God's Gifts to Us

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Jesus Christ, Matthew 7:7-12

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines. Paul, the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Bruce Roseman is a Medical Doctor. His son Joshua has severe A. D. D. – Attention Deficit Disorder. As a youth Joshua had a tough time learning things that required concentration, he stammered when he spoke, slept poorly, and had trouble mastering everyday things like tying his shoelaces.

Dr. Roseman had the same problem when he was a child, so he wanted to protect his son from the embarrassment he had experienced.

When Joshua was 7 he wanted to join the swim team. He had the build for athletics, but he had failed at soccer and basketball… he couldn’t remember which goal to shoot at! With fear and trepidation the doctor let his son try out for the swim team. To his amazement, Joshua made the team!

Two assistant coaches tried to help him, but they failed. The head coach understood the child’s problem and helped him become a champion swimmer.

The outcome was fantastic, but the process was tough for dad.

Why was it so tough? Dad was so focused on what the son could not do that he failed to appreciate what he could do. The coach patiently explained, “You son is one of those people that can learn from his mistakes!”

From Chicken Soup for the Soul

All of us make mistakes… the question is, can we and will we learn from them?!!

Dr. Roseman loved his son enough to let him try out for the swim team even though he was full of doubt. In the same manner, God loves each one of us so much that He gave His best gift to bring us into the family of God.

The Christmas story is a story of love. Love to the maximum! The very God that created us was willing to become a man and live as we live, so He could understand what we experience in our every day lives. God has made every provision through the gifts He gives us so that we can be successful in our Christian journey.

Earthly Gifts:

We were born healthy, and many of us were born to godly parents. We are allowed to live in Oklahoma, not some war-torn or poverty-infested land. By the world’s standards we are all financially well to do. We have food, clothing and shelter, health care programs and good doctors.

Our food is safe and our water is clean. Obviously the list is much longer.

Spiritual Gifts:

The most important gift is Salvation, then the Holy Spirit, the gifts and fruits of the Spirit.

First Corinthians 12 lists wisdom, knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.

Galatians 5:22-23 lists love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Ephesians 4 lists the ministry gifts.

If we are not careful, we will be like the good doctor. We will focus on what we do not have… instead of the wonderful gifts God has given to us!

Recently I interviewed different people in preparation for a class I taught on death and dying at the University of Central Oklahoma. One couple has truly lived out a life of love! He has battled muscular dystrophy for over 20 years.

Not long ago he had a medical procedure done improperly and was bleeding – so bad that they could not find a pulse or hear his heart beat. His wife asked the nurse what she should do. The nurse said, “Hold him close and talk to him while we work on him.”

She put his arm across his chest and began speaking into his ear telling him how much she loved him, she needed him and that his work was not done.

Before they brought the blood to give him a transfusion he began coming around… they had to give the blood, but in all probability she saved his life!

Love speaks life! God so loved us that He gave His only Son – we celebrate that gift at Christmas – and again at Easter when we relive the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t just kill all the bad people in the world! It would be much easier if God would give the people killing our troops in Iraq a big heart attack! It would stop the war!

Instead, God sent a helpless Baby to a manger 2,000 years ago! He sent a little Baby to a helpless teenager who was not even married! O, she was pure! She was not sleeping around. God worked a miracle and put His seed in her womb.

There are some things science cannot explain. Please do not take me wrong – I’m alive today because of modern science. 40 years ago the disease I have was 70% fatal!

But I love the joke about the scientist who told God that God wasn’t needed any more. God responded, “Really! What do you mean?”

The scientist said, “Why we can reproduce life now.”

“Amazing,” God said, “Show me how.”

The scientist said, “First you take some dirt…”

“Not so fast,” God responded. “You have to make your own dirt!”

Let’s go back to our childhood! Remember the Lincoln Log sets? They have been around since 1916 or 1917. I still think they are cool.

This morning the logs will represent all of the gifts that God has provided for us. We have food, clothing and shelter; loving homes, fantastic families, and a beautiful church building which houses a wonderful church family.

Our spiritual gifts of Salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the gifts listed in the verses we read.

This completed house represents a Christian life that has been built over the years by a child of God that attended church regularly, prayed regularly and spent time in God’s word on a consistent basis.

The box of logs unassembled represents God’s gifts to us – each gift is helpful, but until assembled through consistent devotion to God as listed above they are only “stop-gap” measures and do not give us a house of comfort in stormy times. The self-centered Christian digs through the stack of blessings whenever there is a crisis.

The roof represents our spiritual protection. But one cannot assemble the roof until the foundation is laid and the walls are in place.

The God-centered Christian builds his house of faith and faithfulness – held together by

OBEDIENCE

COMMITMENT

COMMUNICATION with God and fellow believers

COOPERATION with others in the body of Christ

The God-centered life is a life of spiritual power.

Do you remember the story of the 3 little pigs? When the big bad wolf came, he could not blow their house down because it was well built!

Will your spiritual house protect you today? Our spiritual houses are always under construction, but hopefully they are far enough along to provide the protection we need from the problems we face on a daily basis!