Tag Archives: gods gifts

December 23, 2022 · 5:26 AM

God’s Gifts

One of the things we most associate with Christmas is gifts. There is something exciting about getting a gift with your name on it, especially when the gift is perfect for you. It’s a good reminder that God gives us gifts we need. James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father. The gifts He gives are intended to help us navigate this world, help others to know Him and to grow. He gives each one of us gifts, including you. 1 Corinthians 12 lists several of these spiritual gifts if you’d like to research. However, the greatest gift He has given us is His son. Because He sent His son, we can have everlasting life when we believe in Him. Take time today to thank God for all the gifts He’s given you.

Here are some Bible verses on God’s gifts.

1. Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!

Ephesians 1:6 GNT

2. .Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them accordingly: if [someone has the gift of] prophecy, [let him speak a new message from God to His people] in proportion to the faith possessed.

Romans 12:6 AMP

3. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV

4. For sin’s meager wages is death, but God’s lavish gift is life eternal, found in your union with our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.

Romans 6:23 TPT

5. I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

John 14:27 NLT

Photo by Nina Mercado on Unsplash

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December 24, 2020 · 5:30 AM

The Greatest Gift

Since it’s Christmas time, I have a question for you. What’s the best gift you ever received? Some of you might say a ring, or a car, or a bike, or a child. Each of us will have different answers depending on where we are in life, but I’m pretty sure that none of you said that going through difficult times was the greatest gift you ever got. However, looking back on your life, and seeing how that dark time made you into who you are today, you might want to reconsider. Yes, I’m suggesting your darkest days could be the greatest gift you’ve ever received,

Most of us think of those times, and try to put them behind us, or pretend that they never existed. But I believe God uses those times to move us into position for our future, to develop in us the qualities of character necessary for the future He has for us, and to grow our faith in Him. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way” (MSG).

Those final sentences are tough for us to hear. When we are in a trial or test, we want them to end quickly. We pray and beg God to get us out of them. When we do get out of them early, the work is unfinished that He was trying to do. In Max Lucado’s book “The Anvil”, he writes that of God has you in these times, rejoice. It means He still thinks you’re worth reshaping. He hasn’t discarded you as useless and put you with the other tools the He no longer uses.

If you happen to be going through one of these times right now, I’d like you to look at the next verse in James. It says, “If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it.” God will be there to help you through instead of out of it. Pray for His help, but also pray to ask Him to develop in you what He needs to during this time. Right now it may not seem like a gift, but what God does in us during the hardest times is often one of He greatest gifts He gives.

Photo by freestocks on Unsplash

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September 20, 2019 · 5:37 AM

God’s Gift Of Peace

As believers, God gives us some pretty incredible gifts. We have the gift of salvation, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the individual gifts of the Spirit and peace. God knows that our outer world is a reflection of our inner world so He gave us the gift of peace. When there is chaos all around us and things are going wrong, we can have peace instead of falling apart. Our inner world doesn’t have to be a reflection of things going on around us. Instead, our trust in God gives us peace no matter what we are facing. It is a driving force in our lives that allows us to be strong when the weight of the world is on our shoulders.

The peace that God gives allows us to have a sense of completeness, a sound mind and contentment. No matter how broken we are, God’s peace makes us whole. When everything around us wants to create fear, God’s peace reminds us that He is in control. When everyone else seems to be prospering and we are not, God’s peace helps us to be content. This gift of peace is strong in the face of adversity and keeps our eyes on God. We need to rely on it more than we do so that we can allow it to replace the worry and fear inside of us. Remember that God has not forgotten you – He’s equipped you for whatever you will face in life with the gifts He’s given you. Hold onto them and use them so your faith can be strong.

Here are some Bible verses on God’s gift of peace.

1. I leave the gift of peace with you—my peace. Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but my perfect peace. Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be courageous!

John 14:27 TPT

2. I am listening to what the Lord God is saying; he promises peace to us, his own people, if we do not go back to our foolish ways.

Psalm 85:8 GNT

3. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].

PHILIPPIANS 4:7 AMP

4. Now may the Lord of peace himself give you his peace at all times and in every situation. The Lord be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 NLT

5. GOD makes his people strong. GOD gives his people peace.

Psalm 29:11 MSG

Photo by Radu Florin on Unsplash

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December 8, 2016 · 5:35 AM

Quit Comparing Yourself


My son thinks somehow age and height are related. When he sees someone tall, he thinks they must be really old. No matter how many times we’ve tried to explain it to him and show him, he still doesn’t want to change his thinking. What he’s doing is comparing his age with kids younger than him and also against adults. It might work some if the time, but what I’ve tried to explain to him is that just because it works some of the time, you can’t apply it to everything. Comparing ourselves to others usually ends up creating these inequalities in our minds. 

Since we were kids, we have been comparing ourselves to other people. Parents sometimes ask their kids, “Why can’t you be more like so and so?” It creates a dangerous line of thinking that makes us constantly co pare ourselves against people we have no business comparing ourselves with. What if we compared our singing ability to Frank Sinatra? Or our Christlikeness against Billy Graham? Or our intellectual abilities against Einstein? How would that leave you feeling?

Einstein is often given credit for saying, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” God gave you unique abilities and talents. You aren’t supposed to compare what He’s given you you do versus what He’s given someone else to do. Nothing good comes from that. Yet, as Christians, we do it all the time. We can’t pray as well as that person, or live as holy as the other, or do work for God’s kingdom like them. We’ll never be able to fulfill what God made us for if we do that. 

James 6:4-5 says, “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life” (MSG). It’s time each of us reflects on the skills, talent, and work God has called us to, then put our efforts there. Comparisons keep us from our calling, and cause us to fall short of our potential creating insecurity. Live the life God called YOU to, not the one He called someone else to. 

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November 18, 2015 · 5:30 AM

The Necessity Of Generosity 

  
One of the things I look forward to each November 1st is Jimmy Kimmel showing videos of parents who told their children they ate all their Halloween candy. When the kids find out that all the candy that they got for free is gone, they freak out. Some cry, some scream in anger, and some destroy the house in anger. There are some though, who smile and say, “It’s ok.” They are generous with what was given to them.

While I laugh at the angry kids response, it’s scary to think that their reactions are mirrors of so many adults. We are rarely generous with things that have been placed in our hands. When others ask for those things, we get angry and tell them to go get their own. The truth is that everything we have has been given to us by God and He asks us to be generous with what He gives us.

If you have been given something, why wouldn’t you want to share it? Usually we don’t because of the law of scarcity. We hold tight and value something we are afraid to lose and never get back. But God works differently. If we are willing to be generous with the little He gives us, He will multiply it. That’s a hard concept for us to understand when we’ve learned to treasure things that are scarce. God’s ways are not like ours though.

In his first book, Peter reiterates the necessity of generosity. In I Peter 4:10 he wrote, “Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it” (MSG). God has been so generous with us and He expects us to be like Him. As Corrie Ten Boom warned, we shouldn’t hold tightly to the things God places in our hands because it will hurt if He has to pry our fingers open. Keep an open hand that gives and God will keep putting things in it.

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