Tag: Good Gifts

Jesus

Things God Gives

joyimpactus

In this post I talked about Where Do Good Gifts Come From. The short answer to which is God – God is the giver of all good gifts. Understanding this, I’d like to begin a series of posts on “Things God Gives”.

Actually the word “things” isn’t a great fit for this post, but it will have to do, as I don’t have a better way to describe it.

Things God Gives – His son

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Now you can see why I hesitate with the word “things.” Certainly the Holy Spirit is beyond a “thing.” So please understand I mean no disrespect here. I absolutely think it is biblical to see that God gave his son, out of his love for us. Beyond his son, God also tells us in scripture that the gave the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter.

Things God Gives – Holy Spirit / Helper / Comforter

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

“And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.”

The Holy Spirit is a gift that we can receive. Have you thought about that? What kinds of things would be different if you realized that one of the gifts that God offers is the Holy Spirit?

“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever.” John 14:16

The Holy Spirit is sometimes referred to as the Helper or the Comforter. We can call out, in prayer, for help and/or for comfort, but we can also ask for the gift of the Helper or the Comforter. Do you see the difference? This is something I am reminding myself of throughout my day. Realizing that in the scripture above, we see that this was a prayer (request) that Jesus made to the Father (God), it helps me to understand my need for the Helper.

In future posts I am going to explore more of the good gifts that God gives, but for now, I just want to encourage you to continue to pray that God will show you what a good giver of gifts He is and begin to open you up to receive from Him.

If you have any prayer requests, please feel free to comment, I’d love to pray for you.

Jesus

Where Do Good Gifts Come From?

joyimpactus

Have you ever thought about where good gifts come from? Perhaps at Christmas time, or your birthday? Perhaps you have a loved one who is celebrating a milestone and really like to find just the “thing” that will communicate your sentiments for this person.

Is Amazon the right place to start your search, or should you go to a local small business where the service and personal touch will be higher?

Actually you might be surprised, but scripture tells us the answer to this question.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17

God is the giver of good gifts.

I am blessed to be a wife and a mother. These two roles have helped me to see what it is to give gifts out of love. God knows that even in our fallen state, we, parents, often have a desire to give good gifts.

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

As I reflect on my walk with the Lord, I see that far too often I have tried to earn things, rather than accepting them as gifts. Over the coming weeks, I’d like to look further at God as the giver of good gifts. I’d like to do this for a few reasons.

  1. God has written much about His desire to give good gifts and I think sometimes in our ignorance we fail to ask for, or receive the gifts He is offering.
  2. I have come to see that many of the “things” he desires to give us, we have mistakenly tried to earn.
  3. I believe as we discover more of what He wants to give us as a gift, we will discover both more about Him and more about ourselves.

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15

“Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”” Ephesians 4:8

I pray that these writings will lead us to a greater experience of what God has for us.