December 22, 2019 HE GAVE
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
2 Corinthians 7b “for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Luke 6:38a “Give, and it will be given to you.”
Proverbs 18:16 “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
Even though in my opinion, Christmas has become greatly over-commercialized, the idea of giving remains the main theme of the season. If you and I can find ways to minimize the commercialization of Christmas, that would be a positive step for sure, but we do not to need to take away the idea of being givers. We need to resist the idea that we are to be about ‘getting’ and embrace the idea that we are to be about blessing and giving. Giving is God’s idea-He is the original giver. When we come to know God, He imparts His nature to us-gives us a new nature-and giving becomes a core part of us. (It is critical that we know our true identity in Him if we are to be expressions of His nature.) There are endless ways of giving and some gifts we give require an expenditure of money, but some of the most genuine gifts, and the gifts that bless the most cannot be purchased at the store or on-line. Some intangible gifts may include simply spending time with someone, writing a note of encouragement, enjoying a cup of coffee together, giving a helping hand, etc. The point is, let us be people who give, because that is what God does. God not only gave His Son, the supreme gift, that we might be reconciled to Him, He is always giving; He gives grace, He gives hope, He gives direction, He gives wisdom, He gives forgiveness, He gives life, and the list goes on-forever. As we see in the above verse, God “loves a cheerful giver.” What blesses God is for His people to enjoy giving; He is not so concerned as to what we give as long as we give out of a cheerful heart; we will be generous in our giving when we give when we cheerfully give. (Concerning monetary gifts, for some, a gift of 10.00 is generous while for some a gift of 1,000.00 is generous.) Spending time with a with someone who is home bound-or whatever-is a generous gift. The verse above in Proverbs is a tremendous promise to us. Those who are generous will prosper in the truest sense of the word-maybe not financially-it may include that, but more importantly, they will prosper in their spirit and will experience joy. And, ‘those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.’ Let us examine our own hearts to determine if are a cheerful giver; if not, then let us confess that to the Lord and ask Him to work in us in such a way that we discover the joy of giving. Let us not wait until the ‘mood to give hits us,’ but let us put on the new person that God has created us to be and start being the cheerful giver.
Proverbs 5:24-25 “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.”
Blessings,
Buddy
RSS Feed