Good Gifts

Have you ever received a gift from your parents?  I mean a significant gift that was unexpectedly terrific?
Maybe they gave you a car when you were 16 or maybe they paid for your college.  Maybe they gave you money for the down payment on a house or helped you finance an entrepreneurial pursuit.
My father in law has financed several vacations for us and we are about to embark on the largest one yet, a cruise to Bermuda.
As an adult it’s a wonderful thing to have parents that will do things like this to bless your life.  They do so much when you are growing up and we expect it as kids.  But when you are grown and they continue to bless your life with unexpected, amazing gifts it puts you in such a humble place of thanksgiving.
Last night as I was reading before bed a scripture came to me in the text on this very thing.  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!”  And then it happened, that strange and wonderful moment when you know God is trying to get something across to you that you just have not been getting.  He showed me that if my father in law can give us this wonderful thing how much more should I be expecting my Heavenly Father to give to us.  After all, doesn’t He love us so much more?  Isn’t He the giver of all good and perfect things?  Is He not LOVE itself?
I had been trying not to concern myself with some financial shortcomings we were having and as He showed this to me I realized, all I need to do is ask Him and it will all be taken care of.   I need to believe, just as a child does, that my Father is going to make everything okay.  That my DAD is going to meet my needs.
I will repeat it from my last blog, Trust God!!  Come to him as you would your own dad and just simply ask.  He loves you so much; He wants to give to you.
On the flip side, as a parent, I love to give my kids things.  From their favorite breakfast food to the coolest birthday gift ever, I just love to see the look on their face and get that “Thank you, thank you, thank you mommy!!!”  It is just so much fun.  I can imagine how fun it is for God to give gifts to His kids and see their eyes alight with thanksgiving over His generosity and abundance!  

Don’t Loose Heart, Don’t Loose Hope, Trust God

I had the opportunity recently to fellowship with a wonderful individual from our church, a Godly woman who has been through a great deal.  We discussed the things in our lives in which we have had to wait.  Months and sometimes years pass as we wait on something we know God has shown us.  We wait on promises, on provision, on healing, believing that we will see it come to fruition.  We try not to become discouraged as time seems to drag on.  We try not to doubt but we grow weary and we start listening to the voices that lie to us about our blessing.  We start to wonder what we could have done wrong in order to miss the blessing.  We wonder what we need to do to open the door for it to finally come about.  We sometimes start to make plans, “just in case” plans, or “what if” plans.  What if we didn’t hear God right, what if we missed it, what if our timing is off, maybe we should try this other way “just in case” that is not what God meant.

 Faith is not enough to get through; you have to couple faith with trust.  “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, lean not on your own understanding.”  We have to trust that what God said is His very word and since He cannot lie it will happen.  We can examine the promise we feel that God gave us and if it doesn't contradict the Word of God than we can rest in knowing that what God promised He will supply.   

 I had been feeling like the waiting was just becoming too much but what is my waiting compared to that of Abraham and Sara or Joshua and Caleb or Joseph or Moses or Job.  We have to hold on to God's promises and trust Him.  Trust that He will always bring His promises to manifestation.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA3MSqufJP4&feature=related