My child, I want you to practice living in My Presence. Enjoy and appreciate each and every moment as a gift. This is the day that I have made. Rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
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Gift
My child, everyday is a gift and you get to decide how to use it. I give you what you need for the day. I am your Provider. Your job is to take and use this gift for My glory. Never think that there isn’t enough, or that you’ve been give the wrong gift. I provide, you are to step out in faith and use what I have giving you. You can do all things through Me. I will give you strength. I will make a way where you see no other way.
Philippians 4:13
Take Care with Gifts
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Freedom from the power of sin is a phenomenal gift of God. But we need to be careful as we revel in it. Our death to sin, brought about by our freedom from law, has one purpose and one purpose only: that we might be endowed with the ability to pursue unfettered relationship with God—in spite of the weakness of our sinful nature.
Never is this freedom to be thought of as a license to sin. Rather, we have been joined to Christ “in order that we might bear fruit for God.”(Romans 7:4) The byproduct of being given this amazing privilege is that we now have the capacity to make good choices, whereas formerly we did not. We have freely and gloriously been given everything we need for our pursuit of Him.(2 Peter 1:3)
Not into Guilt Trips
Believers often fail to appreciate a principle critical to our pursuit of God. It’s this: God isn’t into guilt trips; He’s on a gift trip. Which means what? It means that everything we need has already been provided in Christ. Picture God’s outstretched hand, all His abundance there for the taking by anyone who will simply come to Him asking for it.(2 Corinthians 1:20)
We can have all we want of God, but on the other hand He will never force anything on us. God won’t brow-beat or coerce His children in any way into receiving what He wants for them. Given the fact that the gift itself (not to mention the Giver) should provide more than sufficient motivation to seek greater intimacy with God, resorting to the use of guilt to compel someone to take advantage of such abundance seems a bit ridiculous, doesn’t it?
It’s true that we are obligated to build relationship with God.(Hebrews 6:12) But a sincere pursuit of God should stem from the fact that we are assured of all He has promised, not by a twisted hope of obtaining God’s blessings from the incentive of guilt, pressure or greed.(2 Corinthians 7:1)
Still, intimacy with God needs to begin somewhere. So it’s not surprising to see our motivation to spend time with Him springing from a somewhat distorted sense of obligation. And that’s an okay beginning. Yet there’s something wrong—something missing—if seeking to be in His presence doesn’t eventually become a pursuit of the heart rather than merely that of duty.
Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself
Time
My child, time is passing by and each day is a gift. Present your day to Me and I will let it unfold into My perfect plan for you. I cannot bless what you hold onto. If want My best, give Me your everything. Only then can I release what I have ordained for you.
The Gift of Self-Will
What is self-will all about? Surprisingly, self-will, which is embedded in self-interest, is actually a gift of God. But how could something potentially so ugly be a gift of God? It’s because life here on earth demands that we either take care of ourselves or die. And God has placed in each of us the compelling drive to live. We hang on to life with all we’ve got! This can clearly be seen in the way man tries his utmost to enhance and extend his life in any way possible. Only the hopeless cause life to abruptly end, or allow it to simply waste away.
And added to this powerful need to cling to life is man’s yearning for significance. Significance is another of God’s gifts essential to our being because our need for meaning and purpose provides the underlying motivation for reaching toward God’s purpose for us. We possess an inherent need to feel important—to have a healthy sense of self-worth. This need is rooted in the fact that we truly are valuable, yet often unaware that it is so.
Exploring “Self”
Have you ever wondered why cars are called automobiles? I’m sure you’ve spent many hours pondering this very thing! Well, the car was given the name automobile not because it automatically drives itself, like an autopilot flies a plane, but because it is self-propelled. The automobile doesn’t need a horse to pull it or legs to pedal it since its built-in engine provides the power to move it along. So what, you might ask? Well, this name is very relevant to our discussion because the auto in automobile originally comes from the Greek word autos, meaning self.
Being self means that we are autonomous as to our decisions—in a figurative sense, self-propelled. It means that though we are absolutely dependent on God, even to the point of taking our next breath, He has designed us such that we are endowed with the capacity of independence in regard to the choices we make for our lives.
Self is simply me, a personal being given the glorious gift of existence and awareness. “It is the man’s “I AM,” a gift from the I AM who created him…,” as A. W. Tozer puts it. But this gift of being has the effect of placing me at the center of my own personal universe. Asked if we think the world revolves around us, most of us would deny it. Yet given the nature of me, it would be hard to truly believe otherwise!
Born Again!
The new birth is God’s vehicle for entrance into our spirit. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”(1 Corintians 15:42-44) Christ’s death on the cross—His sacrifice for our sins—paved the way for each and every person on earth to experience His indwelling presence. But though He offers it as a free gift, it doesn’t just happen automatically.
We may receive His gift only by our willingness to turn from our own selfish desires—our sin—and then put Him in charge by making him the Lord of our life. If you haven’t already taken this step, do it now! God will keep His word, and will allow you to enter a life you never dreamed possible. Only through the life-giving power of the Spirit will we ever be able to experience the interaction of the elements of our nature as they were always intended to be.
God never meant for a single one of us to forge a life devoid of His presence. Only in Him can we ever arrive at the zenith of God’s purpose and plan for us—this great gift of all-embracing personhood in Him. For those of us who have entered into the very life of God through Jesus, it’s easy to see those who don’t know God as stumbling through life much like zombies (the living dead, right?).
Man’s Spirit: God’s Gift
Without question our spiritual nature is the supreme gift of God to man. Why do I say the supreme gift? Because through our spirit, and only through our spirit, has God given us the opportunity to commune with Him. We need to realize that the opportunity for His indwelling presence is the primary purpose for the existence of our spirit. God actually takes up residence in our spirit as we allow Him to do so.
It may sound a bit presumptuous to say that He indwells us only as we allow it, but that is exactly the case. Because He has given us the capacity of free will, God lives within us only as an invited guest. Our spirit has been formed by God in such a way as to provide His Holy Spirit a dwelling place within our nature.(1 Corinthians 3:16: Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?)
I’m sure you’ve heard it said that within each person there is a God-shaped vacuum which only He can fill. That place is our spirit. Without the inhabiting presence of God, our spirit is simply dead—and therefore purposeless. So in one very large sense, our spirit is the essence of our being.
The Good News: Part 6
By faith I have received all that God has promised (Galatians 3:22). And in the very same way that I have received Christ Jesus the Lord—that is, as a free gift—I am now to walk in Him (Colossians 2:6).
It was for freedom that Christ set me free. Therefore, I will stand firm and not subject myself again to the yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). For the promises of God are valid for me only if I continue in the faith, firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel (Colossians 1:23).
The hope of God’s promise is that by grace I have been saved through faith This is the gift of God, not a result of my own goodness or deeds (Ephesians 2:8-9). In this same way I have every opportunity to attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding—the true knowledge of God’s mystery, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2-3).
Excerpted from: Free from the Power of Sin: The Keys to Growing in God in Spite of Yourself