Are you a Christian Poets? What makes you think so? Just because you write poetry doesn't make you a poet. Just because you are a Christian doesn't make you a child of God.

As it is with salvation, you are a child of God by birth. (John 3:16), so it is also with being a Christian poet. It is through relationship that you see the move of God and feel His love and Spirit. It is also through this dynamic that you are gifted, called and inspired. Thus the flow of anointed grace from your Heavenly Father to you occurs.

I explain this process so you will stop telling yourself that your gifting is not that important. If you never sell a poem or write a book or become a famous poet, you are already in the favor of God and empowered by His love to walk in the gifting he has called you to. It's time to come out of the shadows, acknowledge your calling, operate in your gifting and be a blessing to those who our Lord brings your way.

God has indeed chosen you and gifted you to minister on His behalf. Now it's up to you to listen to His Spirit, pen the words of life and encouragement that flow from the Father's heart and share them with others. It's time to be all that God wants you to me.

Here's a poem that God gave to me when I first began to realize the value of my gifting. It now is displayed as a beacon on the front of our website, www.christianpoets.com for all to experience that same calling from God.

Poet of the Lord
Written by: John marinelli

Hear, Oh Poet of the Lord.
I offer you a great reward,

A gifting that shall never cease,
An outpouring of Joy and Peace.

I send you from my throne above,
As a messenger of my eternal Love,
To a lost and dying land,
To every creature, every man.

Speak, Oh Poet of the living God.
Dare to walk where Angels trod.
Tell your world in Rhymes of Praise,
Of Jesus, whom from the dead I raised.

I give you words full of life.

Use them as an end to strife.
Send them by land and sea,
For this is your destiny.

I have chosen you especially by name,
So set aside your sorrow and shame,

And speak now on my behalf,
Of love and peace and even wrath.

Listen closely for my inner voice,
And pen your rhymes of choice.
Then cry aloud, as I speak to you,
So others may know me, as you do.

Once I realized that my savior wanted me to use my gifting, that he bestowed upon me, for His glory, I was faced with two choices: 1.) Accept it and seek to stir it up as Paul said for Timothy to do or, 2.) take the gift and the glory for my own gain.

When you realize the value of what God has placed upon you, you must accept it, learn about it, practice it, preach it, minister by it, and walk in it as a lifestyle. Otherwise it will haunt you all your life as you feel it, and do nothing about it.

If you are reading this article, it is because God wants you to realize the value of your gifting and join Him in the ministry of reconciliation through poetry. It's time for you to step up to the plate and get with the ball game. May God bless the works of His hands through your special gifting.

Until next time

Rev John Marinelli