Steward of Grace

September 25, 2021

Lord help us to be good and faithful stewards with all that you have entrusted to us. Let us be ever mindful that You will return at any time and we are to be busy about Your business. Amen.

Lord, my heart is troubled. Jesus began speaking, "Have peace and do not be anxious, do as you have been asked. I will bring My truth to light and not allow the enemy to gain entry." I had been tossing and turning over a conversation earlier in the evening and after He said that, I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Of course, the next morning upon waking, I'm bombarded with thoughts from the night before. I asked Holy Spirit to control my thoughts and instantly I began thinking about Blessed Mother and how she was so very faithful to God in everything she did, from the seemingly insignificant to those obedient actions of great note. Just then the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25 flew into my head and I knew the Lord was revealing to us the qualities of a good steward.

Jesus continued, "I put My wise and faithful managers in charge of My servants to feed them at the proper time. Elisabeth, you must follow in order to lead, even when it doesn't make sense to you. My precious ones, your work is to do My work. Your reward will not be given to you by man, but by Me. All of you need to work on being faithful in the small things, before you are given greater tasks to accomplish for My glory. My people, resemble the servant who knows he will be held accountable for his care of others."

My mind went back to the parable of the talents and in the story, three stewards each receive an allotment of money to manage on behalf of the owner. The first two stewards invest their talents and they each give the owner back double what they were given. And to each the owner replies, "Well done good and faithful servant." The third steward fearfully digs a hole and goes about his own life. He disregards his job to properly care for the owner's money. When the owner returns, the steward digs up the talent and gives back only the amount given to him. The owner said, "You wicked and slothful servant" and took away the talent and gave it to the good steward and the bad steward was thrown out.

Jesus continued, "I want all of you to build up and increase what I have given you. You are being called to invest in, build up and increase My Kingdom. You have been entrusted with the treasures of the gospel, faith and authority in the spiritual realm. Do you use these treasures or do you bury them? A good steward remembers that He works for Me. I am the owner of earth and everything in it. You are caretakers of God's Kingdom. Be wise and kind and build up My Church." And that was the end of His message.

We read in 1 Peter 4:10-11, "As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Heartdwellers, we are called to be "good managers" of the grace of God. As believers, our actions reap eternal consequences. The way we live and what we say should honor God. Being a steward of grace means using whatever gift God have given us to perform acts of kindness towards others and to invest in souls and help bring them into the sheepfold of God's Kingdom.