Using My Gifts Finale

Work in the Vineyard Is Almost Done - In His plan for my life, He made provision for me to use the wisdom that I asked for as a child in doing the jobs that I had over my life. And best of all, I am using the story writing skills that He allowed me to develop as a child to keep me busy in my retirement years and to help my fellowman with words that will comfort, even after I am gone.

Making the Connection

I have heard people say, "It always amazes me how fate offers us all the tools we need, to do what we were always meant to do." NO, MA’AM! NOT FATE, BUT GOD! God gave me the wisdom to be good at writing stories, writing poetry, public speaking, encouraging others, etc. and this is something that I have used throughout each aspect of my life.

Look back through your life for a bit and see if you don't find that to be true for you as well. Uhm hum-m, see I told you. But don't let your perusing stop there. What is it that you have always loved to do and were good at? Wouldn't it be wonderful if you had a job, since you have to work anyway, a job that allowed you to do just that? And better yet, you could incorporate your love and zeal for the Lord into your work. I did as a teacher of thirty years, a housing coordinator of ten years, a minister’s wife of forty-two years and now as a writer.

I hope that this blog, though long, has blessed you and I further hope that you will try to think about the things that you enjoy and figure out ways that you can do them to the glory of God and that it works as well for you as you develop your ministry (things that you do to and for the glory of God.)

I don't have adequate words to express

To you, the way that I feel that I have been blessed

You see, it means so much when you receive

A blessing whose magnitude shows God's touch.

So, this last verse is to You, Lord

I can't tell you how much I love You

But I will continue to try to show

The glory that You have allowed in me

For the world to get to know

For it is not by me that these words have been coined

But by You, masterful Father, You, Who, are Number One!

(excerpt from Chopping My Row, Blessing in and After the Storm, p. 47.)

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Jones

Christian Poet & Author

Using My Gifts

All of us have things that we like to do better than other things, and I am no exception. By the time that we become adults, we have learned what things we are good at as well as what things we enjoy.

So

As a child, there were certain Bible verses that stuck in my brain. One of those verses was the one that said, "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you." (NASB) I knew that if I did that I would be pleasing Jesus because He is God and He rules the world. It is kind of like lining up with the winning side. And we all know where victory will be in the end because the Bible tells us so.

That simple child's logic has carried me far and fashioned me into the person I am today. Yes, that simple desire to please the Lord God. And you know what? "He knows those who are His." (2 Timothy 2:19) You see, I figure that the Lord knows me through and through and therefore knows that I will do whatever it is that is required of me. That is why I figure that He developed in me the gifts that He has. He knew that I would use those gifts for His glory.
Here is a little rundown on some of my gifts that I enjoy doing so much:

1. My Writing - As a child, I was good at writing stories. I entertained my friends with my stories and ended some of them with a question of what happened next. Let me tell you my stories created no small stir in our 4th-grade classroom! Now after a successful teaching career, I find myself going back to my childhood pastime activity of writing. This time I write about all sorts of things. But, the most important thing that I write about is HIM.
   God prepared me in my childhood for the writing work that I do for Him now. Who knew? God did. I discovered, with amazement, several years ago a passage in the Bible that has resonated with me ever since. That passage is Isaiah 50:4. (Read it.) Basically, the passage says that if you have the gift of being an encourager, it did not happen by mere chance. It says that that gift is to be used to help your fellowman, who may be weary from time to time. This is a gift that I have been given to be used and I use it for the glory of GOD. I use this gift in the blogs that I do daily and in books that I have authored.
   Then, too (Recording Life Experiences and Words of Wisdom for Future Generations) I have learned to have books with me at all times. I never let myself go anyplace without some copies of my books. And get this; I have written this book for you about my trying to live my life for Him and one of the chapters in the book is entitled, “Writing It All Down.” Again, why do I do this, all to the glory of God, to tell you, my fellowman of His infinite love for us all!


2. Public Speaking - I also use the gift of being an encourager for the glory of God when I speak at various church and civic events.


3. Being a Preacher's Wife - When I was a little girl, I used to ask the Lord for wisdom every day. Why? I did this because that is what we were taught that Solomon did and I wanted to be blessed like that, too. I asked for wisdom every day without fail. But, when I look back on my life, I can see that the Lord heard and answered my prayers. I noticed it some, in my classwork as a child or in the way I tried to help my Momma figure out the meals for the week or to work some problem out. So, I said all of that to say this, I am a caring person by nature. People seem to want to tell me their problems and I listen. Why, because it is part of my makeup and part of my life’s journey to "Do What I Can, While I Can." (And too, remember that scripture that says, “Have entertained angels unawares.” Heb. 13:2) You see? The wisdom that I asked for daily as a little girl equipped me for being a minister's wife. No, I did not know that the Lord was getting me ready for the role of a minister's wife, but He did. All I was trying to do in my little child's brain was be blessed almost as well as Solomon was.


4. My Teaching Days – (Instructor in Others Learning Years) I have always, even as a child, been good at explaining complex things in a simple manner. I remember on one occasion my teacher was trying to explain something to one of my classmates. They just could not get it, so she suggested that I try to explain it to them. I did and they got it! She used me quite a bit that year for peer tutoring. Of course, they didn't call it that back then, but you get my point. Don't you see? I had the intrinsic tools being built into me then to be a teacher. Yep, that is what I ended up doing for a living. And yes, I taught special education for half of my teaching career and regular education for the other half. Again, I say, "I didn't know, but God did." (cont. tomorrow)

Very Successful

Yesterday I told you that I would tell you why I had, "Very Successful" written in green. The words, very successful, themselves have a clear meaning so why the addition of the green color? Also, I told you yesterday that I would tell you about how my being kind impacted my life.
As usual, when I want to make an application of a particular point, I ask you to walk with me as I stroll back down memory lane for examples. Today's topic is no different.

From as far back as I can remember, my Momma always told me to be respectful and kind to elderly people. In my child's mind, being kind and polite to them meant that Jesus would bless you because He was happy with the way that you were treating His special people. Then too, I reasoned within myself that the elderly were special to Him because He had allowed them to live a good long time. (Ephesians 6:3, 1 Timothy 5:1, Isaiah 46:4, 1 Peter 3:10)

I can still hear some of the elderly ladies that I used to go to the store for, or sweep for, or hold the door for, or carry groceries in for, or say hello to, etc. exclaiming over how helpful or well mannered or respectful I was.

Little girl, you will go far! You are so kind and respectful. You watch what I tell you, You will go far!"

Of course, I thanked them and skipped home with a smile and told my Momma what they had said when she got home from work. But I do remember reasoning within myself that I was not going to mess with His people and have Him to get mad at me. Nuh uh!

Galatians 6:7 and Ephesians 6:8

Both of these scriptures say pretty much the same thing. If you want kindness done to you then dish out kindness to others. I remember, as a child, how special I felt when someone would do something to me or for me unexpectedly. I felt that it was God helping me because I tried to do the right thing.

So

I set out to do the right thing and apparently, I succeeded because I have been blessed abundantly on my life's journey. I set out to please the Lord and He has blessed for it. Just take a look at some of the ways that He has blessed me. He let me:

• Be a college graduate


• Be a highly acclaimed teacher


• Be a public speaker


• Be an author


• Be a poet


• Enjoy cooking


• Enjoy crocheting and so forth.

Now I did not mention those things to brag on myself by saying that I do them well. I have been allowed to be successful in the things mentioned above, but it is not me that does it. It is the glory of God shining through me. Let me explain. When I look out at this earth that we inhabit, I see the green trees and the green grass that He has carpeted it with for my little feet to walk on. As long as the grass and trees are still growing green from season to season, I know that God is in control. So, using my green letters is my way of saying, "By God's Grace," or DEI Sub Numine Viget (Under God's Spirit I Flourish) and at the same time giving praise to my God. Yes, I do like Jeremiah 9:24 says and I brag on Him.

Tomorrow, I will tie it up in a neat package for you and leave you with another blessing from my blog via inspiration from the Lord God. I will tell you why I chose to mention those blessings above and not some obvious others.

Blessed and Favored,
Alma L. Jones
Christian Poet & Author

Can You Say Hello

Hello! I was reading my Power for Today devotional book this morning and it was talking about the week preceding Jesus' death. The article went on to talk about how Jesus went from being adored to being degraded. You might need to read the 12th chapter of the book of John and see what I mean. Thank you, Danny Mize, for a great and thought-provoking article.

When I took the time to read the 12th chapter of John, I thought about how much the Lord loved us then and now. He suffered so much for us and all that He asks in return is that we serve God and be kind to one another. He certainly gave us a fine example of being kind.

In our society today, we are so caught up with doing our own thing that sometimes we forget the simple act of saying hello. If that is all that I can do for Him then I can, at least, do it well.

But I will tell you something that most of you probably already know. If you start with being kind and saying hello to your fellowman, so many things will leap out at you. Why, because being kind covers so many different things. You spend a little time tonight thinking about ways to be kind and tomorrow, I will show you where being kind and saying hello has gotten me. Until tomorrow, then...

A Very Successful Christian Poet & Author
Alma L. Jones

I will explain the words in green to you tomorrow.

"Phenomenal"

I received a phone call tonight and the dear lady who called me said that she called me expressly to tell me that my latest book was phenomenal! You know that I have already been told by someone else that they thought that, Chopping My Row was phenomenal. And now, another one! Wow, all I can say is that God is good!
It is such a joy to be able to write about my God and to have people say that the book is phenomenal. But, I tell people that the phenomenal One is God because He gave the book to me and I thank Him for allowing me to serve. Y'all be blessed. My heart is full so all I can say is God's grace!

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,
Alma L. Jones
Christian Poet & Author

Joy

Good morning, world! I am reprinting one of my earlier blogs. It touched my heart as I reread it this morning so I thought that I would share it with you once again.

Joy Is a Contagion!

Did you know it? Let me give you a brief account of what happened to me yesterday as I was doing a bit of shopping in the grocery store. If you are a fruit lover, then you know the joy that comes upon you when you see a basket of large, juicy succulent grapes piled high. The first thing that comes to your mind is how those grapes would taste as they tickled your tongue and the juice from them wrapped your tongue in the nurturing presence of the grapes after your teeth had pierced their sweetness. Ha, ha, some of you are salivating about those grapes right now. (tee hee) Well, yesterday when I saw those grapes that is something along the lines of what I was thinking. But I was in my own little graped-induced world, just thinking about how good they would taste. I was saying over and over somewhat softly to myself, "Oh my goodness, oh, my goodness." I must have had a look of wonder on my face because a man who did not know me, looked at what I was looking at and then said to me, "You know they are something, aren't they? You get all three kinds in the one basket."  He had that same look of wonder that I imagine that he saw on mine. My joy in the grapes had become a contagion. I said, "Yes, sir, they are and then I got mine and went on about my business leaving him to do what he would about the grapes. Later, I saw him and looked into his cart and, sure enough, he had his package of grapes. I filed that back into my memory banks and finished my shopping.
Now, look at me, spreading my joy about the grapes and my Lord to you. Yep, this little blog of mine stretches miles and miles to reach across many boundaries be they racial, political (countries), familial, economic, etc. This blog leaps from heart to heart as it traverses over hills, mountains, dells, hamlets, seacoasts, and skips across oceans to bring joy, contentment, peace of mind, and relief from stress to hearts the world over. It even manages, at times, to touch hearts thought long jaded. Ah, the stroke of a pen via a vessel of clay working for the glory of God!
When I asked Lord to use me in His service,  I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would one day be writing a blog that would reach around the world. Yes, I told Him in a moment of prayerful adoration and fervor that I loved Him so much that I would stand on top of the tallest mountain in the world and shout my love for Him. I meant it then and still do now. I am just awestruck somewhat this morning because I realize the magnitude of the blessing that He has afforded me. He blessed me so that I could bless you through this blog of mine and through my books by allowing me to pour the soothing balm of assurance into some hearts, minds and/or psyches that have been wounded or beat down by the machinations of cruelty or inconsiderateness found in our world.
Look at it like this. When you fix toast in the mornings, and you take that hot bread fresh from the oven or the toaster and spread butter over it, that bread drinks that butter like a rain-starved landscape does when long-awaited rain does finally come. That is the way that I like to think of my blog doing for each of you. Yes, spreading some much-needed love the world over.
Going to worship this morning, Y'all and I am going to give Him praise, and yes, I will pray for you, too. Why? Well, because that is what He wants me to do because He said, "Love your fellowman as yourself." I paraphrased that, but you get my drift.

     Thank You, Lord for allowing me to serve You by allowing me to serve my fellowman. Please bless each of these, my blog readers today with the assurance of your love. Please soothe out hurts, temper with love the ravages of grief, eradicate the wounds of injustice and provide from your bounty, the things that they need. Asking for a special care package of the assurance of your love for each of them. In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

I hope that my joy has become a contagion for you just like it did for the gentleman in the store yesterday.

Created a bastion

Of joy that has become

A contagion.

********

Sometimes we find love, joy, and serenity when we least expect it and in the strangest places. Just know that He finds us wherever we are and provides what we need. It is His nature for He is the Lord God, the great I Am!

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Jones

Christian Poet & Author

Falling Leaves

Another season is preparing to enter in
And as God allows this old world on its axis
To continue to spin
There have been some changes in some lives
That has left a hole that will never be filled again
Because one of the pieces of the puzzle is missing.

So, I speak from the lesson that time has taught me
I learned that the tears would dry and the pain would leave
And I would manage to go on, though a different person
Because I learned to grieve
Because one of the pieces of the puzzle is missing.

But through it all, the Lord brought me
And He took away my heartache
And my loneliness relieved
And left in its place a thing I truly believe
"I will get to see my loved one again
And the reunion will be just great
Because the hole will be filled and that special
Piece of the puzzle will no longer be missing.

********

Seasons come and seasons go
And one of these seasons will see us
Grace the other side, you know
And that is okay because it is to be expected
So, let's all do a good job and do our best
As we do God's will and continue chopping our row.

Doing What I Can, While I Can, BecauseI Care,

Alma L. Jones

Christian Poet & Author

Hello, Special!

Good evening, folks. I hope that you had the pleasure of having a happy Friday. Here is a little something that I wanted to remind you of in the event that you didn't. If you don't need reminding today, then keep today's thought in mind for when you do.

Why Special

I called you special because Jesus loved you enough to die for you. But that is not all. We talked several days ago about the ministering spirits that He sends forth to aid us. But there is still more. Here is something that you may or may not have known. Jesus prayed for us before we were born! I know that is mind-boggling, isn't it?
You are probably thinking, "How do you know that? And if you are going to say that it is in the Bible, show me where it is written." Okay, okay, hold on, I had planned to do just that. In the book of John, chapter 17, verse 20 we read these words:

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; (KJV).

If you have given your life over to Him and believe the words written about Him in the Bible, then Jesus was talking about you.
These words were prayed before Jesus was ever crucified. He knew that His kingdom would be established and grow. This prayer says to me that He was preparing for us way back then. You see, I told you that you were special. Uh-hum-m.

And, Too

And don't forget that we are told more than once in the Bible that He intercedes for us as He sits on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55-56; Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 10:12; 1 Peter 3:22)

So

Always bear in mind that He was mindful of us before we were born and is ever mindful of us now. That, my friend, wraps me in a cocoon of assurance when life gets to be a bit much. What do I do? I tell myself, "He sees, He knows and He cares."

 

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Jones

Christian Poet & Author

Careful How You Go

Careful how you go

Lend a hand or dig a ditch

You are storing up ditches or helping hands

For yourself and your posterity, you know

They say a word to the wise is sufficient

And you can’t say that I did not try to tell you so.

Being kind costs you little and may gain you much

After all, the Savior taught concepts as such.

********

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Jones

Christian Poet & Author

Well Done

When I was teaching school, I always looked for the stars in my pupils' eyes when they first entered my classroom. I looked for those stars midyear and again at the end of the year. It was always heartwarming to see that despite the rigorous work schedule, the stars remained as bright as ever in the ones who came to me with stars. But along with them, there shone stars in eyes that had previously been jaded or dulled before they came to my class social studies. The eyes that shone with a renewed love for learning are the ones that kept me going year after year.

So

As a Christian, when I can shore up someone's faith and renew hope where hope has died, that is the thing that keeps me going day after day. You see, if I can do that then I know that I will hear my Father say, "Well done." It is the hope of hearing those words that keeps me going day after day. I have a reward that I am working for, folks. It's as simple as that.

Think About It

There is a place that is being prepared for me where the wicked will cease from troubling and the weary shall be at rest.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

AlmaL. Jones

Christian Poet & Author

My Way

Why

My writing is my way of saying to my Lord, "Thanks for my journey." Deciding to write almost exclusively for the Lord God has made me introspective and has been a profound heart touchingly enlightening experience. There is within me a "fire that rages through my bones," as Jeremiah said.

For You

It is my hope that the stories, lessons, poems, and essays that I have written bring you encouragement, peace, and joy as I praise my God in His glory by telling my story. I further hope that I can ignite in you an answering fire to share with all of humanity the extraordinary love that the Lord God has for us all.
Be blessed as you go forth in your day.

Alma L. Jones
Christian Poet & Author

So Will I

When life gets rough, just keep going because life got rough for Jesus, too. And in the end, though He gave His life, we know that God gave Him victory because He got up from the grave. And now He sits on the right hand of the Father in heaven looking down on you and me.
And as His followers, we will get up victorious, too.

That

The last statement in the paragraph above is important to us. This statement tells us to keep persevering in our purpose and on our journey through this life. And when we get up victorious in the name of Jesus, we have waiting for us a precious reward that our minds cannot conceive. That, folks, is all I need to keep me going. I know that one day God will make all of my problems come out all right in the afterwhile because He already has a plan.

So

Keep telling yourself "All I need to remember is to trust the Lord God, and everything will be all right because in the end, He got up victorious and so will I."

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,
Alma L. Jones
Christian Poet & Author

A Good Return on Investments

Happy Saturday, everybody! Today I thought that I would tickle your ears with how we can give back to the Lord God. I hope that this blog post blesses you as much as it did me to prepare it for you.

You remember last week that I told you about a lady who had recently lost her mother and about how, as she was going through her mother's things, she came upon a book of my poetry? She said the book had been marked on the page where the poem, "Happenstance" was printed. She said that the words of that poem reached out and touched her in a weary place in her soul. Then she thanked me for being the "limb that she was able to grab a hold of." Here is a copy of the poem:

Happenstance

In any new quandary in which

You happen to have been thrown

Look for similarities to past experiences

That you made it through and

By which you have grown.

You will find that fate, though fickle

Will often toss you a limb

That you can grab a hold off

Depending upon your whim.

 

In any new circumstance, always

Learn as much as you can

Because you never know when you

My need to draw upon your past

To tackle new jobs head on and

To perform accompanying tasks.

1 Peter 5

********

Contemporary English Version
The LORD God gives me the right words to encourage the weary. Each morning he awakens me eager to learn his teaching;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The Almighty LORD will teach me what to say so I will know how to encourage weary people. Morning after morning he will wake me to listen like a student.

That is what it is all about for me, being an encourager. And though I was the vessel that penned the poem, it was the glory of God shining through me that helped that young lady, you know? He knew that one day I would need to have written the words to that poem to pick that young lady up, so He had me to do it ahead of time. That is the beauty of the way that the Lord God works. And that is what is so phenomenal about His love for us and why I love Him so much. You see, He showed me before I was born that I am of great value to Him because of the price that He paid for me.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

That is why I keep doing what I do. I have to keep on doing what I do for Him because He has made a great investment in me and I want to make sure that He gets a good return.

If I can make the difference for just one person, then I know that my Father is pleased with the way I use the gift (s) that He gave me. I have listed several scriptures below that talk about the gifts that we have been given.

Matthew 25:15 And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability;…journey.

1 Timothy 6:20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”- Don't waste the gift that you have been given, but use them for the good of yourself and others.

1 Peter 4:10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Make sure that He is getting a good return on the investment that He made in you.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Be kind.

Hebrews 10:25 ESV
Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Come together and edify one another with love.

Proverbs 16:24 ESV
Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.
Proverbs 12:25 ESV
Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

How about this God that we serve
He made you and me (our Creator)
He saved you and me (Jesus' blood)
He blessed and keeps on blessing you and me (gifts to use in service for Him)
He is preparing an everlasting place of abode for you and me
How blessed we are to be able to serve this Creator of all Humanity!

********

My Point Is

Some of you have probably thought to yourself, "I don't have a gift." To that, I say, "Hogwash!" Everybody has something that they can excel at. Find something that you just love, love to do and do it in the name and honor of the Lord God. If you like to cook, do that, if you like to crochet, do that, if you like to manicure lawns, do that, if you like to smile and greet people, do that, etc.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because He Cares,
Alma L. Jones
Christian Poet & Author