Gifts and Talents

         There came a day when an angel (Gabriel) visited Zacharias a priest and told him that he was going to have a son and to name him John. Zacharias had some doubts about that because he and his wife were old and past the time to have kids. The angel said that because he doubted the word of the angel that he would be mute until the birth of his son. On the eighth day after his son was born, the relatives wanted to name him after the father but Elizabeth said his name would be John. Then the relatives asked Zacharias what his name should be, he wrote the name, John, and his mouth was opened.

      Too often in life, we are our own worst enemies. We talk down against ourselves when we should be lifting ourselves higher by what we say about our circumstances. The dictionary says the word, to shut: to prevent something from occurring: That is what is happening when we talk about our problems. We say things like ‘I will never make it, or ‘I will never be able to quit this habit. We need to shut our mouths if we can’t say something good.

      In the 1930s and 1940s, everyone said that man will never be able to run a 4-minute mile. The scientists of the day said that men’s bodies would not be able to handle stress and other things. In May of 1956, a man named Roger Bannister ran the 4-minute mile. Forty-six days later another man also ran the 4-minute mile. Within 10 years 336 people also ran the 4-minute mile.

      People are always saying that something can’t be done. The hard part is not talking about what we cannot do and starting talking about what we can do. I have never written anything in my life. Our day a friend of mine called me and said I should start writing. That very day I wrote the number ‘1 A Word By Wayne’ and am still writing today. There was a man that always said when asked how he was doing, “getting older and fat and bald.” He started saying this in his teens. Well, when seen twenty years later he looked older than his age. He was fat and he was bald. We are what we say we are.

      We can think a doubtful thought but we should never say it out loud. If you are weak, God said “let the weak say I am strong.” We don’t talk about our weaknesses we talk about how strong we are. When we put our thoughts into words we are prophesying over ourselves. When we open our mouths we need to talk about something positive. We need to say I can quit this habit, I can do the job that the Lord gives me to do. We can say that I am blessed in the city, I am blessed in the country, I am blessed going in, I am blessed going out.

      The truth be told is that God wants to bless us and He will if we start talking the way He talks. Open your mouth and speak to your doubts and to your weakness. We keep our mouths shut about our problems, but we talk about what God can do.

––––––––––––––––

      The Living Bible
Proverbs 21:23 Keep your mouth closed and you'll stay out of trouble.

      New King James Version
Luke 1:19 And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
20 "But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.

      New King James Version
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.