He Got Mad Skillz
For those of you that are on my livejournal liat or xanga page, tonights devo has a video that goes along with it. I want you to go to www.myspace.com/jaygulbin which is my myspace devo page and watch the video. You will have to turn rhe songs off in order to watch it. I am probably going to do this once a week for a change but I will still go my regular devo;'s 3-4 times a week as well. I just watched this video and thought it went well with the devo for tonight.
OK, so did you watch the whole video. It is like 2 minutes long but it is impressive. This guy has some crazy sckateboarding skills doesn't he? Even if you are not into skating, you have to admit that some of those moves he was doing were just amazing.
I grew up when nobody really knew who Tony Hawk was. Even if you only watch skateboarding during the X Games, you know who he is. He is the pioneer of skating. Me and my little 12 year old skating buddies watched first hand as this young dude burst onto the skating scene and forever changed the sport. I was one of those weekend, poser skaters growing up. Didn't have the hair cut, didn't listen to the music like Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies, didn't have the typical skater hair-do, but every weekend, my friends and I tried so hard to immitate the moves of Tony Hawk. We built a ramp and proceded to bust our butts every other time we dropped in. Most of my friends, including myself, could never make it back up the other side of the ramp without falling off and smacking our heads against the hard plywood.
It was very hard to learn to skateboard. I was extrememly good at baseball and basketball and I guess you could consider me a jock while growing up, but skateboarding didn't come natural to me like hitting a baseball did. i actually had to practice at it and after a few years, I just gave up. Can you relate to this? Is there anything from your past experiences that you tried and no matter how hard you tried, you still couldn't do it very well? I could ride a board straight in a parking lot but when it came to kick flips and hand plants, I ended up getting hurt most of the time. There was this one kid that rode with us that was just a natural. He was horrible at everything atheletic but he could sure put on a routine on a half pipe. He was the envy of us all and was probably the reason most of us quit because we just got embarrassed every time he came around. Do you know any one like that in life? You know the person, the one who is just naturally gifted at whatever it is you are trying to learn.
I must admit that i would get mad and throw my board down alot and proclaim, "i can't do this, I suck at this and I can't do anything right." It was such a cause of frustration for me and even though I was good at baseball, it didn't seem to matter much. I focused on the things that I couldn't do instead of the the things I was good at. I looked at where my failures were and not at where my success were. Is this ringing a bell yet with you in your life?
My friends, we are all gifted at something. God has given us the abilities and gifts to do something. But many of us overlook what we are good at and only focus on the things that we are horrible at. Pretty soon our self esteem and self worth take a huge hit and we feel like a failure. I repeat again, God has empowered and enabled us to do something to serve him in some capable way. It might be in singing, it might be in listening, it might be in counseling, it could be in giving. What ever it is, there is a place that has success written all over it for you.
My gift is relating to teens and college age students. My gifts are in speaking, teaching, loving, caring, nurturing, leading, etc......I wish my gift was singing. I want it to be and I have tried so hard to make it so. You can tell by the sound clips that I just make a joyful noise. I am not a singer and it doesn't get me down. It is something I like to do but I don't get mad when someone may criticize my singing. I know that is just secondary to what God has gifted me to be. It doesn't make up who I am. It doesn't effect my successes in being a youth minister. Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. It is too large to type out here but it talks about spiritual gifts. I specifically says that to one (person) He gives something and to another he gives something.
But too many of us are sitting on our gifts, not using them at all in out church, youth group, etc...We have set aside our real gifts in the pursuit of maybe becoming something we aren't even gifted at all to be. And no matter how much practice and effort we put into it, we wil never be. My challenge to us tonight is to recognize your giftedness and follow through with your strengths. Don't worry about the things you can't do because you are needed in another area where you are destined for success.
God doesn't want to see you fail over and over again. He has specifically given you some giftedness in order for you to fit right in and make a difference. My question for you tonight is, where is that area? Where have you been wasting ideal time, trying to become something you won't become. God has a plan and a purpose for us all and it is found in the natural abilities and giftedness he has provided for us.
OK, so did you watch the whole video. It is like 2 minutes long but it is impressive. This guy has some crazy sckateboarding skills doesn't he? Even if you are not into skating, you have to admit that some of those moves he was doing were just amazing.
I grew up when nobody really knew who Tony Hawk was. Even if you only watch skateboarding during the X Games, you know who he is. He is the pioneer of skating. Me and my little 12 year old skating buddies watched first hand as this young dude burst onto the skating scene and forever changed the sport. I was one of those weekend, poser skaters growing up. Didn't have the hair cut, didn't listen to the music like Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies, didn't have the typical skater hair-do, but every weekend, my friends and I tried so hard to immitate the moves of Tony Hawk. We built a ramp and proceded to bust our butts every other time we dropped in. Most of my friends, including myself, could never make it back up the other side of the ramp without falling off and smacking our heads against the hard plywood.
It was very hard to learn to skateboard. I was extrememly good at baseball and basketball and I guess you could consider me a jock while growing up, but skateboarding didn't come natural to me like hitting a baseball did. i actually had to practice at it and after a few years, I just gave up. Can you relate to this? Is there anything from your past experiences that you tried and no matter how hard you tried, you still couldn't do it very well? I could ride a board straight in a parking lot but when it came to kick flips and hand plants, I ended up getting hurt most of the time. There was this one kid that rode with us that was just a natural. He was horrible at everything atheletic but he could sure put on a routine on a half pipe. He was the envy of us all and was probably the reason most of us quit because we just got embarrassed every time he came around. Do you know any one like that in life? You know the person, the one who is just naturally gifted at whatever it is you are trying to learn.
I must admit that i would get mad and throw my board down alot and proclaim, "i can't do this, I suck at this and I can't do anything right." It was such a cause of frustration for me and even though I was good at baseball, it didn't seem to matter much. I focused on the things that I couldn't do instead of the the things I was good at. I looked at where my failures were and not at where my success were. Is this ringing a bell yet with you in your life?
My friends, we are all gifted at something. God has given us the abilities and gifts to do something. But many of us overlook what we are good at and only focus on the things that we are horrible at. Pretty soon our self esteem and self worth take a huge hit and we feel like a failure. I repeat again, God has empowered and enabled us to do something to serve him in some capable way. It might be in singing, it might be in listening, it might be in counseling, it could be in giving. What ever it is, there is a place that has success written all over it for you.
My gift is relating to teens and college age students. My gifts are in speaking, teaching, loving, caring, nurturing, leading, etc......I wish my gift was singing. I want it to be and I have tried so hard to make it so. You can tell by the sound clips that I just make a joyful noise. I am not a singer and it doesn't get me down. It is something I like to do but I don't get mad when someone may criticize my singing. I know that is just secondary to what God has gifted me to be. It doesn't make up who I am. It doesn't effect my successes in being a youth minister. Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. It is too large to type out here but it talks about spiritual gifts. I specifically says that to one (person) He gives something and to another he gives something.
But too many of us are sitting on our gifts, not using them at all in out church, youth group, etc...We have set aside our real gifts in the pursuit of maybe becoming something we aren't even gifted at all to be. And no matter how much practice and effort we put into it, we wil never be. My challenge to us tonight is to recognize your giftedness and follow through with your strengths. Don't worry about the things you can't do because you are needed in another area where you are destined for success.
God doesn't want to see you fail over and over again. He has specifically given you some giftedness in order for you to fit right in and make a difference. My question for you tonight is, where is that area? Where have you been wasting ideal time, trying to become something you won't become. God has a plan and a purpose for us all and it is found in the natural abilities and giftedness he has provided for us.