Gifts

When it comes to my children, I would love to be able to give them the world. It actually hurts my heart when they are in need of something and I cannot help them with it or provide it for them. It is like a heavy weight on my chest. On birthday's and holidays I dream so much bigger than what I can actually afford and I find myself wistfully thinking of what I would buy "if only"..... I have never been a materialistic person in any way but the one thing I would like to be able to afford.... to help my children when they are in need. (Okay.... that and good sheets because there is nothing like a bed made with good sheets after a long day!)

The Bible speaks of "our father". Galatians 4:6 says, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." If God is our father, I must assume that He feels as strongly about me as His child as I do toward my earthly children. He must long to give me the world.

Matthew 7:11 says, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Wait a minute..... if I want to give my children the world and I am just an evil old sinner..... this says that God wants to give me even more!! The difference though, is not only in the amount of what He wishes to bestow upon me but in that.... He has already done it.

He died to give me dominion and authority over the earth, He lives to give me victory, He has given me healing, power, grace, mercy, forgiveness, love.... and yet, many times I have not taken it. If it hurts me to not be able to provide for my children, how much more must it hurt our heavenly Father when He offers gifts that we refuse to take and He looks down to see us struggling in lack?

Reach out and take the gifts He has given you.

My Shopping List

I keep a shopping list with the intent of writing things down as I notice that we are running low or as I use the last of something. The idea is that the house never runs out of the things we find necessary such as dish soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc. And really.... it's a great plan.

I bought the kind of shopping list with a magnet attached to the back so that I could put it on my refrigerator (somewhere I go far too often) knowing that seeing it would jog my memory and motivate me to write things down. The pad is even a special shape.... not just any ordinary lined paper but this shopping list pad is long, narrow, lined sheets.... perfect for making a list. I even attached a pen to the list so I would never have to look for one. Any time I needed it... it was right there.

My house is two stories high with one bedroom and one bath on the first floor and my children's bedrooms and bath on the second. Why this is significant is because I rarely use their restroom. They are old enough to be responsible for themselves so, I expect them to let me know when their restroom is out of shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, etc. Yet, often I find my things gone out of my restroom because they have let theirs run out and not bothered to tell me until it was too late.

When this happens I find myself snapping at them, "why didn't you tell me you were running low?" But, in all honesty, they are no different from me. Here I am with my AESLS (Advanced Executive Shopping List System) and yet.... I run out of things often. I grow accustomed to seeing my list and it no longer motivates me to write things down, sometimes the pen doesn't want to work using it at that angle, etc. I am lazy about it until I am left without at which point I become annoyed with myself at my laziness.

I am the exact same way when it comes to my spiritual life. When my spiritual pantry is full, I become lazy and apathetic. It doesn't seem so bad to run out of just one little thing....when I have so much else. Spiritual laziness carries a much higher price - after all, see Revelation 3:15&16 "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

I can just see God in heaven watching as my resources of hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (fruit of the Spirit according to Galatians 5:23) and self-control begin to run low having a reaction much the same as mine toward my children when I, in exasperation ask, "why didn't you tell me?" We need to tell God what we have need of - just like the blind man in Mark 10:51. Jesus knew he was blind and I am sure He could have assumed that he wanted to see but, He asked him, "what do you want?" and the blind man answered, "Rabbi, I want to see."

Let's just look at a few verses together.

Philippians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

John 16:24 "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

Matthew 7:7-11 ""Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

It's time to keep up on our spiritual shopping list. Time to take inventory and make God aware of what we are running low on. Really, there is never any excuses for running out of any resource when God is just waiting for us to ask.