Do You Know How to Receive God’s Gifts?
Good Morning Friends,
There are a lot of gifts given in the Bible…from food and drink to spiritual inheritance and even correction. But there is a supreme gift that gives us access to everything we need from hope, mercy, purpose, direction, love, grace, healing, and peace and help to even forgiveness. And this gift keeps on giving. The gift is Jesus. And our emotional response to the giving and receiving is intertwined with the intentions of our hearts. Do You Know How to Receive God’s Gifts?
Scripture:
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.’
Exodus 16:2-3 (NRSV)
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ‘ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. ‘They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 6:25-35 (NRSV)
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
Ephesians 2:4-10 (NRSV)
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
1 Corinthians 12:1-5 (NRSV)
Message: Are you grumbling or grateful? The Bible is filled with stories of people receiving God’s gifts and responding in surprising ways. Over all though I think we are to consider our past, celebrate our present and rejoice in our future. You see friends, because Jesus came, we can know some of what God is like on this journey… we can experience Jesus the priest and Jesus the teacher. We can experience the gift of forgiveness of our sins and transformation of our hearts and minds. We all are hungering for grace and fall silent before it as it descends on us relieving our fears. By this same grace Jesus is continually saving, raising and creating in us His good works. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians makes it clear we will be given spiritual gifts. But Jesus is the doorway to all these gifts. And Jesus is the best gift we have ever received or will receive and under His management, Jesus is the best gift we will ever share. You see, we are to experience the Christ in each of us and receive it gratefully. God came up with this idea of salvation by grace to embrace us with his incredible love. It changed everything. By this divine thought He takes our dead lives… lives trained in a world that denies grace and makes us alive in Christ. We become an eternal monument to His incredible mercy… a mercy planned from the very beginning. God’s reputation was on the line, so He creates a way for us to learn to have His compassion, mercy and grace in the land of the living, so we too can reflect His plan of redemption. He did this on His own with absolutely no help from us. All we need to do is to trust Him enough to let Him do it. We do not play a major role in becoming a Christian. It is Christ’s role in us that is important. Our role is about learning to let go and let God. Our job is to become good at receiving gifts. Then learning to share them.
Pray we realize that our God is a gracious and giving God. Pray we recognize the gifts God gives to us. Pray we get better at giving and receiving each other’s time, talent and treasure so we can submit to be one in the joy of receiving Christ’s time, talent and treasure. Pray we have a grateful heart. Pray we stop grumbling. Pray we learn to Give Back with a spirit that honors God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 