Gifts

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1 Kings 14:8 Despising God’s Blessings

I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 1 Kings 14:8

When a person is given something by someone else, he is expected to honor the gift and the person who gave it. It is not expected that he will throw out the gift, nor talk bad about the person who gave it. Acting in this way will be considered rude, inconsiderate and ungrateful.

Ahijah had brought word to King Jeroboam that God had taken the kingdom from the family of David and gave it to him, but he chose to refuse to obey God and follow Him with all of his heart.

Blessings come from God on a daily basis to those who are willing to follow Him. While some of the greatest blessings are not physical, many are physical blessings. Often those blessings are things taken from those in the world not following Him, to bless His people.

Recognizing that those blessings came from the Lord is the first step in honoring God with those blessings. Many feel as though they got the blessings themselves or that they deserve those blessings.

When this occurs, many will choose to continue in the ways of the world, turning to false gods, rather than to God. They begin to trust in the blessings and themselves, rather than trusting in God and obeying God with all of their heart, despising the blessing that was given to them.

True believers will recognize what God has given them and honor God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. Turning away to false gods will not be an option in their lives.

If you take time to examine your life, you will most likely be able to see how God has blessed you in many ways. Some of those ways are with things that He has taken from the world and given to you.

In your time of blessing, do not despise His gifts to you and turn back to the ways of the world. Just as quickly as He gave you those gifts, God can remove them. Show gratefulness to God by choosing to obey His word and doing what is right in His eyes.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know what God has given you; that you will honor God with all of your life; that God will give you strength to do what is right in His eyes; and that God will guide you in using what He has blessed you with for His glory and honor.

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1 Corinthians 14:12 Seek Gifts To Build The Church

So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 1 Corinthians 14:12

People always desire the best of everything. They want the things that everyone can see and that make them look good. Things that cannot be seen are often ignored or not desired, since it does not build the individual up himself.

Most often this desire is based on selfish pride. Very few actually desire to help someone else out more than themselves.

Paul had just listed some gifts of speaking in tongues and the interpretation of it in the church. Tongues can be good, but he wants the people to seek gifts to build the church up.

The whole part of man’s fall from God was one of selfishness and trying to build one’s self up. The whole work on Jesus dying upon the cross was one of non-selfishness. It was all about helping or building others up.

After Jesus left the earth, He sent His Holy Spirit to build and guide His followers in doing His work upon the earth. The Holy Spirit works in supernatural ways, giving spiritual gifts to guide His church.

Many believers want the gift of tongues, thinking that it is something amazing. While it can be amazing, it only builds self up and does nothing for others. The real help is found in the translation of the tongues.

God uses the interpretation of tongues to build His church up. God uses spoken words that the local people can understand to build them up, not just tongues that edifies or build’s up the individual.

Every believer should be seeking the greatest joy in being a witness and building others in the church up in Christ Jesus. In order to do that, he must seek the gifts God has given that others can tangibly see God’s hand working in their lives.

God is willing to use you in many different ways. He is willing to give you gifts of the Holy Spirit to help you in the work He has for you to do. Allow the Holy Spirit to use you in the gifts He has for you.

Seek those gifts that will help build the church up first and foremost. As you build the church up, God will build you up and meet all of your needs.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will be filled with God’s Holy Spirit; that you will use the gifts God has for you; that you seek to build others up before yourself; and that God will remove selfish pride in your life.

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Psalm 136:1 Give Thanks To God

Give Thanks

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Children are often taught to be polite when they are given something. They are expected to say ‘thank you’ for the gift. Often they are expected to say the response even when they really don’t like the gift.

While parents teach this concept of being grateful for every gift, even the ones not liked, many do not follow their own rules. It is common to hear of adults complaining about what they are given, rather than accepting it and being thankful.

Things are accepted and thanked for when it is in line with what one wants and expects. If it is not really in line with one’s own expectations, there is seldom any gratefulness.

The writer of this psalm starts out with telling the people to give thanks to the Lord. He immediately gives two reason: He is good and His love is everlasting.

People are often upset with God for what He did or did not give them. If life is not going perfectly smooth, people feel that God does not love them and is not giving them a good life.

Over the years there have been many people who have walked away from God because He did not answer some certain prayer that they requested. It is common to hear of this with healing someone.

As they do this, they have forgotten how good God really is and how great His love is. God only gives what is best for the individual. This good is for eternal good, not just some temporary pleasure.

No matter what God gives or allows in the life of a person, it is not meant to harm or destroy a person. It is meant to build him up and draw him closer to Him. Thus a person should give thanks to God for everything.

Think of all the good things God has already given you, life, breath, food, clothing, forgiveness of sins, salvation and much more. There are a million more good things that you may be able to think of that God has given you out of His great love for you.

God is a good God and will only give you the best for you. Trust that God knows what He is doing. Trust in His great love for you.

Now take a moment to give thanks to God for what He has given and is giving you today.

I pray today that you will know God’s great love for you; that you will know what God has given you; that you will trust God’s love for you; and that you will see that God is good all the time.