Gifts | |
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Gifts
James 1:16-17, ”Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers, every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Wow! When you meditate on a Scripture God really opens your heart and eyes to further understanding of the verse. I began to have revelation the first day He brought it to me, but as I continued to meditate and think about it, ponder it, the more I could see what He was telling me. This verse says that every single thing that comes your way today and everyday is from God, directly from His hand to your life. He is a good Father, a loving Daddy, and He loves to show Himself and His love to you.
Let’s be specific. The hugs, the laughter, the songs, the smells, the beautiful blue sky, the colorful leaves, any good news you received today, the Bible, the memories, the dreams, your children, your spouse, your home, et cetera, all came from the Lord directly and specifically to you.
All of these things come from His hand. Every laughter, every funny thing, ANY good thing comes from Him! Oh, what a good and loving God we serve! He’s SO full of love for you all. In I Timothy 6:17 Paul says Timothy, “to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” He is not in lack. He lives in abundance and He provides abundantly for you! In this particular verse Paul is reminding Timothy to remind the wealthy to put their hope in God, so this verse is referring to money, or you could say, material things. All the good material things you have are from God and according to this verse He doesn’t just give a little, He gives richly! Why? For our enjoyment. That is the perfect picture of a loving Father.
Look at how the psalmist was confident in the Lord’s generosity. Psalm 85:12, “The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.” Are you expecting good? Are you looking for the good? I believe most Christians do not meditate on the goodness of God nor are they expecting any good to come. Most Christians wake up expecting to day to be another ordinary day like the others before. They don’t have much expectation in what God really wants to do and in what He’s already doing and has already done. Unfortunately most people, including Christians, are focused on the bad. When you focus on something long enough you magnify it and if you’re magnifying the bad, then you’re not going to be looking, expecting, His goodness in your life every day. So you miss out on what God wants to do and on what He chooses to do for you through His grace.
Psalm 85:9, “Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.” This Psalmist had faith. He had great expectation in the goodness of God. He could see the gifts all around him every day that God was lavishing on him and he chose to continue to believe that God was going to bring about even more.
Have you ever sat in church and had a speaker/preacher tell you not to ask God to bless you because you already had been blessed and that you needed to be thankful for what you had? Well, I have and I choose to disagree. Yes, we need to be thankful for the many blessings He’s given, but He gives blessings every single day and He LOVES to give. He’s a BIG giver. Wouldn’t you say that God has the gift of giving to the full measure, nothing missing, but just perfect generosity? Absolutely! Psalm 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” Do you realize what this verse says? He’s not withholding any good thing from you! As a matter of fact, if you have something missing in your life that is good, then it says here that it’s not God who is withholding that good thing from you. Don’t get caught up with the words, “for those whose walk is blameless” because if you’re a Christian, then you are the righteousness of God. He has already made you blameless through the blood of Jesus.
“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, FOR THIS WAS YOUR GOOD PLEASURE” (Matthew 11:28, 29). Even every revelation you receive is from God. But look closely at what it says (I kinda helped you there since I put it in all caps, huh?), “this was your good pleasure”! It’s a pleasure to Him to give you revelation. He enjoys giving and He gives daily to you good and perfect gifts.
Romans 8:6, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;” I would like to encourage you to begin to meditate, ponder, think on and realize all the good things that come daily into your life are straight from Your heavenly Father to you, then you’ll have life and peace in your life!
You are blessed of the Lord and highly favored.
Let’s be specific. The hugs, the laughter, the songs, the smells, the beautiful blue sky, the colorful leaves, any good news you received today, the Bible, the memories, the dreams, your children, your spouse, your home, et cetera, all came from the Lord directly and specifically to you.
All of these things come from His hand. Every laughter, every funny thing, ANY good thing comes from Him! Oh, what a good and loving God we serve! He’s SO full of love for you all. In I Timothy 6:17 Paul says Timothy, “to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” He is not in lack. He lives in abundance and He provides abundantly for you! In this particular verse Paul is reminding Timothy to remind the wealthy to put their hope in God, so this verse is referring to money, or you could say, material things. All the good material things you have are from God and according to this verse He doesn’t just give a little, He gives richly! Why? For our enjoyment. That is the perfect picture of a loving Father.
Look at how the psalmist was confident in the Lord’s generosity. Psalm 85:12, “The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest.” Are you expecting good? Are you looking for the good? I believe most Christians do not meditate on the goodness of God nor are they expecting any good to come. Most Christians wake up expecting to day to be another ordinary day like the others before. They don’t have much expectation in what God really wants to do and in what He’s already doing and has already done. Unfortunately most people, including Christians, are focused on the bad. When you focus on something long enough you magnify it and if you’re magnifying the bad, then you’re not going to be looking, expecting, His goodness in your life every day. So you miss out on what God wants to do and on what He chooses to do for you through His grace.
Psalm 85:9, “Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land.” This Psalmist had faith. He had great expectation in the goodness of God. He could see the gifts all around him every day that God was lavishing on him and he chose to continue to believe that God was going to bring about even more.
Have you ever sat in church and had a speaker/preacher tell you not to ask God to bless you because you already had been blessed and that you needed to be thankful for what you had? Well, I have and I choose to disagree. Yes, we need to be thankful for the many blessings He’s given, but He gives blessings every single day and He LOVES to give. He’s a BIG giver. Wouldn’t you say that God has the gift of giving to the full measure, nothing missing, but just perfect generosity? Absolutely! Psalm 84:11, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” Do you realize what this verse says? He’s not withholding any good thing from you! As a matter of fact, if you have something missing in your life that is good, then it says here that it’s not God who is withholding that good thing from you. Don’t get caught up with the words, “for those whose walk is blameless” because if you’re a Christian, then you are the righteousness of God. He has already made you blameless through the blood of Jesus.
“At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, FOR THIS WAS YOUR GOOD PLEASURE” (Matthew 11:28, 29). Even every revelation you receive is from God. But look closely at what it says (I kinda helped you there since I put it in all caps, huh?), “this was your good pleasure”! It’s a pleasure to Him to give you revelation. He enjoys giving and He gives daily to you good and perfect gifts.
Romans 8:6, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;” I would like to encourage you to begin to meditate, ponder, think on and realize all the good things that come daily into your life are straight from Your heavenly Father to you, then you’ll have life and peace in your life!
You are blessed of the Lord and highly favored.