James Wiebe: 14:32

It can actually be kind of scary to put into practice something that previously we'd never thought possible for us, such as teaching, speaking publicly or praying for someone out loud instead of just in your head. Even giving is actually something that still requires faith, but it's also something that will be done generously. But one of the easiest ways to do that is just by doing that gift, whatever it looks like in the smallest form possible, and just seeing what God does with it and seeing what he is doing in that moment. Now, earlier I had mentioned that muchness, and one of the connecting points of muchness is joy. It's the delight that you feel from God when you do it, but also the joy that you experience, the joy that you get from doing that thing or acting in that way Joy.

Noah James Wiebe: 15:15

The Greek word for joy is Kara. It's basically derived from the same Greek word for grace or gift, karis. So Kara is like, is essentially the word for a gift received. It's like what happens when you put your hands onto a gift, when you open it up on Christmas morning and you experience it. That's Kara, and that joy and that blessing comes more by giving than it does by receiving. Ironically, when we actually offer something to someone from something within us that God has placed in us, it creates a real sense of joy because we fully receive that thing.

Noah James Wiebe: 15:51

We can't give to someone anything that we don't actually have, and if you don't believe that you have a gift, whether you have it or you don't, then there is no joy that's experienced in having that thing. If you have the gift of prophesying but never prophesy, if you have the gift of faith but then never really put that faith into practice with something worthy of it, if you have the gift of mercy but don't really go out of your way to treat other people with kindness because you'd rather stay inside of your house watching, you know, endless episodes of the same TV show that you've always watched so as to keep maintaining that sense of security, you probably aren't going to develop that gift. And so the reason why I mention all of those things is because the Greek word for Kara or joy is received, is essentially the word for received, and so that moment of receiving is really done when we believe that that gift belongs to us and we put it into practice by acting on it and by using our faith to do it. So what is it for you? What is something in this list of gifts or in some other list of gifts that you could identify to help you grow in your joy, to live your best, not only by learning more about yourself, but by putting into practice something that is something that's going to give joy to you, joy to God and joy to the people that you end up serving. So identify those gifts and figure that out, and we'll talk more about that as we go along to the podcast. But for now, identify one small thing that you can do to begin expressing that muchness that God has given you.

Noah James Wiebe: 17:17

Thank you so much for joining me for the InRest podcast. If you could please leave a five-star review in Spotify. If you're listening to this on Spotify or if you're watching this on YouTube, hit the subscribe button and the like button. That really helps with getting the word out about this message of living the life that God has intended us to live. Again, my name is Noah. I'm so glad that you joined me today for the InRest podcast. God bless, thank you.