God Gave The Gift

According to the book of Genesis, God made the earth and saw that it was good. He made man, said that it was good, but saw that it was not good for man to be alone. So he made women, who together with man, would make humanity good; “man and woman, he created them.” This means that a woman is a gift to a man, not in the possessive sense, but in a complementary sense. The only problem is that men have forgotten that God gave them women. They do not grasp the fact that a woman is an equal and a gift from God that they cannot own. This means that no man can give a woman to a man and no man can “take” a woman. Men and women are to be one flesh brought together by God for His glory and the betterment of the human race. We’ve forgotten that God has gifted us with each other.  


Things go wrong when we forget the giver of the gift. Saul forgot that before Samuel came to tell him that God had chosen him to be king, he was just a handsome man from the tribe of Benjamin. God made Saul king, but when he had been king for a while, he acted as though the people had made him king. He had gotten so powerful that he forgot about his humble beginnings. He had either grown fearful of the people or full of himself to the point where obedience to God was not a priority. He became numb to the gift God gave him, like many of us do, forgetting that obedience brings success. Saul ended up losing the kingdom, because he did not want to admit to God that he, Saul, had transgressed. 


David did not lose the kingdom or his right-standing with God because he never forgot that the kingdom was a gift from God, and also admitted his mistake, when he slept with Bathsheba and played a hand in Uriah’s death. David had walked a very long road with the Lord, and had seen the benefits of obedience. He displeased God when he, like many kings, thought he could have whatever he wanted. He could not have Bathsheba, because she was somebody else’s wife and not given to him by God. Like David, if we are truly remorseful, ask for forgiveness through Christ, and “turn from our wicked ways,” we will be forgiven. We will not lose the kingdom, whatever that may be for us, and we will experience true God-given success.


Due to the fact that we were never going to please God on our own, God gave us His son, Jesus Christ. Through Him, our sins are forgiven and we have eternal life. We cannot forget that good works did not cut it. We have to remember, everyday, that the blood of Jesus removed the need for any blood sacrifice. We are children of God, not of our own making, but of His. We can experience a new life and relationship with God, through Christ, and Him alone. God saw our failings, how we were not fulfilling His image, and gave us a gift that could not be taken away. The question that we should be asking ourselves after receiving the gift of Christ is, “what do you want me to do now, Lord?” The actions that we take once He has redeemed us are expressions of our faith and not proof of our faith. Our works are now the outward expression of the inner working of God in us. 

  

The Holy Spirit is a gift to us, as believers, from God for the transformation of our souls and the work of our hands. In order to be the hands and feet of Jesus, we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one through whom we hear God, speak His word, and do His work. We can not boast or live as those with no hope or gratitude for what God has done for us. God gave us the fuel for our faith, the real reason why miracles happen. We just have to be obedient to God’s Holy Spirit in order to see the miraculous take place. We do not need to dabble in sorcery, bargain with spirits, or chant incantations in order to see God move. We just need to be obedient to Him, live the way He instructs us to live, and believe for Him to do amazing things. The kingdom of darkness loves sacrifices, trading one thing for another, and having us act mindlessly. The kingdom of God is one where obedience is the prerequisite and love is the currency. Christ died, rose from the dead, and will return again. We have to be ready for His return by loving God with all that we are and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We do not need to be afraid, we should just be grateful! 


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