How do you receive God's gifts?
December 11-15, 2023 | Always Peachy Devotionals | God's Gifts Week 2
Does anyone not love getting gifts?
I’m not sure what it is, but when someone presents me with a gift, I am never sure how to respond. Obviously, I say thank you. They didn’t have to get me anything. But I’m never quite sure what to do next. Do you open it right then? Do you wait for later? What if the gift they gave you is awful and you hate it? Do you have to act like you enjoy it?
I suppose you can say that giving gifts is tricky and receiving gifts is even trickier. But we don’t talk about the second part. We don’t discuss how to receive gifts. I think it’s just assumed that we all know how to do it. But what if we don’t? What if there’s an art to it?
When I was praying about what to include in this month’s study, this was one of the first thoughts I had. Maybe it’s because I struggle with receiving gifts, but I’ve learned over the years that what I struggle with is usually common for others as well.
And, don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I struggle with gratitude. I can be truly grateful for a gift I’m given without actually receiving it. Taking that step to actually, truly, completely receive a gift requires a certain amount of trust.
Let’s just say it: It requires faith.
You need faith to believe that the gift you’re being given is truly yours to keep. You need faith to believe that there are truly no strings attached, that you won’t have to keep earning it repeatedly, that it isn’t just a tool to manipulate you.
So that’s what we’re going to put to rest this week. We’re going to talk about how we can receive God’s gifts, and we’re going to focus on the fact that we can trust Him.
Dec 11 - You can’t earn a gift (Romans 11:5-6)
Dec 12 - You can’t afford this gift (1 Peter 1:18-19)
Dec 13 - You don’t have to deserve a gift (1 Corinthians 1:28-29)
Dec 14 - You will enjoy this gift (Luke 11:13)
Dec 15 - You have to accept the gift (Mark 8:34)
It’s going to be a great week, and I’m excited to dig into this with you. I’m praying that it will clarify some things about what salvation actually means and why it’s so important that we get to choose it.
Choice and free will are hot topics of conversation in religious circles, but the way I read the Bible, there is no salvation without free will. Jesus had to choose to go to the cross. We have to choose Jesus. We all have a choice of how we live, and that’s what informed the verse we’ve selected to memorize this week, Deuteronomy 30:19.
It’s a bit long, so if you need to memorize only the meaning of it, that’s fine. What matters is that you understand God always gives us a choice. He never forces us to go His way. If He forced us to follow Him, it would make us nothing more than automatons. We’d be robots. We wouldn’t be able to show Him real love, to be in an actual relationship with Him.
Love requires a choice.
May the Lord richly bless all of you this week. I pray that He shows you in a million little ways how close He is to you and how much He truly loves you.
Hugs,
Amy
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