The Gift of God
“If thou knewest the gift of God….” The gift of God. Many things in the Bible have been called this. Jesus here was speaking of a friendship with God, conversion. (Jn. 4:10). But other gifts of God are referred to: Faith (Eph 2:8), the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and in whose train comes the gifts of Love against which there is no law, quiet Joy, Peace that passes all comprehension, Longsuffering that is kind, Gentleness that makes us great, Goodness which forgives and forgets, Meekness which shall inherit the earth (Gal. 5:22,23), and other varied gifts (Rom. 1:11).
Isaac was a gift to Abraham. A conception way out of the ordinary, not the product of any rationalization of normal causes. He is called a child of the promise. (Rom. 9:8). Not 99.99999999999% a gift, but completely 100% a gift, Isaac was, and an object lesson showing Abraham that he could do nothing to assist in that gift’s creation and delivery.
Such is every gift of God. A turnabout in the life, a change in the thoughts and intents of the heart are either 100% from God, or they aren’t a gift at all; they are of human construction. If they are gifts then they must have come about not because of us and any of our labor or exercise of willpower. By definition, it is a gift if we received it without being able to provide it for ourselves. If they are all from God, if we can never produce them, if they are beyond our wildest imagination to ever possess without God’s personal intervention for our benefit, then all we can do toward having them is to ask and wait to receive them. Ask and wait, two of the hardest endeavors for us sinners to ever accomplish.
So there is a work for us. First ask. “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, ‘Give Me to drink;’ thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.” (Jn. 4:10). Ask. And anyone can do this; we are naturals at it. It is the perfect “do-able,” the easiest do-able. No discrimination here. I’ve heard that the steps for the gift of God are: ask, believe, receive. In other words, Ask, then Believe. But it only seems logical to me that we must have believed before we had asked or we wouldn’t have asked in the first place. Asking, being the first step, assumes that faith was already present. “He that cometh to God must believe...that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6. More people have faith than know it. More would ask if they didn’t think they have to muster up some amount of faith before they seek God, when the act of considering asking means they already have faith. Thus many delay, procrastinate, or just plain turn down a gift that is free for the taking because they believe God requires a kind of faith that we must manufacture, when natural faith is all He desires, and we all have some of that kind of faith simply by being born (Rom. 12:3). Jesus honored simple faith so many times during His earthly ministry. The demoniacs of Gergessa on the “bad side” of the Sea of Galilee, the Canaanite woman for whom Jesus had to walk 40 miles to help her deepen her faith, the woman with a long-term issuing blood disease, were only a few of the times Jesus inconvienced His disciples and went far out of His way to draw near to excluded outsiders and untouchables, because they had wistfully called out to “Somebody up there.” And these are only the recorded displays of His compassion; He did this hundreds of times that weren’t recorded (Jn. 21:25). We all have inherited a minimum of faith, and even the weakest person in willpower, even the furthest individual from God, can be saved if they will bring their mustard seed of faith to Jesus in prayer for Him to strengthen and mature. That can be a big “IF” because the temptation of the old life often draws the attention away from Jesus and His love, and then that minimum faith is easily dominated and intimidated by the satanic hosts because it is not yoked up with Christ, but it’s also a little “IF” and becomes a gigantic do-able faith, once we have sought out Jesus and our mustard seed is allied with Him.
More people have faith than know it. If we have a desire for something better and then go in search of it, doesn’t that indicate faith? If I am looking even only wistfully to heaven and asking “Somebody up there” for help, isn’t that the requisite faith to receive a gift from God? Yes, by all means. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Rom. 11:29. And God acts on that mustard seed of faith, you can be sure of it!! It may take a little time for the help to manifest itself, but God immediately responds!!!! Everyone on this planet has all the stuff built into them that it takes to be drawn to God. No one is excluded from His calling. There is no excuse for a single soul to be lost. The millions of the wicked that are lost on judgment day are an utter travesty of nature and mercy.
Let’s not, however, make the mistake of thinking that a lighthearted asking is all that is required in our request. In every prayer to God, we must work our prayers. God is a “rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6. Does this mean the gift is not 100% of God, but partly by our own efforts? Not at all. When a person receives the gift which they have needed so badly for so long, they will know that it came absolutely not because of their own will or of any power they possess. Typical of us, a period of time ensues, during which we attempt to manufacture the gift, or imagine having done so. But we experience repeated failure and disillusionment, ultimately the realization dawning upon us that we just don’t have the resources. Usually it’s the constant failure that convinces us to renounce any temptation to take any credit for the gift. At that point, and no sooner, does the Holy Spirit give His gift, and create in us a clean heart.
But we do have a work to do. Do we truly desire the gift? Do we really expect it? If so, then we make plans for it, we anticipate it and prepare for it when it should come. We draw near to Christ, who alone will do this impossible thing for us in us; we serve others and, in our expectant confidence in Him, tell them of a God who loves us and promises so much; we strengthen our bond to Him, lest His Spirit should draw near to bring the gift and we not be in the right frame of mind to be prepared when He comes.
“Covet earnestly the best gifts.” We aren’t speaking of material gifts. “A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” (1Cor. 12:31; Ezek. 36:26). Conversion, when we are no longer fighting God, when He is no longer the enemy; when the scales fall off our eyes and we see that His righteousness is exquisitely good, and His justice, mixed with mercy toward our blindness and ignorance, was just and fair in all the pain and agony we experienced while waiting for the gift to arrive. Conversion, “like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments: as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Ps. 130:2, 3). Conversion: “The grace of our Lord...exceeding abundant with faith and love.” (1Tim. 1:14).
Yes, there is a work to do; not in the creation of the gift, but in the being prepared to receive it. God is holy, His gift is holy and just and good. Am I holy—wholly His? Am I looking to His justness and goodness in holy anticipation? Am I searching and digging for them as for hid treasures? Am I serious about getting that new heart, serious enough to pay all that it costs? Yes, there is a work for us to do, but it is a doable because it involves the elements of strengthening a relationship, companionship, a friendship with God, which comes natural to us.
The next step after asking is the waiting. “Here is the patience of the saints.” (Rev. 14:12). In waiting for the gift of God is demonstrated the patience of the saints, and anything else is torment (Rev. 14:9-11). Did you ever wonder how some people have never-ending patience with others? It came by having patience with God first, and realizing His patience toward them. It came by having to wait for the gift of peace, then wading through all the prerequisite trials; and then finally obtaining the treasured gift of the faith of Jesus and peace with God. And after the victory is won, impatience evaporates. A God found, the gift received, a lesson of waiting and perseverance learned, blessed rest, makes any inconvenience or mistreatment by people or by this mortal life, pale into insignificance by comparison to the gift of God. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ....Not only so, but we glory in tribulation.” Rom. 5:1-5.
By the way, why must we wait? The Bible gives two reasons that I am aware of: 1) because we haven’t quite learned that the gift is not of our own devising. We frustrate the grace of God, by fighting and struggling to get a free gift. “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved: in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that persue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee (notice, this is the reverse from when God is in control [Lev. 26:7,8; Josh. 23:10]): till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Is. 30:15-18.
Jesus’ hands are tied until we are finished trying to be the hero, fending off all our dragons and enemies, and are backed into a corner or left waving the rags of truce over our heads. And until we get to the point of retreat and truce with God and give up the struggle to do the work which God has promised to do for us and which He alone can accomplish, to wage a war that we must admit we have no competence in or strength to fight; not until we admit we can’t have any part in our redemption, except for just being there and following orders, does God finally step in and give us the victory. In short, God waits because of us, and obviously so must we wait. We are our own worst enemy. If we have to wait long for the gift of God, we cannot blame God; we have ourselves to thank. Amazingly, God is very patient with our obstreperousness and slowness to learn our lessons.
And 2) the second reason we must wait: while we are our own worst enemy, we have an accomplice. The devil is the other factor involved in our waiting. Even Daniel, a very consecrated man, once had to wait 3 whole weeks. Why? Says Gabriel, who came to bring Daniel assurance for the future of his people, “From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael...came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days….” Dan. 10:12-14.
From this we gain a behind-the-scenes view of why we must wait sometimes for the gift that Christ has already promised us. After we have fasted and prayed and chastened ourselves before the Lord and our request is as unselfishly oriented as we can make it, there is yet a supernatural force preventing God’s work for us. At that time, we must persevere in our hope and faith, as Daniel did.
Other examples of persevering prayer come from Elijah who prayed 7 times before rain followed the repentance of Israel; he fasted and prayed 3 times before the widow’s son revived from death, and Elisha and Gehazi together also prayed 3 times before the Shunamite’s son revived from death; Naaman hoped against hopelessness through 7 baptisms before his leprosy was healed.
The gift of God will come. That peace that passes all understanding, that new heart of submission to God, it will come and will not tarry. Blessed are all they that wait for Him. “The just shall live by faith: but, if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Heb. 10:38.
“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Gal. 5:5.
“Make no tarrying, O my God.” Ps. 40:17.
“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” (2Cor. 9:15.)
Isaac was a gift to Abraham. A conception way out of the ordinary, not the product of any rationalization of normal causes. He is called a child of the promise. (Rom. 9:8). Not 99.99999999999% a gift, but completely 100% a gift, Isaac was, and an object lesson showing Abraham that he could do nothing to assist in that gift’s creation and delivery.
Such is every gift of God. A turnabout in the life, a change in the thoughts and intents of the heart are either 100% from God, or they aren’t a gift at all; they are of human construction. If they are gifts then they must have come about not because of us and any of our labor or exercise of willpower. By definition, it is a gift if we received it without being able to provide it for ourselves. If they are all from God, if we can never produce them, if they are beyond our wildest imagination to ever possess without God’s personal intervention for our benefit, then all we can do toward having them is to ask and wait to receive them. Ask and wait, two of the hardest endeavors for us sinners to ever accomplish.
So there is a work for us. First ask. “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, ‘Give Me to drink;’ thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.” (Jn. 4:10). Ask. And anyone can do this; we are naturals at it. It is the perfect “do-able,” the easiest do-able. No discrimination here. I’ve heard that the steps for the gift of God are: ask, believe, receive. In other words, Ask, then Believe. But it only seems logical to me that we must have believed before we had asked or we wouldn’t have asked in the first place. Asking, being the first step, assumes that faith was already present. “He that cometh to God must believe...that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6. More people have faith than know it. More would ask if they didn’t think they have to muster up some amount of faith before they seek God, when the act of considering asking means they already have faith. Thus many delay, procrastinate, or just plain turn down a gift that is free for the taking because they believe God requires a kind of faith that we must manufacture, when natural faith is all He desires, and we all have some of that kind of faith simply by being born (Rom. 12:3). Jesus honored simple faith so many times during His earthly ministry. The demoniacs of Gergessa on the “bad side” of the Sea of Galilee, the Canaanite woman for whom Jesus had to walk 40 miles to help her deepen her faith, the woman with a long-term issuing blood disease, were only a few of the times Jesus inconvienced His disciples and went far out of His way to draw near to excluded outsiders and untouchables, because they had wistfully called out to “Somebody up there.” And these are only the recorded displays of His compassion; He did this hundreds of times that weren’t recorded (Jn. 21:25). We all have inherited a minimum of faith, and even the weakest person in willpower, even the furthest individual from God, can be saved if they will bring their mustard seed of faith to Jesus in prayer for Him to strengthen and mature. That can be a big “IF” because the temptation of the old life often draws the attention away from Jesus and His love, and then that minimum faith is easily dominated and intimidated by the satanic hosts because it is not yoked up with Christ, but it’s also a little “IF” and becomes a gigantic do-able faith, once we have sought out Jesus and our mustard seed is allied with Him.
More people have faith than know it. If we have a desire for something better and then go in search of it, doesn’t that indicate faith? If I am looking even only wistfully to heaven and asking “Somebody up there” for help, isn’t that the requisite faith to receive a gift from God? Yes, by all means. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” Rom. 11:29. And God acts on that mustard seed of faith, you can be sure of it!! It may take a little time for the help to manifest itself, but God immediately responds!!!! Everyone on this planet has all the stuff built into them that it takes to be drawn to God. No one is excluded from His calling. There is no excuse for a single soul to be lost. The millions of the wicked that are lost on judgment day are an utter travesty of nature and mercy.
Let’s not, however, make the mistake of thinking that a lighthearted asking is all that is required in our request. In every prayer to God, we must work our prayers. God is a “rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Heb. 11:6. Does this mean the gift is not 100% of God, but partly by our own efforts? Not at all. When a person receives the gift which they have needed so badly for so long, they will know that it came absolutely not because of their own will or of any power they possess. Typical of us, a period of time ensues, during which we attempt to manufacture the gift, or imagine having done so. But we experience repeated failure and disillusionment, ultimately the realization dawning upon us that we just don’t have the resources. Usually it’s the constant failure that convinces us to renounce any temptation to take any credit for the gift. At that point, and no sooner, does the Holy Spirit give His gift, and create in us a clean heart.
But we do have a work to do. Do we truly desire the gift? Do we really expect it? If so, then we make plans for it, we anticipate it and prepare for it when it should come. We draw near to Christ, who alone will do this impossible thing for us in us; we serve others and, in our expectant confidence in Him, tell them of a God who loves us and promises so much; we strengthen our bond to Him, lest His Spirit should draw near to bring the gift and we not be in the right frame of mind to be prepared when He comes.
“Covet earnestly the best gifts.” We aren’t speaking of material gifts. “A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” (1Cor. 12:31; Ezek. 36:26). Conversion, when we are no longer fighting God, when He is no longer the enemy; when the scales fall off our eyes and we see that His righteousness is exquisitely good, and His justice, mixed with mercy toward our blindness and ignorance, was just and fair in all the pain and agony we experienced while waiting for the gift to arrive. Conversion, “like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments: as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.” (Ps. 130:2, 3). Conversion: “The grace of our Lord...exceeding abundant with faith and love.” (1Tim. 1:14).
Yes, there is a work to do; not in the creation of the gift, but in the being prepared to receive it. God is holy, His gift is holy and just and good. Am I holy—wholly His? Am I looking to His justness and goodness in holy anticipation? Am I searching and digging for them as for hid treasures? Am I serious about getting that new heart, serious enough to pay all that it costs? Yes, there is a work for us to do, but it is a doable because it involves the elements of strengthening a relationship, companionship, a friendship with God, which comes natural to us.
The next step after asking is the waiting. “Here is the patience of the saints.” (Rev. 14:12). In waiting for the gift of God is demonstrated the patience of the saints, and anything else is torment (Rev. 14:9-11). Did you ever wonder how some people have never-ending patience with others? It came by having patience with God first, and realizing His patience toward them. It came by having to wait for the gift of peace, then wading through all the prerequisite trials; and then finally obtaining the treasured gift of the faith of Jesus and peace with God. And after the victory is won, impatience evaporates. A God found, the gift received, a lesson of waiting and perseverance learned, blessed rest, makes any inconvenience or mistreatment by people or by this mortal life, pale into insignificance by comparison to the gift of God. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ....Not only so, but we glory in tribulation.” Rom. 5:1-5.
By the way, why must we wait? The Bible gives two reasons that I am aware of: 1) because we haven’t quite learned that the gift is not of our own devising. We frustrate the grace of God, by fighting and struggling to get a free gift. “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest shall ye be saved: in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that persue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee (notice, this is the reverse from when God is in control [Lev. 26:7,8; Josh. 23:10]): till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.” Is. 30:15-18.
Jesus’ hands are tied until we are finished trying to be the hero, fending off all our dragons and enemies, and are backed into a corner or left waving the rags of truce over our heads. And until we get to the point of retreat and truce with God and give up the struggle to do the work which God has promised to do for us and which He alone can accomplish, to wage a war that we must admit we have no competence in or strength to fight; not until we admit we can’t have any part in our redemption, except for just being there and following orders, does God finally step in and give us the victory. In short, God waits because of us, and obviously so must we wait. We are our own worst enemy. If we have to wait long for the gift of God, we cannot blame God; we have ourselves to thank. Amazingly, God is very patient with our obstreperousness and slowness to learn our lessons.
And 2) the second reason we must wait: while we are our own worst enemy, we have an accomplice. The devil is the other factor involved in our waiting. Even Daniel, a very consecrated man, once had to wait 3 whole weeks. Why? Says Gabriel, who came to bring Daniel assurance for the future of his people, “From the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael...came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days….” Dan. 10:12-14.
From this we gain a behind-the-scenes view of why we must wait sometimes for the gift that Christ has already promised us. After we have fasted and prayed and chastened ourselves before the Lord and our request is as unselfishly oriented as we can make it, there is yet a supernatural force preventing God’s work for us. At that time, we must persevere in our hope and faith, as Daniel did.
Other examples of persevering prayer come from Elijah who prayed 7 times before rain followed the repentance of Israel; he fasted and prayed 3 times before the widow’s son revived from death, and Elisha and Gehazi together also prayed 3 times before the Shunamite’s son revived from death; Naaman hoped against hopelessness through 7 baptisms before his leprosy was healed.
The gift of God will come. That peace that passes all understanding, that new heart of submission to God, it will come and will not tarry. Blessed are all they that wait for Him. “The just shall live by faith: but, if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Heb. 10:38.
“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Gal. 5:5.
“Make no tarrying, O my God.” Ps. 40:17.
“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” (2Cor. 9:15.)
posted by David | 5:13 PM
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