"Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." James 1:17
We all know how to approach the Father with the things that we want, or the gifts that we desire. God is not a divine vending machine, like my pastor used to say. We bring all our requests before God, acknowledging that He is Lord, and He will bless us according to His will. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7
How comforting it is to know that our Father is a loving God who gives good gifts to His children! "Ask, and it will be given unto you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Matt 7:7-11
However, God will not bless us whenever and however we want. I have discovered that God does withhold His gifts and blessings, not because He does not want us to have them, but because we are not ready to receive them. It could be due to a few reasons- we may be wanting them for the wrong reasons, we may be seeking the gift instead of the Giver, we may misuse them for evil instead of good, we may not fully appreciate the significance of the gift and why God wants us to have it, we may spoil the gift and its value with sin and greed and lust, or the gift may distract us from God Himself. In summary, us having the gift would eventually take us away from God and the knowledge of His will, when His gifts are meant to bring us closer to Him. Also, His gifts are meant to give us joy; if we receive the gift in any of the states above, we can rest assured that eventually it will lead not to joy but to misery. It will become a curse.
A gift from God is a wonderful thing, but Satan can take that blessing and twist it to bring us away from Him. Sadly we have a tendency to be like children with a new toy- instead of cherishing it and being grateful to the parents, the child plays with it a while, then grows discontented and tired of it, uses it to hurt others, totally forgets about the parents, and eventually throws the toy away. What is the remedy? Forget the gifts, and fix our eyes and hearts on God and His ways first, and then we shall be ready to receive. Seek Him first and live the way He wants, and we will find that our lives will not be short of blessings that we truly can appreciate, cherish and enjoy. When we have learnt to seek the Giver first above all things, then His gifts will finally be what they were meant to be- gifts. And they will bring us joy, but eventually we will see that the greatest gift of all is God Himself.
We all know how to approach the Father with the things that we want, or the gifts that we desire. God is not a divine vending machine, like my pastor used to say. We bring all our requests before God, acknowledging that He is Lord, and He will bless us according to His will. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7
How comforting it is to know that our Father is a loving God who gives good gifts to His children! "Ask, and it will be given unto you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Matt 7:7-11
However, God will not bless us whenever and however we want. I have discovered that God does withhold His gifts and blessings, not because He does not want us to have them, but because we are not ready to receive them. It could be due to a few reasons- we may be wanting them for the wrong reasons, we may be seeking the gift instead of the Giver, we may misuse them for evil instead of good, we may not fully appreciate the significance of the gift and why God wants us to have it, we may spoil the gift and its value with sin and greed and lust, or the gift may distract us from God Himself. In summary, us having the gift would eventually take us away from God and the knowledge of His will, when His gifts are meant to bring us closer to Him. Also, His gifts are meant to give us joy; if we receive the gift in any of the states above, we can rest assured that eventually it will lead not to joy but to misery. It will become a curse.
A gift from God is a wonderful thing, but Satan can take that blessing and twist it to bring us away from Him. Sadly we have a tendency to be like children with a new toy- instead of cherishing it and being grateful to the parents, the child plays with it a while, then grows discontented and tired of it, uses it to hurt others, totally forgets about the parents, and eventually throws the toy away. What is the remedy? Forget the gifts, and fix our eyes and hearts on God and His ways first, and then we shall be ready to receive. Seek Him first and live the way He wants, and we will find that our lives will not be short of blessings that we truly can appreciate, cherish and enjoy. When we have learnt to seek the Giver first above all things, then His gifts will finally be what they were meant to be- gifts. And they will bring us joy, but eventually we will see that the greatest gift of all is God Himself.
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