So we’re talking about guarding our vessel, guarding our deposits. God has deposited in you some wonderful gifts, and wonderful talents. God has deposited in you things that He wants to replicate so that it can be transferred to other people. Pastor told us in guarding it, you have to carry it. You have to guard the deposits. You have to carry the deposit. You have to use the deposits. You have to use what is put in you and you will have to then give it or transfer it out to others. So this deposit that God has put in us, we must carry it, guard it, use it, and then give it.

I’m going to give you a brief testimony, and I want you to know that the testimony is coming from a heart of thanksgiving. God has gifted me with some gifts the same way He has gifted you. Do you know what those gifts are? Do you know what the calling of God is on your life; how He has strategically orchestrated your life? So for me when I look at the ministries such as CARE, God gave that to me, He deposited that in me, and look where CARE has gone. G E M S is still prospering and still going forward after many years. What has God given you? The gift of writing, directing, publishing, teaching, creativity – are all gifts that God has bestowed freely on me. What has God deposited in you? When I consider each gift that God deposited in me, I realize that He didn’t deposit that gift in me to stay in there, but for it to come out and to be extended, to carry it, to guard it, to give it, to protect it. So when you pray and ask God for wisdom like Solomon did, ask Him for strength, ask Him for direction. And when you do, what He gives you in response to that prayer and to those requests, is a deposit. If He gives you a gift of encouragement ask Him to fine-tune that encouragement, the gift of sharing, fine-tune that; whatever gift He gives you, fine-tune them because His deposit is sacred. It is powerful, and its purposeful.

We are talking about treasures that’s laid up in heaven; treasures He entrusted me and trusted you with — divine, supernatural resources. And how we handle them matters, how you handle the gifts matters. We read in 1 Corinthians 13 that you may be filled with the power of speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, laying hands on the sick and they recover, but if it is not done through love and through anointing of Jesus Christ, it comes as a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal– nothing, nothing. So all these gifts that He has given to you, they are wonderful, but if it is not entrusted in the power of the Holy Spirit, it will become empty, and that’s not what you want. You want when you stand up before the Lord in the judgment, you will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, because you handled the deposit properly.” So, first thing we have to do is we have to carry it, and it’s not a burden.

So what God gives to you remains in you, but it must stay close, you must value it, and you must remember where it came from. Remember, where you got this gift. You didn’t receive the gift just to say, oh, the Lord has blessed me with this wonderful gift. But when He has blessed you with a gift, He’s given you the responsibility to carry it. Don’t just take it for granted that you have a wonderful voice and you can sing. Don’t take it for granted that you are good with finances, you know how to balance that checkbook, you know how to keep your family above water through finances. Don’t take it for granted, God empowered you with that gift. You are now responsible for how you carrying it.

Then guard it, guard it, guard the deposit. Anything valuable must be protected. We protect our children because we consider them valuable, especially when they are babies. We take such good care of them. Distractions will come. Doubt is going to come. Fear is going to come. Compromise will also raise its ugly head; will try to steal what God has deposited. Come on! Satin is not going to sit back and say, “Go ahead do your thing.” Oh, no! He’s going to bring distractions to each and every one of us. He knows your name and he’s going to do everything in his power to distract you from the power and the gifts that God has given to you. So you have to guard your faith. Guard it because we are reminded that God has deposited these scriptures in us and the scripture tells us to guard our hearts. Guard our hearts, because what God placed inside, what does it do? The gifts that He’s placed inside, shapes what comes out. So what you see coming out is what God deposited in you. Hallelujah, when you put Him first and you put Satan under your feet you walk over those distractions. So guard your faith. Guard your calling. Guard what God has entrusted to you.

Guard it, and then use it. If you don’t use it, you will lose it. You don’t what when you are a senior citizen walking with a cane to now say, “Oh, God forgive me for not using my gifts, I want to use them now.” I’m warning you now! I’m telling it to you now, to use it now while you’re healthy, while you’re strong, while you’re vibrant, while you have a voice. Use it now in the name of Jesus. A guarded deposit is not meant to stay unused. God gives us tools. All in His Word. He gives us authority, all in His Word. He gives us spiritual weapons– everything for a reason. And in so doing, faith must be used to exercise what He’s given to you so that you can exemplify what God has created in heaven and deposited in you, in this earthen vessel, so that the excellency of His power, may be of Him and not of you. So faith must be exercised. Prayers must be prayed. The word must be spoken. When we use what God has given, it grows stronger and stronger and more effective.

So, finally, give it out. Share it with somebody else. You don’t want to take what you have to eternity and not leave it here for somebody else. What He pours into you is designed to flow through you. Encouragement flows through a lot of you. In conclusion, a guarded deposit becomes powerful when it is shared. So, come on, let’s transfer the anointing, transfer the anointing from you to somebody else in the name of Jesus. So just as you receive, you give in Jesus name. And so what God gives in answer to your prayers is holy.