Use Your Gift, Carry His Light

Summary

Brother Nazar shared a testimony about the gift God gives every believer, a gift that too often simply sits and gathers dust. He grew up in a Christian home yet had no living walk with God until he stopped finding excuses to avoid time with Him. In obedience he sold his large dream home and moved into a tiny house during COVID, and it was then that God gave him repeated dreams of inmates reading a discipleship book. Through many closed doors that vision became a real prison ministry: prisoners gave their hearts to Christ, started their own Bible studies, and the gospel book was eventually approved on every inmate's tablet. When one door closed and he was not approved, God opened another at a juvenile detention center.

Brother Mykola from Ukraine opened the letter of James: every good gift comes down from the Father of lights, and pure, undefiled religion is to care for orphans and widows and to keep oneself unstained from the world. In a world lying in evil and gripped by war, mercy is what shows people that God is real and that He cares. He told of a 12-year-old boy gathering and selling mushrooms to buy bread, and a worn-out grandmother raising four orphaned children alone; simple acts of compassion opened that family's eyes to Christ, and now they come to church.

From Luke 7, the raising of the widow's son at Nain and John the Baptist's question, the call is clear: do not look to earthly kings to mend the world, but to Jesus, who heals, raises the dead, and preaches good news to the poor. Be holy and bold as a lion, and let your gift and your mercy carry the light of Christ into the darkest places, the prisons, the lonely, and the families wounded by war.

Key Points

• God has placed a gift in every believer; do not let it gather dust out of fear, but use it for His kingdom.
• Obedience may cost you comfort, like selling a dream home, but it positions you for what God wants to do.
• A single God-given dream, pursued through many closed doors, grew into a thriving prison ministry.
• When one door closes, trust that God is already opening another.
• Pure and undefiled religion is caring for orphans and widows and keeping yourself unstained from the world.
• Mercy shown to the poor and broken reveals to them that God is real and that He truly cares.
• Do not look to earthly rulers to save the world; only Jesus heals, raises the dead, and gives eternal life.