What Gifts Will You Bring Him?

 

 

During the Christmas season and always, have you considered what gifts you will give your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? What can we possibly give Him that could even come close to showing our appreciation for the greatest Gift ever given – God’s Son given that all who trust Him may have eternal life? (John 3:16). 

His story proves that you can’t judge a gift from its wrappings. God the Father’s greatest gift to the world, His only begotten Son, destined to become the perfect sacrifice for all sins, and to return again to rule the universe in glory, was presented in a very humble way. He came as a helpless baby, born into a humble family, delivered in a lowly stable (Luke 2:7).

Just as the Wise Men of Christ’s day sought Him out and aimed to give Him their very best gifts (Matthew 2: 1-12), so do wise men and women of today seek Him and consecrate to Him their lives and the very best gifts they can offer.

You don't have to shop for these gifts, because He is the source of all good things (James 1:17). You won't have to go into debt over them, because you can't outgive God, and the more you give Him, the more blessings will flow back to you (Luke 6:38). They're always exactly what He would want and a perfect fit, as long as you're following His perfect will for your life. And you don't have to worry that they'll be returned -- you can be sure they will, as He gives back to you many times over all that you entrust to Him (1 Kings 17:10-16; John 6:5-13).

God judges our gifts to Him not on their greatness, because there is nothing that He needs from us. Anything we have is pitiful compared with His infinite wealth (Psalm 50: 7-12), and all that we have came from Him in the first place (James 1:17). Instead, He judges our motives, our willingness to trust all to Him, and the sacrificial nature of our gift (Luke 12:48; Luke 21:1-4).

 If He has blessed us with talents, material wealth, or other resources, He requires us to be a channel through whom blessings flow, because to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48. But even if others do not consider us blessed in worldly terms, we can please God with our giving. When Jesus saw the poor widow throwing two mites into the treasury (Luke 21:1-4), He praised her more than all the others because she gave all that she had.

The absolute amount or greatness of the gift we give Him is not important, but what matters is how much of what we have we give back to Him. He is pleased with sacrificial giving because it shows our trust in Him, our faith that He will give back to us in abundance.

A sinful woman broke open a costly alabaster box containing precious ointment – possibly her inheritance or dowry -- that she used to anoint His Head. Jesus promised that this lavish gift would always be remembered in Scripture (Mark 14:3-9)

Elijah, prophet of God, followed God’s direction and asked a widow to give him her last morsel of food. When she did so in faith, God provided for her daily (1 Kings 17). God always honors His promises to those who trust Him in faith.

A similar story of God taking a seemingly small gift, multiplying and magnifying it to do great good, then giving back in abundance, is the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes (John 6:5), in which Jesus feeds a crowd of thousands with only a little boy’s lunch that he willingly gave. The disciples use the reasoning of men, not trusting in God’s supernatural ability to provide.

But God wants us to demonstrate our faith – it is never a question of whether He is able, but of whether we have faith.  No one goes away hungry, and there are 12 baskets full of bread left over, which must have gone to the little boy to feed his family and no doubt his whole village.

In this season of gifts, may we always remember and thank the greatest Giver and Gift of all time. The best gift you could possibly give to anyone on your gift list is to share the Gospel with them! You can give it freely to everyone without taxing your budget; one size fits all; and they’ll never need to return or exchange it. Christ – the perfect Gift -- is truly All that anyone needs!

May we give Him what He has given us – our body, mind and spirit -- as a living sacrifice to His glory! 

© 2012 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

What Gifts Will You Give Him?

Photo by James Petts 2013

 

During the Christmas season and always, have you considered what gifts you will give your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? What can we possibly give Him that could even come close to showing our appreciation for the greatest Gift ever given – God’s Son given that all who trust Him may have eternal life? (John 3:16). 

His story proves that you can’t judge a gift from its wrappings. God the Father’s greatest gift to the world, His only begotten Son, destined to become the perfect sacrifice for all sins, and to return again to rule the universe in glory, was presented in a very humble way. He came as a helpless baby, born into a humble family, delivered in a lowly stable (Luke 2:7).

Just as the Wise Men of Christ’s day sought Him out and aimed to give Him their very best gifts (Matthew 2: 1-12), so do wise men and women of today seek Him and consecrate to Him their lives and the very best gifts they can offer.

You don't have to shop for these gifts, because He is the source of all good things (James 1:17). You won't have to go into debt over them, because you can't outgive God, and the more you give Him, the more blessings will flow back to you (Luke 6:38). They're always exactly what He would want and a perfect fit, as long as you're following His perfect will for your life. And you don't have to worry that they'll be returned -- you can be sure they will, as He gives back to you many times over all that you entrust to Him (1 Kings 17:10-16; John 6:5-13).

God judges our gifts to Him not on their greatness, because there is nothing that He needs from us. Anything we have is pitiful compared with His infinite wealth (Psalm 50: 7-12), and all that we have came from Him in the first place (James 1:17). Instead, He judges our motives, our willingness to trust all to Him, and the sacrificial nature of our gift (Luke 12:48; Luke 21:1-4). 

If He has blessed us with talents, material wealth, or other resources, He requires us to be a channel through whom blessings flow, because to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). But even if others do not consider us blessed in worldly terms, we can please God with our giving. When Jesus saw the poor widow throwing two mites into the treasury (Luke 21:1-4), He praised her more than all the others because she gave all that she had.

The absolute amount or greatness of the gift we give Him is not important, but what matters is how much of what we have we give back to Him. He is pleased with sacrificial giving because it shows our trust in Him, our faith that He will give back to us in abundance.

A sinful woman broke open a costly alabaster box containing precious ointment – possibly her inheritance or dowry -- that she used to anoint His Head. Jesus promised that this lavish gift would always be remembered in Scripture (Mark 14:3-9)

Elijah, prophet of God, followed God’s direction and asked a widow to give him her last morsel of food. When she did so in faith, God provided for her daily (1 Kings 17). God always honors His promises to those who trust Him in faith.

A similar story of God taking a seemingly small gift, multiplying and magnifying it to do great good, then giving back in abundance, is the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes (John 6:5), in which Jesus feeds a crowd of thousands with only a little boy’s lunch that he willingly gave. The disciples use the reasoning of men, not trusting in God’s supernatural ability to provide. 

But God wants us to demonstrate our faith – it is never a question of whether He is able, but of whether we have faith.  No one goes away hungry, and there are 12 baskets full of bread left over, which must have gone to the little boy to feed his family and no doubt the apostles and even his whole village.

In this season of gifts, may we always remember and thank the greatest Giver and Gift of all time. The best gift you could possibly give to anyone on your gift list is to share the Gospel with them! You can give it freely to everyone without taxing your budget; one size fits all; and they’ll never need to return or exchange it. Christ – the perfect Gift -- is truly All that anyone needs!

 

The apostle Paul thanked the Philippian church for their generous gift to his ministry, even providing for him when he was visiting another church that should have been more hospitable! He assured them that their sacrificial gift would be like a sweet aroma to God and please Him greatly, and that God would supply all their needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:14-19).  

Note that Paul said God would supply all their needs, not all their wants. Sometimes we get angry or disappointed with God when He gives us what we need, rather than what we think we want. But His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9) and He acts from the vantage point of perfect, infinite wisdom (Psalm 139:1-6), power, and love (1 John 4:8). He knows what we need even before we ask Him! (Matthew 6:8)

 

Note also that God will supply all our needs "according to," not "out of," His riches in Christ Jesus. It's as if you needed money to pay for the medical treatment of your sick child, and you happened to run into Bill Gates, who turned a sympathetic ear to your plight. You are hopeful that he might give you the money to pay the hospital bill "out of" his great wealth.

 

But what if instead he said, "Don't worry about the bill, because I am going to adopt both you and your child into my family. Then you'll have access to all my bank accounts and credit cards, you'll live in my mansion, you'll inherit my estate, and you'll dine at my family table." That would be supplying our need "according to" his riches, for we would be able to enjoy all of it.

 

Yet once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven, our position in God's family is like, only on an infinitely greater scale. We become God's children and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, inheriting eternal, abundant life here on earth, and one day in glorified bodies in a mansion He has prepared us (John 14:2), living forever (John 3:16) in glorified bodies that will never age, feel pain or sorrow, get sick, sin, or die. We will enjoy His presence and that of our loved ones in Him throughout eternity! 

 
May we give God what He has given us – our body, mind and spirit -- as a living sacrifice to His glory! 

© 2012 Laurie Collett (expanded and reposted from the archives)

Water and Oil: Cleansing and Holy Fire

 

I was about to enjoy a crispy salad for lunch when I was reminded that oil always floats on water. As long as I kept shaking the bottle of salad dressing, oil droplets swirled through the vinaigrette, but as soon as I stopped, the oil rose to the top in a smooth layer. That got me thinking about Bible references to water and oil, and their complementary qualities as symbols of God’s mercy and grace.

In Scripture, cleansing water (1 John 5:6,8) and burning oil may each symbolize the Holy Spirit, Who has qualities of Living Water (Jeremiah 17:13; John 4; 7:38) as well as of holy fire (Isaiah 10:17). John the Baptist practiced baptism by water as the forerunner to Christ’s baptism by the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:36). John’s baptism by water was an act of repentance for sin, but Christ’s baptism with the Holy Ghost was compared to fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16).

Christ’s shed blood washed believers clean of all sins (Revelation 1:5). After Christ’s completed work on the cross and His resurrection, the Holy Spirit, like cloven tongues of fire, landed on the disciples at the feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). The parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25) suggests that only those virgins with oil burning in their lamps – those who are indwelled by the Holy Spirit – will be admitted to the marriage supper, representing the Rapture to meet the Bridegroom in the air.

To be indwelled by the Holy Spirit, we must be born again, first by water (the physical birth) and then by the Spirit (John 3:5-8). This requires cleansing from our sins through our repentance and God’s forgiveness due to the substitutionary death of His Son (Romans 3:25; 1 John 2:2; 4:10). We must place our faith in Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection (1 Cornthians 15:1-4) as our only Way to Heaven (John 14:6). As we realize, and continue to learn more and more about, Who He is, our hearts will burn within us (Luke 24:32), and we will be on fire for the Lord.

Water is sometimes called the universal solvent, because its cleansing action dissolves impurities and flushes them away. In contrast, oil tends to adhere to small particles, keeping them in contact with the skin or other surface. First we shower and then we apply perfumed body oil or beauty cream – it wouldn’t make much sense to reverse the order!

Similarly, we need the cleansing action of the Living Waters before the oil in our Spirit-filled lamps can burn brightly with a sweet fragrance. God dealt with Jerusalem and His chosen people in a similar sequence – first He cleansed them with water, and then He anointed them with oil (Ezekiel 16:9).

We see a moving example of cleansing and anointing in Luke 7 (38-48), in the sinful woman who wept at Jesus’s feet, washing them with her tears. No doubt her tears were shed in Godly sorrow, in repentance for her sins, as were the tears of David (Psalm 6:60;119:136) and Jeremiah (9:1,18; Lamentations 3:48). First her tears cleansed His feet from the dust and grime of the dirty roads, symbolizing the sins of the world, for Jesus Himself had no sin (Hebrews 4:15).

Then she wiped His feet with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with precious ointment. The oil in ointment allows it to preserve and convey perfume, spices and other costly substances. This woman stored her ointment in a costly alabaster box, which may have represented her dowry or all her worldly treasure. Yet she broke open the box and bestowed all the ointment lavishly on Jesus without considering the cost, because her heart was ignited by the Holy Spirit with passion to serve Him.

In a rainy parking lot, we may see oil drops floating on the wet pavement, causing a striking, rainbow-hued, swirling pattern known as a fractal. The light would not reflect in this jewel-toned design were the oil not aligned in a thin film, buoyed up by the water beneath. Similarly, the light and beauty of the Holy Spirit are not visible unless carried afloat by the Living Water indwelling each believer.

Cleansing, purification and anointing, as symbolized by water and oil, are essential to true worship. Oil and water in Scripture also reflect God’s provision, blessing, power, and judgment, as we shall see in subsequent posts.

May currents of living water flow forth from each of us, supporting the oil of the Spirit to reflect His brilliant light!

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

 

What Gifts Will You Give Him?

Photo by Sigismund von Dobschütz 2007

During the Christmas season and always, have you considered what gifts you will give your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? What can we possibly give Him that could even come close to showing our appreciation for the greatest Gift ever given – God’s Son given that all who trust Him may have eternal life? (John 3:16). 

His story proves that you can’t judge a gift from its wrappings. God the Father’s greatest gift to the world, His only begotten Son, destined to become the perfect sacrifice for all sins, and to return again to rule the universe in glory, was presented in a very humble way. He came as a helpless baby, born into a humble family, delivered in a lowly stable (Luke 2:7).

Just as the Wise Men of Christ’s day sought Him out and aimed to give Him their very best gifts (Matthew 2: 1-12), so do wise men and women of today seek Him and consecrate to Him their lives and the very best gifts they can offer.

You don't have to shop for these gifts, because He is the source of all good things (James 1:17). You won't have to go into debt over them, because you can't outgive God, and the more you give Him, the more blessings will flow back to you (Luke 6:38). They're always exactly what He would want and a perfect fit, as long as you're following His perfect will for your life. And you don't have to worry that they'll be returned -- you can be sure they will, as He gives back to you many times over all that you entrust to Him (1 Kings 17:10-16; John 6:5-13).

God judges our gifts to Him not on their greatness, because there is nothing that He needs from us. Anything we have is pitiful compared with His infinite wealth (Psalm 50: 7-12), and all that we have came from Him in the first place (James 1:17). Instead, He judges our motives, our willingness to trust all to Him, and the sacrificial nature of our gift (Luke 12:48; Luke 21:1-4). 

If He has blessed us with talents, material wealth, or other resources, He requires us to be a channel through whom blessings flow, because to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). But even if others do not consider us blessed in worldly terms, we can please God with our giving. When Jesus saw the poor widow throwing two mites into the treasury (Luke 21:1-4), He praised her more than all the others because she gave all that she had.

The absolute amount or greatness of the gift we give Him is not important, but what matters is how much of what we have we give back to Him. He is pleased with sacrificial giving because it shows our trust in Him, our faith that He will give back to us in abundance.

A sinful woman broke open a costly alabaster box containing precious ointment – possibly her inheritance or dowry -- that she used to anoint His Head. Jesus promised that this lavish gift would always be remembered in Scripture (Mark 14:3-9)

Elijah, prophet of God, followed God’s direction and asked a widow to give him her last morsel of food. When she did so in faith, God provided for her daily (1 Kings 17). God always honors His promises to those who trust Him in faith.

A similar story of God taking a seemingly small gift, multiplying and magnifying it to do great good, then giving back in abundance, is the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes (John 6:5), in which Jesus feeds a crowd of thousands with only a little boy’s lunch that he willingly gave. The disciples use the reasoning of men, not trusting in God’s supernatural ability to provide. 

But God wants us to demonstrate our faith – it is never a question of whether He is able, but of whether we have faith.  No one goes away hungry, and there are 12 baskets full of bread left over, which must have gone to the little boy to feed his family and no doubt his whole village.

In this season of gifts, may we always remember and thank the greatest Giver and Gift of all time. The best gift you could possibly give to anyone on your gift list is to share the Gospel with them! You can give it freely to everyone without taxing your budget; one size fits all; and they’ll never need to return or exchange it. Christ – the perfect Gift -- is truly All that anyone needs!

May we give Him what He has given us – our body, mind and spirit -- as a living sacrifice to His glory! 

© 2012 Laurie Collett (reposted from the archives)

Triplets of Giving

Continuing on our missions theme, as is appropriate given the start of the church year and emphasis on missions in many churches, it may be appropriate to revisit the Bible's views on giving. 

God’s Word reflects His triune nature as God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it describes His creation, doctrinal truths, and practical wisdom to apply to our lives. He asks us to worship Him with prayer, service, and giving of our time, talent and treasure and has specified how we should give back to Him a portion of the material blessings He has entrusted to us. 

Worshipping God with our financial store (James 1:27) includes tithes, offerings, and designated support to further His kingdom. God shows no partiality and is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and He treats everyone fairly by commanding that we give the first tenth of our income, or tithe, back to Him. The dollar amount does not matter to Him as long as we faithfully give ten percent. 

By giving Him the first tenth, and not waiting to see if we can scrape out that amount once we pay our bills and other obligations, we are showing our faith in His bountiful provision, blessing and faithfulness. The tithe was not only part of the law given to Moses (Leviticus 27:30-32), but it preceded the law (Genesis 14:20) and is repeated after Christian liberty replaced the law (Hebrews 7:5-11), including the need to “pay” God first (1 Corinthians 16:2). 

God takes the tithe so seriously that when Israel failed to give Him their obedience, tithes and offerings, He accused them of robbing Him, resulting in their being cursed and in God’s judgment on them. Yet He offered a three-step solution: bring Him the tithes; put Him to the test to see if He would keep His promise of blessing; and trust Him to do so beyond expectation (Malachi 3: 2-10). 

His promised blessing for obedience with tithing is also threefold: He will pour out a blessing so great that we will not have room to receive it (v. 10); He will prevent future financial loss (v. 11); and He will grant us honor among others (v. 12). If we withhold the tithe, we will not lose our salvation (Romans 8:35-39), but how foolish to disobey God in tithing and to miss out on these great blessings! 

We give our love offerings over and above the tithe, again as a form of worship, to express our gratitude for His many blessings. These might commemorate a joyous occasion such as a marriage, birth or baptism. Our church has a special love offering at Christmas, known as our birthday present to Jesus, to thank Him for coming to earth in human form (John 1:14), dying on the cross to pay our sin debt, and rising again so that all who trust Him have eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 3:16). 

From the early days of the church, Christians have also provided designated support to contribute to God’s work, to empower that work to continue, and to share in the blessing of being responsible for that work (Philippians 4:14-17). Designated support may be a one-time gift, such as to a specific church project; a regular, ongoing gift to the church, as in Faith Promise giving that many churches have to support missionaries, or a regular, ongoing gift to a specific missionary or parachurch organization. 

For giving to be a form of worship, it should be done cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7), sacrificially, and faithfully (Job 1:5). Jesus praised the poor widow who put her meager two mites into the offering and valued her gift far more than the contributions of the wealthy, for it was all she had (Mark 12:41-44). 

God does not want us to grudgingly dole out our pennies out of a sense of duty, but to give abundantly, knowing that He will be pleased by our faith (Hebrews 11:6), honor our giving and empower us to continue giving. Jesus honored and commemorated the woman who broke open the costly alabaster box and poured its precious perfumed ointment lavishly on Him (Mark 14:3-9). 

The law of the harvest applies to giving just as it does to planting crops (Ecclesiastes 11:6) or sowing the seed of God’s Word (Matthew 13:1-10) – if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly, and if we sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6). When we give generously, we receive abundant blessings, including peace that comes from obeying God (Philippians 4:6-7), joy in helping others (Esther 9:22), and honor that He uses us as a part of His plan (2 Corinthians 5:20). 

Jesus used the analogy of receiving a measure of grain – not only the amount we expected, but much more, because it is pressed down in the measuring cup to make room for more, shaken together to accommodate still more, and even running over beyond the bounds of the cup (Luke 6:38). 

We tend to hold out on giving when we forget that everything belongs to God (Psalm 50:10). He has entrusted us with certain resources, but if we use them selfishly instead of to honor Him, He will reapportion these resources to others who are better stewards (1 Corinthians 4:2). 

In the parable of the talents, the Master gave different sums to each of His three servants, and rewarded or punished them based on how well they did for Him with what they had  Matthew 25:14-30). As our first pastor used to say, “God will give much more through you than He will to you.” 

You can’t outgive God, as He has shown so many times in my life, and I am sure in the lives of many of this blog’s readers. During a missions conference several years ago, the Holy Spirit impressed upon me that I should donate a certain sum to the work of a particular missionary. I struggled with obedience to His will, as it was tax time and we also faced many other pressing financial obligations. 

Yet when I obeyed and wrote a check to that missionary, three days later I received a totally unexpected check in the mail, for ten times the amount of the gift I had given, representing payment of a bad debt I had written off many years before! Even better, the following months brought news of how my gift had enabled the missionary to produce much fruit, reaching souls and starting churches. 

When we commit to honor God with our tithes, offerings, and designated support, He will empower us to do so. The associate pastor at our former church gave a testimony of how shortly after he was saved, he had committed to give $20 weekly for Faith Promise missions, which was a sacrificial gift for him at the time due to his financial situation. 

One Wednesday evening, which was when he always put his $20 Faith Promise offering in the plate, he simply did not have it in his wallet, bank account, or spare change, and was almost ashamed to go to church that night. Yet he decided to go empty-handed, and as he was about to get into his car he was shocked to spot a $20 bill lying on the pavement! Needless to say, God enabled him to keep his promise. 

God may not always reward us financially for our giving, but He has promised to provide for His children (Psalm 37:25; Matthew 6:25-33), and He blesses us spiritually exceedingly abundantly beyond what we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20), giving us showers of blessings (Ezekiel 34:26). 

Whether or not we see the fruit of our giving in this lifetime, we know He will reward us in glory for gifts given with the right motive (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). May we give cheerfully, abundantly, and faithfully and experience showers of blessings! 

© 2015 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives