God's Gifts
Scripture: John 3 v 16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. "
Ephesians 2 v 8:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God."
Acts 2 v 38:
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost."
Luke 6 v 38:
"Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure,
pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your
bosom. For with the same measure that you mete withal it shall be measured to
you again."
Our God is a giver. He gave His Son to save the world. He
gave salvation as a free gift so no one had to earn it. He gave the gift of the
Holy Ghost (or Holy Spirit) who in turn gives us nine life-transforming gifts.
Jesus gave His life as a ransom to save us.
He also created us in His image and through the Blood of
Jesus is changing us to be like Him. Restoring us, in fact, to the
Manufacturer's original settings because His enemy has severely altered those
settings to make God's children an epic fail malfunction.
God has given all these gifts to us to help us see where
our problems lie and work with Him to fix them. The Holy Bible is the
Manufacturer's Handbook, which helps believer's to know all that God has done
for them and all the gifts and blessings He has given us. It also contains the
discipline He needs to impose to keep us focused on His plan for us.
If things are not going your way you need to look at
yourself first to see where you are out of line with God. Don't just do a
surface check, dig down deep to see where there is a spiritual malfunction. The
Lord withholds answers to prayer until root problems are addressed and removed.
It makes no sense to Him to put a plaster over gangrene. It must be removed
before it kills you.
If you have a long-running, unresolved, problem the
problem lies within you. Blaming others, or blaming God, will never work. Get
help from someone who truly knows Jesus and will use the gifts of the Holy
Spirit to determine the deeper problem. Submit to God, resist the devil and he
will flee.
The more free we get the more we will become like Jesus
and the more giving we will be. And the more giving He will be to you in
return. What you give to help others will be given back in great measure to
you, in cash or in kind. You cannot outgive God and He loves a cheerful giver
so never begrudge it.
Its is God's love for us that causes Him to give His best
to us always and as His love grows within us we will give our utmost for His
highest. Treasure the gifts He gives us
and use them with His wisdom. Spend time discovering what is really true and
false and discard that which is contrary to His nature.
Prayer: Father
God, You gave Your all to save us because You love us. Help us to give our all
to reach the lost and keep your love flowing to Your people first, then those
who sit in darkness and need to see Your light. You are depending on us Father,
we will not let You down. In Jesus' name. Amen.