Valentines Day All Month ~ Day 6 ~ The Good Gift Giver

February 6, 2014 · Valentines Day All Month ~ Day 6 ~ The Good Gift Giver I've never been very good at gift-giving, especially for adults. With my children it's pretty simple; they each have their unique interests, and I'm with them all day and know what they enjoy. I try to remember things that adults say they like, or want, but either I forget by Christmas, or the person is notorious for buying what they want before I get the chance. God isn't like that. He knows how to give good gifts to his children. In fact, he knows what you need before you do and before you ask him. He also knows what you would want and what you would like before you were even born. He plans your life with the desires of your heart in his mind. He uses your desires to fulfill his plan, and bring glory to himself, at the same time. Only our One True God would care about our wants and desires, as well as our needs, and at the same time, weave our lives intricately around those things. Other gods deceive us and don't truly deliver. Many of the things people worship like pleasure, money, sex, food, beauty, power....they all make us feel good at first....but afterward we are left hollow, searching for more, or harming ourselves or others. None of the things I mentioned are bad things, but if they are not brought under the Lordship of Christ, they will leave us feeling like a brick, because we haven't submitted our will and life to God. Only when we submit, do the things we like and enjoy, take their proper place, and enable us to enjoy them fully, in their rightful place. When we learn to enjoy the 'Gift Giver' first, then we appreciate and enjoy His gifts, more. If you worship your husband, you will eventually expect him to deliver what only Christ can deliver for you. As time goes on, your husband will disappoint you, but most of all, you will end up hurting him. He is a good thing. He was given to you by God, but if you worship him and put him above God, you will want him to be God for you. He can't be. You must learn to enjoy God as He is. Just as He is....which is infinitely more than you could ever imagine. Taste and see that The Lord is good. Something I have found that happens when we submit our lives to Christ and bring all areas of our lives under his Lordship, is that he fine-tunes our desires and turns what was, in the beginning a basic desire, into a glorious gift (to ourselves and to others). We all have the basic desire for sex. When we bring that under the Lordship of Christ, sex becomes more beautiful, your spouse becomes your standard of beauty, and your union becomes pure. Sex becomes a gift that you give rather than one you selfishly take from your spouse or others. As you learn to enjoy giving that gift, it makes it more enjoyable for yourself at the same time. If you enjoy or are good at writing, art, photography, hobbies, etc, and you have brought these giftings under submission, perhaps your gift will reach others for Christ. God can use any gift for His glory. On the contrary, any gift can be used to further Satan's kingdom. If you let any area of your life further Satan's kingdom, you will eventually not enjoy the things you were born to enjoy....the things God meant for you to enjoy. You will ruin them. So choose this day, who you will serve. Figure out what idols are enslaving you, before it's too late. Learn to let God reign, even in the small things. Use your fine-tuned, submitted gifts, to bless your spouse and others. Use them for God's glory, and watch Him use them in his ultimate plan for your life. Become a good gift giver, because you've learned to love the real gift giver with all of your heart, soul, and mind. <3 •So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. (Matthew 7:11 NLT) •So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8 NASB) •You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalms 16:11 NASB) •Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 9:9 NASB) •He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord. (Proverbs 18:22 NASB) •O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalms 34:8 NASB) http://youtu.be/BGkmPeVpBbI