Gifts Are Good

James 1:17 NIV— Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 

Luke 12:32 NLT— “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom. 

Romans 8:32-33 NIV— He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all — how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

God is a giver. He keeps nothing for Himself. He freely gives us all things. He delights in living FOR us, not the other way around. 

Now what is the normal response to a gift? Thank you, of course. God is so good to us, we sometimes take His goodness for granted and start believing we are “entitled” to His gifts.

Allow me to illustrate. Suppose I feel generous and come by your house today and give you a hundred-dollar bill. You thank me profusely, and I go about my business. There was nothing you did to earn or deserve such a lavish gift. I gave it to you because I wanted to bless you. Next Tuesday I pay you a visit and give you another one-hundred-dollar bill. You thank me again, but not as lavishly as the first time. A week later I stop by with another one hundred for you. Now you begin to think this is going to be the routine. The next Tuesday, I don’t come by with a hundred bucks. You’ve been sitting in the den waiting for my arrival with your money. You are disappointed because my gift had become an expectation for you. When I didn’t come by, you were a little miffed at me because you felt slighted. The next time you saw me, you asked why I didn’t come by. I tell you that the Lord told me to give the money to someone else. Now you feel jealous. 

Do you see how easy it is to start taking God’s gifts for granted as if we deserve to be blessed? You are reading this page because you can see and read. Are the gifts of sight and the ability to read wonderful gifts? Have you thanked Him for those gifts? Are you even aware of the gifts because you spend too much time wanting other gifts that you don’t have rather than enjoying the gifts you do have?

 I’m not fussing at you. It’s our fallen nature that takes so much for granted.

People ask me all the time how I know that Jesus is my life, and lives IN me, FOR me, THROUGH me, and AS me. My key to awareness is the realization that my ME is now WE… me and Jesus together… is GRATEFULNESS. I thank Him when the water in the shower is warm. I thank Him when I can read the fine print for car commercials on TV. I thank Him for creating Grace, Marley, Punkin (Cinderella), and Torple to give me loving every time I walk in the room. I’m thankful for my Bride who is the joy of my life. I’m thankful that my car cranks every time I turn the key. I’m thankful that I have a warm bed, a roof over my head, food in my fridge, air to breathe… there is no stopping once you begin.

I’m not telling you to stop living so you can spend all day thanking the Lord. I am telling you that when you are blessed by the beauty of a sunset, or the artistry of a hummingbird dancing around your feeder, or the fresh smell of green grass recently mowed… just whisper back to Him, “I love you, too, Papa.” There are no sweeter words to His ears than that. You know what I mean.

His love gifts surround us every minute. Open your eyes and heart and enjoy them all.

Thank You, Lord.​

Blessings, Kenny.