The Gracious Gift Giver
Good evening to our obedient sisters who love the Lord!
What a gift it is to be able to encourage you here and I appreciate and am thankful for each day I'm able to. What I do is nothing compared to the precious gifts that our Father in heaven, has offered to us. Praise God, He is a gracious gift giver. Let's refresh ourselves in the word and see these gifts offered from a loving Father to His obedient children.
His Son (John 3:16) 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.
Repentance (2 Timothy 2:25-26) In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Eternal life (Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) Then Peter said unto them, 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.
New life (2 Corinthians 5:17) Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The Word (John 1:14) And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Forgiveness (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Faith (Ephesians 2:8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Wisdom (James 1:5) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Love (Romans 5:8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Peace (John 14:27) Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Joy (1 Peter 1:8-9) Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
Hope (Romans 5:2) By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Strength (Ephesians 6:10-11) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. [11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Grace (James 4:6) But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
No Tears or pain (Revelation 21:4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
His return (Matthew 24:27) For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
When I first heard the gospel and knew I could have a new heart and new life, I longed for that and would do anything for it but the one thing I had trouble with was receiving the fact that this magnificent God could give such a gift, to me, a wretched and vile sinner.
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. (Luke 7:37-38)
This precious gift is available for all who will repent (forsake their sins) and follow after Christ Jesus in Spirit and truth.
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)
He is a good, merciful, loving Father to His children. Are you His child? I encourage you to test yourself (2 Corinthians 3:5) and make sure you are born from the biblical gospel of faith, repentance, being born from above, striving in holiness and obedience and enduring until the end. See it laid out HERE.
It's hard to receive such precious gifts from our Father in heaven when we are not worthy of them, but we are thankful and humble receive them. Amen.
This afternoon, brother Jim and I were humbled by another gracious gift giver in a much smaller way of course, one that cannot compare to the mighty God who is the giver of all. But it is notable to mention.
Brother Jim and I were sitting outside our van in a parking lot off to the side and just across the grass strip was another busy parking lot.
We were working online and enjoying the cool breeze as it was pretty warm and humid. We were also watching a squirrel run past the nuts I laid out for him as he found other things to eat.
He was so cute:-) While we were sitting there I said to brother Jim 'I don't think anyone will think we're beggars because we're sitting here working on our computers.' There are beggars all over the place here and in fact the last time we were here, brother Jim was walking through the parking lot on the other side of the van when a man in the back of a semi truck called him over and offered him some dinner rolls. He said he delivers bread and they were damaged so he hands them out. After talking a bit and brother Jim giving him the gospel and saying he's a full time preacher, the man was embarrassed because he thought Jim was a homeless guy, lol.
Anyway...it wasn't long after I said that about not being mistaken for a beggar, a man rode up on a bike with a bag, walked over and held it out to us. He was saying in broken English 'For you, for you' and nodding his head. He was holding the bag out toward me and I looked toward brother Jim and he said 'Oh, thank you so much but we are good, no, we're fine.' The man nodded his head, said 'For you' and set it down. Brother Jim heartily thanked him and said 'Can I give you something, here's a gospel card. Do you speak English?" The man put his hand out and did the 'so so' twist and brother Jim briefly told him to go to the website and he could translate it to Spanish and read the gospel. The man nodded his head, waved and took off on the bike.
Brother Jim and I don't accept gifts very well but we love to give them. In fact there were years where we absolutely insisted that we wouldn't take any from anyone until we realized we may be taking away the opportunity for someone to bless others...not realizing it may have been hurting feelings.
What happened today was very heartwarming to us because this town (we know it well) has many Spanish people and we find them to be hard working and very kind. Many are transported on busses or bikes and not everyone treats them well. It was a gracious act of kindness on his part and as I type this I just realized (this very second) something. It was maybe an hour or two before this I was crossing a street and had plenty of time to get across but a truck pulled out from a parking lot and stepped on the gas, coming right toward me so I had to run the last couple yards to the curb. He yelled 'Use the cross walk!' I was thinking how Jesus said the love of many will wax cold (oh we sure see that out here!)....yet look what happened not long after that with the little Spanish man, bringing us a gift of love.
It's like when we are out on the streets, loving our neighbor by telling them the truth and warning about the wrath to come if they don't repent. Sharing the goodness of God that is offered to those who come to Him and during all that, most people hate it but every so often there is someone who sees that love and comes to hear more. We sisters too, are the gracious gift givers when we live our lives in obedience and share His truth in whatever way He has set for us.
Praise God, what lessons we learn each day amen sisters? Brother Jim made an audio a while back about the Goodness of God, maybe you want to listen to it HERE.
We are off to head toward some more events this weekend, Lord willing, but we shall see what awaits along the way. Be excited sisters, who knows what God will be doing in your life at any given time, be ready!
Love, blessings and peace to you all,
Sister Deb