THE GIFTS OF GOD -- #4

TODAYS SCRIPTURE: John 4:6-14 (Please go back and read the entire scripture. Here is a bit of those verses.)

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

THE GIFTS OF GOD -- #4

Living Water - Oh, my friends, that is only the beginning of the gifts God has for us.

Welcome to week four of The Gifts of God. Nine gifts down and one to go. Have you given thought to those nine gifts? Trials. Gentleness. Hiding Place. Delight. Tears. Called. Warning. Rest. Walk with head held high.

What gift could be in the box for us to open this week? What gift could top resting in God?

FOREVER

Now what can that mean? I know I'm not going to live forever? I know that nothing lasts forever. What kind of a gift is forever?

In the beginning God Genesis 1:1

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8

Forever - Thank you for the gift of knowing YOU are forever.

God wants you to know HE is forever. He will never abandon you. That is a gift. He wants you to know that you may have no family here, but he has adopted you. He has adopted us all. We are God's children. We belong to God. That is a gift. God has given us the gift of an advocate. God is on our side. That is a gift.

God wants you to know about all his gifts not just those "normal" gifts that we can name so easily.

So many gifts. So many blessings. There. Right in front of us. Really so many no altar is big enough to hold them. So many gifts. Waiting to be taken. Waiting to be opened.

And there is no one gift limit. God's gifts just keep coming and coming.

Everyday comes bearing its own gifts and God has prepared wonderful, amazing gifts for each of us. We do not have to wait for Christmas. We do not have to wait for our birthday. We do not have to wait.

God does offer the gifts? He does offer them, but he does not make us take them. God offers. But we have to accept.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:

What gifts has God prepared for you? Will you accept them?

LET US PRAY (Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.)

Thank you God for all you have given me. Thank you for the unique gifts you have prepared, because only you know what I need.

Lord, take away my hesitation. My fears. My doubts. Let me humbly accept your gifts. Courageously unwrap. And joyfully celebrate each one.

Amen & Amen