Title: God and the Gift
Contents
Ephesians 2:8 God and the gift
Have you recently received a gift from someone else? And have you ever given a present to someone else recently? Not long ago, my family and I had an opportunity to go to an IKEA store, where we asked, “What kind of gift should I give to a senior citizen’s party?” And I've been looking around. But, as you know, when it comes to giving a gift, you may have thought, “What should I give as a gift?
Ladies and gentlemen, May has Children's Day, Teacher's Day, and Mother's Day on the Korean calendar. At this time, I think about giving a present to the person I am grateful for at least once. Someone asked this question. “What gift should I give to my parents on Mother's Day? I’m really worried because I’m going to give it as a gift.”
Then someone answered: “How about Lemona? Vitamin C Lemona sold at drugstores It's individually wrapped, so I don't think I need to wrap it on purpose... It's easy to take out one by one and eat it. Also, I think it would be good to simply write down words or good writings that you would not normally say to your parents and attach them to each one of them. Every time you eat one, you will be moved by the memo that you put together with care.”
Everyone, in the 1960s and 1980s, I gave my parents a lot of red underwear and socks. But what about these days? It seems that they often give their parents travel tickets to Jeju Island, Southeast Asia, or the United States. And there seems to be a lot of practical and blatant but gift bags of money.
And what kind of gifts do young people give each other? When you were in middle and high school, don't you give gifts like paper cranes, incense candles, perfumes...? And what gifts do young people give? White handkerchief, album, DVD, couple's cell phone, CD player, MP3 player, or something like that as a gift? And when you're older, you may be given a gift card from a Superstore, Walmart, or department store. And sometimes the amount is even larger. For example, diamonds, cars, or apartments that most women like.
Here in Canada too, gifts are exchanged a lot. Christmas, or Valentine's Day, Mother's day, Father's day, or Grandparent's day are days when gifts are given. In particular, they seem to do a lot of chocolate gifts here. And when it comes to gifts, women pay more attention to details, while men seem to be more crude than women, although it varies from person to person. So, even if a gift of a similar amount is given, the effect of the gift seems to be more expressed by women.
But I've been thinking about this. ‘God and Gifts’ Dear friends, God is the giver of gifts. You have given me and all of you countless gifts. However, we tend to be so indifferent to God's gift that we do not try to open it or possess it. The reason is that we are not well acquainted with the gift of God. Therefore, it is unfortunate that we feel sorry for the heart of God who gives us the gift, and we who do not receive the gift properly do not feel the great joy of receiving the gift from God.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the Bible, ‘God and gifts’ have a very close relationship that cannot be found. In today's text, it says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). .
In addition to the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gift of tongues, the gift of interpretation in tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of faith, the gift of the word of knowledge, the gift of the word of wisdom, the gift of discernment of spirits, the gift of healing, the gift of working miracles, etc. All kinds of gifts are literally gifts. Regarding this, the Bible says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above from the Father of lights, who does not change, and there is no shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
After I was discharged from the army, I heard the voice of God at the Osan-ri Prayer Center. At that time, I said, “God, give me this and that.... I prayed hard.” But God said: “I gave it all. He gave Alpha and Omega. He also gave me a present.”
Guys, we say this a lot to our parents when we were little boys. “Dad, just one member, please. Mom, give me a dollar.” At this time, if mom or dad gives you a member or one dollar, the child thinks, “My mom and dad are very nice people. They seem to love me very much.” But if you don't give a member or a dollar at that time, the child will say, "Mom and Dad don't seem to love me. I hate mom and dad!” I think.
The same is true. Too often we say, “God, just give me one. God, give me one dollar.” I pray. At that time, if God does not grant members, “Does God hate me? Maybe God does not exist,” he doubts. However, God does not give us only one dollar, one dollar, and a coin, but He also gives us a hundred dollar bill, and furthermore, He is the One who gives everything in the universe. If you believe, let's say Amen.
So, the meaning of the voice that God said to me, “I have given it all” is as follows. “Baby, I gave you all this. And he gave even his only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit as gifts. So don't think of me as being so stingy.” Amen! Regarding this, the Bible says: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him also gift us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
Ladies and gentlemen, God delights in giving gifts to everyone he meets and to everyone he deals with. Just as you think of a grandfather who gives gifts when you hear ‘Santa Claus’, God is a God of gifts. Regarding this, the Bible says: “Grace has been given to each of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7).
These days, we are reading the book of Numbers during the morning worship service at our church. At the early morning worship service last week, there was this verse in Numbers 18:6-7. “Behold, I have taken from the children of Israel your brothers the Levites, and I have given them as a gift to you to work in the tent of meeting. Since it was given as a gift, the stranger who comes close to it shall be put to death.
Therefore, when God tells us to do the Lord's work, we say, “Oh, thank God. You give me such a precious gift. Amen, hallelujah. If you make an impression and complain, you will be very embarrassed and angry with the gift giver. Look at the Old Testament. God gave the Israelites the land of Canaan flowing with milk and honey as a gift.
As a result, God felt very blasphemous and was not pleased to lead the Israelites into the land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey. Only Joshua and Caleb, who received God's gift with thanksgiving, were able to enter the land of Canaan. We learn these lessons from this story. “Aha, God’s gift must be received with thanksgiving! You must have eyes to see the gift of God!”
Gentlemen, I don't know how many people don't have eyes to see God's gift, so they just put it in the trash without opening the packaging. The gift box that God gives contains a very precious gift, but they do not know it. And then he wanders around looking for this and that. But in reality, everything he asks for is contained in the gift box that God had given him before.
Someone named their child ‘Haseon’. What does it mean? It means ‘gift of God’. How do you view your children? Do you see ‘Ugh, what a shame’? Do you see it as a 'gift from God'? It depends. It will be different for each person. And it will be different depending on the situation. If you don't have any money but your child asks for money every day, you'll think, 'Ugh, what a piece of shit,' and if your child does pretty things, you'll think it's a disservice.
But the Bible says that children are an inheritance, a gift from God. Therefore, when you look at your child, you should think, “God, thank you for such a wonderful gift.” If you complain, “Why were you born?”, you are seriously hurting the heart of God who gave you the gift. Let's follow along. “God, thank you for the good gift.”
And we need to know the gifts God gives us in our daily lives. Ecclesiastes 3:13 has this verse: “Everyone eats
I also knew that it is the gift of God to drink and to enjoy the pleasures of toil.” Amen! Everyone, what you eat, drink, and toil is a gift from God. So we pray at the table. “God, thank you for giving me good food as a gift.” And I pray while working at work or at church. “God, thank you for giving me the gift to make it work.”
Ladies and gentlemen, we are receiving the gift of God every day, every minute, every second. The air we breathe is a gift from God, the light of the sun is a gift from God, and everything we eat and drink is a gift from God. Therefore, we have no choice but to be grateful. Complaining is nonsense. To put it more simply, it is 'unbelievable'.
And some people have a very negative view of material things. But the Bible says: “It is a gift from God that God has given to any person riches and wealth, that they may enjoy it, and that they may receive and rejoice in their hard work” (Ecclesiastes 5:19) It is a gift from God to receive the blessing of God and enjoy it normally. Moreover, it is a very precious gift from God to use material things for the Lord's work.
And many people enjoy receiving gifts, but the Bible says that those who give gifts are more blessed. Ladies and gentlemen, we are living with so many gifts from God. But now, “What gift should I give to God? What gift must I give to please God?” How about thinking about it for a moment?