The gifts of God
“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” (Rom 11:29)
We are showered by an infinity of gifts from God daily. “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” (Matt. 5:45; Lk. 6:35).
And it is right for us to partake of these gifts. “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” (1 Tim. 4:4). For us to turn away His abundant giving is an affront to His generosity and love for us. Instead of being politeness, it really crosses into unbelief and insolence. As we see with the message of Isaiah to King Ahaz, “Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” (Is. 7:10-13).
Satan knows that the abundant giving and goodness of God is His chosen method of turning our hearts back to Him. Thus the arch-deceiver works feverishly to turn us away from the conviction that would automatically come through all that God does for us, by the ascetic life or by its virtual reality, the stubborn resistance we often exhibit toward God’s blessings. Both are a method of pouting and nurturing our self-centeredness. So He scolds us and warns us away from following the devil’s guidance, the treachery and insult against our one source of love and support. Christ says our stiff attitude toward His Father is “an iron sinew” and our “brow brass,” that our look is “imperious.” (Is. 48:4;Ezek. 16:30).
But He loves all His children, selfish and pouty or responsive, alike. It is our privilege to partake of all of God’s goodness and to splash and play along the edge of the ocean of His abundant provisions for all His children, good and bad.
But Satan has another trick to get us to insult God and to ignore Him. If once we’ve accepted all His gracious offerings for our happiness, the deceiver then moves us to enjoy the gifts but to forget the Giver. And if we will still remember the Giver, then, at the least, he will tempt us to enjoy the gifts more than the Giver, essentially and eventually forgetting our loving Father in heaven.
It began from the beginning and has continued without letup. Condemnation has been forthcoming against all those who “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Rom 1:24,25).
They loved and worshipped the gift more than the Giver. It was to pre-empt this that God called Abraham to give up his only begotten Isaac. Abraham was in danger of treasuring Isaac to such a degree that Abraham would be derailed from the single object of his whole life, an uninterrupted friendship with God. So God taught him the lesson that he desired most, but in an unexpected way.
It was a terrible and grueling journey to the site God had picked out for the sacrifice of Abraham’s dearest treasure on earth. It was a severe test God gave the father of faith, but he must pass the test in order to permanently seal his consecration and loyalty to God. His tears endured through the long days and nights of travel, but joy came at the end.
Out of that experience Abraham came forth settled and having surrendered his whole will to God, the example for all his children of the true standard for the next 2000 years. His faith was demonstrated in his willingness to give up the dearest on earth for love to the infinite and holy God of heaven. The great Giver was given His proper place of honor, for all His love which He has so abundantly showered upon us. Abraham passed the test similar to the one that Adam failed when he put his love for Eve higher than that for his Creator.
This also gave us a glimpse of the extent God would go to give us the best gift. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16)
God joys in all His children who look to Him like we thrill when our little ones look up to us. If we, being evil, joy in the happiness of our children, how much more infinitely does God for those who look up to Him? When my daughter, Betania, makes her little squeal of delight when she gets something that she has wanted, I feel the deepest sense of satisfaction. Why not God all the more when He hears our thankfulness for Him? If we know how to give good things to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? (Lk. 11:13).
We must defer our greatest pleasure and love and worship to our Creator and Father in heaven. To the One who has sacrificed all for us, we must hold our greatest service, above service and love to any other, and especially to our own needs and wants. But to whom does the Father defer His utmost love?
To us and all His creation, “His whole family in heaven and on earth”—“His body,” “the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 3:15; 1:23).
We are showered by an infinity of gifts from God daily. “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” (Matt. 5:45; Lk. 6:35).
And it is right for us to partake of these gifts. “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” (1 Tim. 4:4). For us to turn away His abundant giving is an affront to His generosity and love for us. Instead of being politeness, it really crosses into unbelief and insolence. As we see with the message of Isaiah to King Ahaz, “Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?” (Is. 7:10-13).
Satan knows that the abundant giving and goodness of God is His chosen method of turning our hearts back to Him. Thus the arch-deceiver works feverishly to turn us away from the conviction that would automatically come through all that God does for us, by the ascetic life or by its virtual reality, the stubborn resistance we often exhibit toward God’s blessings. Both are a method of pouting and nurturing our self-centeredness. So He scolds us and warns us away from following the devil’s guidance, the treachery and insult against our one source of love and support. Christ says our stiff attitude toward His Father is “an iron sinew” and our “brow brass,” that our look is “imperious.” (Is. 48:4;Ezek. 16:30).
But He loves all His children, selfish and pouty or responsive, alike. It is our privilege to partake of all of God’s goodness and to splash and play along the edge of the ocean of His abundant provisions for all His children, good and bad.
But Satan has another trick to get us to insult God and to ignore Him. If once we’ve accepted all His gracious offerings for our happiness, the deceiver then moves us to enjoy the gifts but to forget the Giver. And if we will still remember the Giver, then, at the least, he will tempt us to enjoy the gifts more than the Giver, essentially and eventually forgetting our loving Father in heaven.
It began from the beginning and has continued without letup. Condemnation has been forthcoming against all those who “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Rom 1:24,25).
They loved and worshipped the gift more than the Giver. It was to pre-empt this that God called Abraham to give up his only begotten Isaac. Abraham was in danger of treasuring Isaac to such a degree that Abraham would be derailed from the single object of his whole life, an uninterrupted friendship with God. So God taught him the lesson that he desired most, but in an unexpected way.
It was a terrible and grueling journey to the site God had picked out for the sacrifice of Abraham’s dearest treasure on earth. It was a severe test God gave the father of faith, but he must pass the test in order to permanently seal his consecration and loyalty to God. His tears endured through the long days and nights of travel, but joy came at the end.
Out of that experience Abraham came forth settled and having surrendered his whole will to God, the example for all his children of the true standard for the next 2000 years. His faith was demonstrated in his willingness to give up the dearest on earth for love to the infinite and holy God of heaven. The great Giver was given His proper place of honor, for all His love which He has so abundantly showered upon us. Abraham passed the test similar to the one that Adam failed when he put his love for Eve higher than that for his Creator.
This also gave us a glimpse of the extent God would go to give us the best gift. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16)
God joys in all His children who look to Him like we thrill when our little ones look up to us. If we, being evil, joy in the happiness of our children, how much more infinitely does God for those who look up to Him? When my daughter, Betania, makes her little squeal of delight when she gets something that she has wanted, I feel the deepest sense of satisfaction. Why not God all the more when He hears our thankfulness for Him? If we know how to give good things to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? (Lk. 11:13).
We must defer our greatest pleasure and love and worship to our Creator and Father in heaven. To the One who has sacrificed all for us, we must hold our greatest service, above service and love to any other, and especially to our own needs and wants. But to whom does the Father defer His utmost love?
To us and all His creation, “His whole family in heaven and on earth”—“His body,” “the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 3:15; 1:23).
posted by David | 12:41 PM
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