GIFT FROM GOD GIFT FROM GOD
James 1:16-17 “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of... GIFT FROM GOD

James 1:16-17

“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

INSIGHT

-God is gracious and full of kindness and has freely given us good and perfect gifts for the glory of His name. During difficult times such as these that the whole world is battling with COVID-19, we realize that God is faithful and He has given us good and perfect gifts that we should only glory in His name. God has protected us, provided for us, sustained us, given us peace and salvation. As we worship Him for only Him deserves our worship and praises, we come to the realization that He owns the heavens and the earth and all that is in them, and everything belongs to Him. It is then worthy to acknowledge that every good and perfect gift comes from Him who gives us freely. If then we have freely received, we are called to give freely to the poor and our righteousness will endure forever (Psalm 112:9). God is the same yesterday, today and forever and He does not change like shifting shadows. May His word be established in our hearts that we may become living epistles, always ready to be taught and convicted by the Holy Spirit; which is also a gift from God.

PRAYER

Thank You Lord for the gift of life and gift of a new day that You have given us, we rejoice and are glad in You. You have protected us, provided for us, sustained us, given us peace and the gift of salvation, all glory and honor belongs to You Lord. Thank You for the new life that You have given us in You Jesus Christ, through Your death and resurrection; and for the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit. We are Your living epistles Christ Jesus; written not in ink but by You Holy Spirit who dwells in us, lead us everyday of our lives. Thank You for this far that You brought us and for the far that You are taking us, we rejoice and glad in You. We humbly ask You to guide us in our journey of salvation and help us to seek first Your kingdom and righteousness; and all other things You will add unto us. Have mercy on all those who not know You that You may write their names in the book of life. Be with all those who lack their basic needs and provide for them Lord for we are more valuable than sparrows. Our Father who at in heaven; hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil; for thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory; forever and ever. Amen

 

 

Ephesians 2:4-10

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

INSIGHT

-Christ has given us His everlasting grace which is His precious gift to us through His death and resurrection. Through grace we have been saved and not that we deserve it but it is because of His love and mercy. When we were dead to transgressions, Christ died for us and had raised us up to sit with Him in the heavenly realms. We are then God’s handiwork’s created in Christ Jesus to do good works for the advancement of His Kingdom.

PRAYER

We come to Your throne or grace Jesus asking for mercy and grace, hear us Oh Lord. Forgive us all our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness we humbly ask You. We have been crucified with You Christ and it is no longer us who live but You who live in us. Bring us to these realizations that light in us like the firmament You intended us to become; before the foundations of this world. Lord we forget everyone but You at this time and dedicate our hearts, minds and desires to You. Your presence and grace only do we desire. Give us the grace Lord to run the race of faith diligently and to finish our course. We ask for the grace to share with those who are called to occupy the empty thrones in Your kingdom, to give them words of life that will keep them on the path of life that will impart to them the faith to do what they have been called to do. Your throne of judgment is also the throne of grace, we humbly ask You for the grace to serve You selflessly. We ask for the grace to love You so much that we may be delivered from the delusions and self-centeredness that pervert our lives. Give us Your heart; give us Your love Jesus; that we may love You with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. We ask Your grace Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin, righteousness and judgement. We ask Your grace Holy Spirit to testify that Jesus is the risen Savior who brought salvation and truth upon the world freely through His sacrifice on the cross. We do not deserve Your grace Jesus, that You for loving us with Your everlasting love. Thank You Jesus for Your gift of grace and giving us the privilege to seat with You in the heavenly realms and You have given us the power to reign on earth as kings and priests. All glory, honor and salvation belongs to You Lord; now and forever. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen

 

 

Romans 11:29

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

INSIGHT

-God has blessed us with diverse gifts that we are able to use them effectively in our way of life. Bezalel received wisdom from God and was able to work in gold, silver, bronze, cutting jewels for setting, carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship, in the tabernacle of meeting. Bazalel worked hand in hand with Aholiab who also had wisdom and was a gifted artisan (Exodus 31:3-6). Joseph obtained the gift of interpreting dreams. Likewise, Daniel received the gift of obtaining dreams and interpreting them (Daniel 2:6). God has given us unique gifts and talents that make us excel in certain areas of life. Like Bezalel, Aholiab, Joseph and Daniel, such gifts make room for us and bring us before great men (Proverbs 18:16), and once the Lord gives you a gift, He never takes it back. We need to ask God to reveal the gifts and talents to us as we make effort to sharpen them for our own good and for benefit of others, all for the glory of His name.

PRAYER

Thank You Lord for Your love, mercy and blessings upon our lives. Thank You for this far that You have brought us and for the gifts and talents that You have given us. Fill us with Your wisdom so that we may become agents of change in the world according to what is written in our books in heaven. Give us, our scientists, doctors, nurses, leaders and innovators wisdom to find new solutions to problems that trouble the world including COVID-19 and help us to explore innovative insights to do things in unique ways. Make known these gifts and talents in us and through us Holy Spirit that we may see great and mighty things that You have in store for us who love You and are called according to Your purposes, for the glory of Your name. Guide us in our purposes here on earth and give fresh insights everyday in everything that we do for the glory of Your name. Amen

 

 

Romans 12:6-8

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

INSIGHT

-We are all created differently with unique gifts that the Holy Spirit bestows unto us. Gifts like prophecy are given to us according to ones faith and before one receives it, he/she must pursue love and desire spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 14:1). Gifts like serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading and showing mercy; should also be done cheerfully with love. Other spiritual gifts include:- word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, working of miracles, discerning of spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:7-10). The Holy Spirit gives us these gifts as He pleases according to what we are destined to do on earth. It is by the grace of God that the Holy Spirit gives us these gifts and the same grace to use them effectively for His kingdom. Sometimes we veer-off our paths and let other preoccupations distract us. Each one has a purpose geared towards the advancement of the kingdom of God. God reminds us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto us. These gifts enable us to accomplish our purposes here on earth and anyone who puts his hand on the plough and looks back is not for His kingdom.

PRAYER

We put our trust in You Lord for Your faithfulness endures forever. We submit our hearts and minds to You Holy Spirit, help us to know You more. We delight ourselves in You always Lord, give us the desires of our heart and help us to accomplish our purposes here on earth. We commit all our ways to You Lord and put our trust in You, bring all our prayers and supplications to pass. We choose to rest in You Lord our God, and wait patiently for You, only in You do we obtain favor. Lord You are our Shepherd, we shall not want for You are always with us. Thank You for the gifts You bestowed unto us before the foundation of this world. May Your mighty works be known through our gifts in all the heavens and the earth and may Your name be praised forever. Thank You for Your grace Jesus upon our lives, increase our faith so that we may tap into more spiritual gifts and abilities as You have called each one of us. Open our hearts Holy Spirit so that we may serve Your and those You have called us to serve cheerfully and with love. Thank You for the plans that You have for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. Amen

 

 

Luke 11:13

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

INSIGHT

Prayer is vital when we seek to receive gifts from God. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman in John 4:10, He said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that if she knew that He is God, she could have asked of the Holy Spirit to come and live in her. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit who gives us eternal life, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). God gives us the most precious gift of the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell in us. Jesus calls us to repent and be baptized in His name for the remission of sins and we shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in us (Acts 2:38). The Holy Spirit dwells in us and gives us the gift of salvation so that we may live forever with him.

SUMMARY

God gives us special and unique gifts as Apostle Paul acknowledges and says, “For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.” (1 Corinthians 7:7). These gifts are most often given for the edification of the church (1 Corinthians 14:12) and for the advancement of His kingdom. Each one of us has been given special gifts and abilities and we should take heed to exercise them to the best of our abilities as the Lord leads us. In the parable of the talents, one was given five talents and made five more, another two talents multiplied them by two and the last; one talent which he wasted by hiding it in the ground (Matthew 25:14-18). We are given gifts according to ones abilities, the grace of God and as the Holy Spirit wills (Hebrews 2:4). The Holy Spirit gives us one or more gifts according to His grace and ones faith. These gifts include: – the gift of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, faith, working of miracles, discerning of spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy, salvation and the Gift of the Holy Spirit in us. These are the gifts and talents that should be utilized in helping us to accomplish our purposes here on earth for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Different people were given diverse gifts as recorded in the Bible. Paul the apostle diligently did his work and finished his race. Like in the parable of the talents, we are called to use our gifts and talents wisely lest they are taken away from us and we are condemned. God also gives us the ability to eat, drink and enjoy the good of all our labor which is also a gift from Him (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13). Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are called to repentance and baptism of water so that we may receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who will raise us up at the last day.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit we welcome You into our hearts, dwells in us and with us at every moment of our lives. You are the only one we desire; to take complete control of our lives, families, businesses, purposes, relationships, marriages, nation and the entire world and direct us in the way we should go. Make every crooked path straight we humbly implore You and establish us in Your truth. We trust in You Holy Spirit and surrender all our hopes and hearts desires unto You. We pray that You may touch all the people who are yet to know You that they may receive Your gift of salvation. Help us to walk with You at every moment of our lives and seek You for who You are not what You give us. Help us to know You more and seek after Your own heart like king David did. Give us the wisdom Holy Spirit to utilize our gifts and abilities well and not waste them away. Visit all those who are sick and have lost hope in life Lord; that You may heal them and comfort them during this difficult season. Take away this COVID-19 virus from the face of the world and grant us wisdom in all things. We are Your children Abba Father, give us every good and precious gift that You desire us to have according to Your great glory. We rejoice in You always for only are worthy of our praise and worship. Give us the grace Holy Spirit to accomplish all that You have called us to do here on earth for the glory of Your name and inherit Your glorious kingdom at Your time. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen

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