The Gift

Throughout the year, I listen carefully while talking with family and friends. When they say, “I’d love to have…”, I take note of that. Doing so, along with listing those ideas in places I’m sure to see them, helps me choose gifts loved ones will enjoy receiving on a special occasion.

As I reflect on gift-giving, several Scripture passages come to mind. One of my favorites is found in the third chapter of the New Testament book of Acts. As the story opens, Peter and John are on their way to worship at the temple. When they hear a lame man begging for money, they stop. Peter says to him, “I don’t have what you’re asking for, but I do have what you need.”

Then, in the name of Jesus and with His power, Peter commands the man to rise up and walk. Although the man had been lame since birth, he stands up and begins leaping and praising God for the gift given to him, a gift far greater than the money he had been asking for.

Likewise, our Heavenly Father knows what we truly need and will supply it in His time and in His way. For example, because God knew the people of all time needed a Savior, He sent His Son at the time God had planned. (See Galatians 4.) And, oh, the gifts He brought. Not only forgiveness of sins and the right to become children of God and to enjoy Him now and throughout all eternity but also love, peace, joy, and so much more.  

We may think we want whatever is inside beautifully packaged gifts, but we need a Savior far more. And God has given us one.

Let’s praise Him for that awesome Gift—and for His other wonderful gifts too numerous to count.

On the Way!

An online merchant sends me a notification that my order has been shipped. In most cases, I also receive a link I can use to track the package. On the day the order is to arrive, I receive another notification that the item is out for delivery.

I like having access to that information. Once I know the item is on its way, my anticipation builds. And when I receive an “out for delivery” notification, I listen for the noise of the delivery truck. I go to the door and thank the delivery person. If I’ve been away from home on delivery day, upon my return, I check the front and side entrances to the house (or the mailbox) to see if the package was delivered.

This morning, I received an “out for delivery” notification. [See photo.] I clicked the link to the tracking information. As I looked at it, I realized afresh that while I’d worked at my tasks and while I’d slept, people had been working day and night to get the item to me. Other people had been involved in the manufacturing and marketing processes before it could be shipped and sent to me. A virtual army of people had been used to provide the item I wanted.

Realizing that so much goes on behind the scenes reminds me to wait patiently for God to act. He knows, even though I don’t, what’s going on and when and how and through whom His answers to prayers will come. And, oh, the joy when His gift arrives.

A Blessing and a Response

A sweet friend writes this Scripture reference* on every card she sends to me: Numbers 6:24-26.

I'm thankful that that blessing, originally spoken centuries ago, has been preserved and remains one we can use to let our loved ones know that we are asking the LORD to bless them with His protection, His light, His favor, and His peace. 

This is the kind of prayer the LORD loves to answer. Verses abound that say, "The LORD longs to be gracious to you." Since He is eager to be gracious to us, shouldn't we be even more eager to receive the blessings He wants to bestow on those of us who love Him?  

Perhaps we should respond with words similar to these:

O LORD, I thank You that You bless me and keep me. I gratefully acknowledge that every good gift I've received has come from You. I thank You for keeping careful watch over me, guarding me, sustaining me, even while I sleep, even when I wander away from You, even when I need to mend my ways…

Like a child seeking to please a parent, I'm overjoyed when I sense that You, in essence, are smiling upon me even though You and I know I’m far from perfect. As You cast Your light upon me, it illumines my mind and heart and brightens my world.

So, yes, LORD, continue to bless me and keep me.

*To hear a contemporary song based on those ancient words, click here.

What to Give?

Since 2012, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday has been called Giving Tuesday and kicks off the official giving season. 

On this global day of giving (and several days prior), I receive several emails urging me to donate to various organizations and charitable causes. Those appeals make it seem as if the only way to participate in Giving Tuesday is to contribute financially. However, donating money is only one way to give.

My niece wrote this message in the sand. Thank you, Janna!

For example, the Bible repeatedly tells us to give thanks. First and foremost, we are to thank God for all the ways He blesses us day by day and year by year. We can (and should) thank others, too. The person who taught us to read. The friend who calls to see how we're feeling. The person who gives us an unexpected opportunity. The one who helps us catch up on our tasks. The child who picks a flower for us. The shopper with an overflowing cart who notices that ours contains only a few items and says, "You go first." 

They have given to us. One way we can give back to them is by thanking them.  

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks;

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

--1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NKJV

Angels Among Us

“What’s inside?” I wondered as I eagerly opened a package Shelly (the daughter of a friend who had undergone chemo) had mailed to me. I opened the card before opening the two beautifully wrapped gifts.

The printed verse on the card spoke to my heart for it stated that miracles happen every day because of the angels who are all around us—angels (whether friends or strangers) who say a kind word or call us at just the right time, etc. 

As I read Shelly's handwritten note, I knew that it was the real treasure, no matter what else was in the box. “Johnnie, here’s a little something to put on your Thanksgiving table to remind you how thankful we are for you. And another little something to wear to remind you that you have been an ‘angel’ to our family. Thank you so much for all your help.”

After brushing away my tears, I opened the gifts: a set of small, wise-old-owl salt and pepper shakers and a beautiful bracelet made of small multi-faceted glass beads, delicate filigree silver separators, and four small, evenly-spaced, silver “angel” charms. 

I called Shelly right away. “You didn’t need to send anything. I gladly did whatever I could to help your mother.”

Helping others is my custom, because, through the years, I’ve received help from countless “angels” who came to my rescue in so many ways. Some were family members or friends. Some were total strangers—prior to our encounter. Some “angels” I’ve never met; yet, their words--found in books, blogs, cards, music, etc.--have counseled and comforted me. Some "angels" have ministered encouragement to me by letting me know a particular “Reflections” column blessed them in some way.

Since “angels” have so often and willingly ministered to me, I gladly extend help and kindness to others. Freely I have received; freely I give. (See Matthew 10:8.)

As I thanked God for the card and gifts Shelly sent in early October and then reflected on others who have ministered to me, the Thanksgiving season started even earlier that year. I also thanked God for the abundant grace and mercy He always provides. Undeserved, yes, but always supplied.

Does God appear at my side with whatever I need? No. He sends an “angel” to deliver it. The “angel” is an ordinary person who, often unknowingly, is sent on a divine mission to deliver whatever unique gift God wants His child to have.

Since I know that God is continually gracious and faithful, I wholeheartedly agree with the words to the old hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” penned in 1923 by Thomas O. Chisholm. In fact, I often hum the words, especially those in the chorus: “All I have needed thy hand hath provided; / Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” 

(To read the lyrics and listen to the piano accompaniment, visit http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19).

©2013 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill

The Three R's of Happiness

As Abraham Lincoln so rightly said, “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Even if you have already determined to be happy, let me share with you three things I do to increase my happiness. I urge you to try them!

Remind myself that I am loved.

For over 36 years I’ve treasured a tiny rosebud encased in a clear container no bigger than my thumb. Jessie brought it to me the day she visited me during my weeklong stay in the hospital.

Have I kept it because it’s valuable? No. It probably wouldn’t sell for a nickel at a yard sale. Yet, I cherish it since it reminds me of her love for me, a love she expressed in many ways during the years we lived across the street from each other. It also prompts me to express love, as she did.

Reach out to others.

When Mrs. Ruby (a new friend and fellow writer) heard me say I usually put off going for my goals, she reached out to encourage me by cross-stitching and framing this quote for me: “Opportunities are never lost...someone will take the one you miss.”

Does her 5x7-inch gift have monetary value? No. But I treasure it because it reminds me that she loved me enough to make something that would keep those words before me long after she had passed away. It also prompts me to reach out and share wise words with others, as she did.

Dewey, a dear friend who was the Discipleship Training Director at the church we attended, also reached out to me in a meaningful way. One Sunday evening as I left the room where I’d finished teaching a D. T. class, he gave me a tiny gift I still treasure. When he slipped that little scrap of paper into my hand, his eyes sparkled, as did mine when I read what he had written: I appreciate you! What a much-needed uplift those three words gave me.

Is that gift valuable? No. It’s only a scrap of paper! But I cherish it. It reminds me that some people do appreciate me. It prompts me to find a way to affirm and encourage others.

Record my gratitude.

I look around at all the wonderful gifts I’ve been given and list a few of them in a gratitude journal every day. As my list grows, I begin to notice even more things I’m thankful for, including the little things, which often are much more meaningful than I realized.

Dear Reader, do try these three things, especially when life gets hard. You’ll be amazed at how much you are loved—by God and by others. The more thankful you are for the love you’ve been shown, the happier you will be--and the happier you’ll make others feel as you love and encourage them. 

Grateful

A birthday bouquet from a friend.

Each expression of love I received on my birthday made me feel extra happy. Phone calls. Text messages. Emails. Facebook messages. Cards. Gifts. Visits. Hugs. Kindnesses. 

Although I felt deeply grateful for each person who remembered me on my birthday, I felt even more grateful to God who has given me so many years of life--and precious family and friends with whom to share it. 

Those feelings prompted me to say "Yes!" when I read these words in a book* a friend sent me for my birthday: "Father...thank you for breath. May I use it only to praise you. Thank you for life. May I use it only to exalt you."  

*Julie Ackerman Link, 100 Prayers Inspired by the Psalms, p. 27

Count the Gifts!

I love the old song Count Your Blessings, which was written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. and published in 1897. It inspires me to count my blessings, and as I name them one by one, I'm always surprised at what God has done for me. The awareness of His love cheers me, especially on days when more things go wrong than go right.

Several years ago, my daughter gave me a copy of Ann Voskamp's wonderful book One Thousand Gifts. As I eagerly read it and began to list the "gifts" God had given me, my happiness and well-being increased significantly.

For four years, I rarely missed a day listing gifts and thanking Him for them. By the time I'd listed over 4,000 gifts, I slacked off on actually writing down my blessings because by that time the habit of noticing gifts was so well-formed in me that I felt I didn't need to physically list them.

However, if I'm feeling anxious or stressed, I sit down and take a look around. I thank God for the gifts I see, and for eyes with which to see them. I thank Him for the precious people He's placed in my life. I thank Him for the songs and books others have written that encourage me and teach me. Pretty soon, I'm calm and cheerful. Counting my blessings and praising God for His goodness to me has changed me even if my circumstances remain the same. 

My Best

My journal entry for December 29, 2018, reveals an ongoing struggle I have in regard to writing. I know God called me to write, and I do write almost every day. Yet, because I fear that my writing isn’t as good as the writing others do, I rarely post and/or submit my work.   

After I’d confessed my sin of disobedience and cried out to God for help, He answered in an immediate and surprising way. Here’s how:

When my husband, who had no knowledge of what I’d written in my journal while we'd sat together in the sunroom, asked Google Home to play Christmas carols, the first one up was “The Little Drummer Boy.”

“Turn it up! Turn it up!”

“Why?”

“I need to hear every word,” I replied.

I listened, wide-eyed with wonder, because I realized God was speaking to me through the words written by Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. Her song is about a fictional lad who’d been invited to see the Christ-child. As he noticed the fine gifts others were bringing the Baby, the boy also wanted to give the King a gift but felt he had nothing that was good enough.

In a flash of inspiration, he asked, “Shall I play for you?”

Mary nodded.

The lad played his best for Him.

The Baby smiled at the little drummer.

Happy tears filled my eyes as I realized that Christ continues to delight in even little gifts gladly given to Him by those who love Him. I am now resolved to give Him my best, even though my best is not as impressive as the best of others, for I understand that He happily accepts whatever I am able to offer Him. 

To listen to the entire song, click here.

Pockets of Peace

NOTE: The story below is a fiction one I wrote in 2006. I hope you enjoy it and that you will let me know what you think of it.

A smile begins to form as I sit at the kitchen table and watch the softly-falling snow as it slowly hides the brown earth underneath a blanket of white. A soothing calm settles over me as I gaze at the beauty outside my window.

I linger over my morning coffee, reluctant to focus on the bitter realities of the day. My health is failing fast, as fast as early morning frost disappears under the rays of a rising sun. My daughter Dianne and her family no longer live nearby. Though they had to move across the country to find work, I miss them terribly. And I need them more than ever, now that the man who has been the love of my life for 55 years is slipping away from me, too. Alzheimer’s, the doctor says. Some days, he knows who I am. Other days, he looks at me as if I’m someone he’s supposed to know but doesn’t.

Here lately, my spirit feels as cold as my body did during the harsh winters my parents and I lived in a ramshackle farmhouse heated by a drafty fireplace in the living room and a wood-burning stove in the kitchen.

But, I say to myself as I sip the last of my coffee, we survived those bone-chilling days. By the grace of God, I’ll get through these difficult days, too. I may not be “at ease” every day, but I know I’ll have the strength and resources I need to get through this tough time.

I become even more convinced of that as I recall what happened yesterday. The doorbell rang around 8 a.m. When I peeped through the mini-blinds on the kitchen door, I saw Nancy, one of Dianne’s dearest friends. “My goodness!” I gasped, holding the door wide open. “What on earth do you have?”

“Just a little bit of Christmas cheer,” she said, juggling her festive load as she stepped inside.

Within minutes, she’d placed a miniature Christmas tree on the breakfast table and had unwrapped plates of food that looked more delicious than any I’d seen in magazines.

“Now, for the gifts,” she said cheerily, handing two packages to me. “Let’s get Tom so he can enjoy this, too.”

       

We found him sitting in his recliner facing the picture window, gazing out at the falling snow, his eyes as blank as an unpainted canvas.

       

“Honey,” I said, “come and see what Nancy brought us.”

       

He followed me, his steps (and mine) unsteady and slow. As we seated ourselves at the table, Nancy warmed our food in the microwave oven. “I thought you two would be up and around,” she said. “So, I rushed over to start Christmas day off just right for you.”

       

Other friends dropped by later, bringing gifts and offers of help for Tom and me. One neighbor promised to cut our grass next summer. Another said, “I’ll take you to the doctor whenever you need to go.” The young mother who lives four doors down said, “I’ll deliver your groceries.”

       

So, as I sit here today, I’m greatly comforted by their expressions of love and offers of help. I realize such kindnesses can’t remove my difficulties. But, like the snowflakes drifting down one by one and covering the bleakness of the winter landscape, accumulated kindnesses will mask my hardships—for brief periods, providing me with welcomed pockets of peace like this one.

No Inkling

Note: The following column originally appeared in the Oct. 2017 issue of Chapel Hill News and Views magazine, for which I've written a monthly column since Feb. 2008. 

Wonderful gifts have been given to me in recent days, gifts I’ve had no inkling were being prepared.

First, an encouraging e-mail arrived from a woman who had read one of my columns in a magazine. (And I’d thought no one was reading them!!!)

Second, an email arrived from another stranger. She said that my story (The Cry of a Woman’s Heart) that had been published in 2002 in Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul was one of the 101 stories chosen for publication in Chicken Soup for the Soul: A Book of Christmas Miracles. (And I had no inkling that anyone was re-reading that story!)

The third gift (a copy of Hannah Whitall Smith’s devotional book, God Is Enough) arrived in my mailbox. When I opened the padded envelope, I learned that a dear friend who knows how much I am strengthened by the writings of HWS had ordered it and had it shipped directly to me.

In each of these situations, I’d had no inkling that a special blessing was headed my way. No inkling the impact of each of those special gifts would have on my life. No inkling that these gifts would become the inspiration for this column. But God knew my needs and chose to use those dear people to encourage and uplift me at a time when I was feeling really “down” due to ongoing struggles with vertigo and extreme physical weakness. (The worse I felt, the more I doubted my ability to write the messages God sent from His heart to my heart to the hearts of others.)

As I reflected on that experience, I saw the similarity between it and the Chicken Soup story in which I told about how God used people to meet the cries of a woman’s heart.

     

She had no inkling that help was on the way. No inkling it would arrive the very day her need was most desperate. No inkling that I, a total stranger, would show up at her door with donated resources that were an answer to her cries for help.

      

That experience had God’s name written all over it! I was merely the delivery person He chose to use. Likewise, the special gifts I received recently also have God’s name written all over them. Two came from total strangers; one came from a friend. To none of them had I expressed any desire for what they provided. Yet, my loving heavenly Father knew my needs, for I’d cried out to Him about them. Thus, He motivated the people to send the gifts directly to me –and at the time when I needed them most! How awesome is that??? How awesome and wonderfully kind God is!!!

      

It thrills my very soul to know that God can do such miracles and that I don’t have to know what good things He’s preparing for me in order to love Him and trust Him. I just have to believe that He IS working all things together for His glory and for my good, as Romans 8:28 says.

      

Even if He, in His infinite wisdom, should choose to send “bad news” into my life, I pray I will have the faith to look upon those things as gifts from His loving hand, gifts He chooses to use to bless me, gifts that will give me opportunities to learn to trust Him in ALL situations.

Gifts

The “Happy Birthday” bouquet of beautiful flowers delighted me. I immediately sent my friend a text message to let her know the florist had delivered it. In addition to delighting in the sight of the bouquet, I spent hours photographing it. As I experimented with the settings on two cameras and external flashes, I took an even closer look at the individual flowers that comprised the bouquet and was awed by the perfection I saw in each one.

As I worked, I also felt thankful to have such a caring friend who knows how much I love to photograph beautiful flowers, whether from a florist or in a neighbor’s yard or in a formal garden or alongside the road. Her gift reminded me that she was thinking about me and was celebrating with me, though we live 150 miles apart.

The more I thought about her gift and others I’d received, the more I realized that it’s not the price of the gift that matters. It’s the unspoken message that says, “I remember you. And to prove that I do, I’m giving you this gift” (or sending a card or calling to say hello, etc.). For example, I cherish this message my 8-year-old grandson wrote on the card he made for me: “I am the most happiest boy in the world because of you!!!!!!!!” 

Truly, it’s not the price of the gift that matters. It knowing that we are remembered—and loved.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

Therefore I have drawn you [to Me] with lovingkindness.”

~God

Jeremiah 31:3, New American Standard Bible

Gifts We Leave Behind

And through his [Abel's] faith, though he died, he still speaks.

Hebrews 11:4

When my husband I visited friends whose 57-year-old son had died suddenly two years ago, they gave us a CD of music their son had written and performed. How thankful I am that his family had taken time to collect samples of his work and to save them (on CD) for posterity. Their gift of his beautiful instrumental music has blessed me so much. For example, I feel such peace as I listen to his music while I’m writing or doing household tasks, etc.

That gift prompted me to think of other gifts I cherish, gifts created by persons who are now deceased: Mama’s hand-sewn aprons, crocheted blankets, handmade quilts; Ruby’s counted cross stitch plaque; B. B.'s quotes he wrote in beautiful calligraphy….

Even though their voices are silent now and their hands still, their lives still “speak” and continue to bless me through not only the memories I have of them but also through the physical things they took time to create/preserve for me.

As I reflected on their gifts, I wondered, What gifts am I preparing to leave behind for others?

I thought of several, all unfinished at this point. I’m reading through the Bible each year and highlighting certain words and phrases and making notes in the margins, as is my custom. During the many years I taught Sunday School, I used a New American Standard Bible (NASB) that featured wide margins, as well as study notes by Charles Ryrie. In 1997, church librarians, with whom I’d worked for several years, gave me a New Living Translation (NLT) as a parting gift when my husband and I moved away. I used it until this year (2015) when I purchased an English Standard Version (ESV) so I can more easily follow along as my pastor reads aloud Scripture passages during worship services. Thus, I have two Bibles ready to give to my grandchildren and a third Bible that will be marked from Genesis to Revelation by the end of this year (2015). However, since I have four grandchildren and only three Bibles, I pray the Lord lets me live at least long enough to prepare a fourth Bible to leave behind.

I’m also collecting all of my newspaper columns and publishing them in a series of books, which I plan to leave for my family. One book is finished (1984-1992). However, I still must prepare books of columns written between 1995 and the present (2015). That’s a huge project!

I also want to compile my poetry into book format, a lesser project, to be sure, but one I’d like to do.

I also want to digitize slides, photos, and videos so as to create a collection of family photo that will include the names and ages of the person(s) shown in the photos, along with brief notes about the events. Now, that’s the most challenging project of all since the pictures are in different formats and span a half-century!

How will I ever get all this done? By working a few minutes here, a few minutes there on a regular basis. But I will do that in order to leave behind gifts that will bless others!

List the Gifts!

“I’m cancer free!” a friend said to me in an e-mail.

“I’m so thankful…,” I replied. “And I’m going to write this HUGE blessing down in my 1,000 Gifts journal—NOW!”

Note: My friend knew which journal I was talking about because I’d given her one just like mine; and she, too, is experiencing big changes in attitude and outlook due to listing the “gifts” God gives day by day. (We’d started listing our gifts a couple of months ago, after beginning to read Ann Voskamp’s inspiring book, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are.)

My friend’s wonderful news was #587 on my list.  Next (#588) was a mention of the delicious dinner my husband and I had had with our two oldest grandsons (ages 16 and 13) at The Island Cow Restaurant on Sanibel Island, Florida. At first glance, that entry seemed far less significant than #587. However, my thankfulness for #588 increased all the more as, later that same evening, I heard about a grandmother who, along with other family members, was waiting at a hospital to find out if her granddaughter would live.

My heart ached for them, and I did pray earnestly—and late into the night—that God would help them and bring good out of that situation, which He can do, as Paul says in Romans 8:28.

Although I remained so sad about the woman’s granddaughter, I also realized how truly blessed my husband and I were to have enjoyed a yummy meal with happy and healthy grandsons.

The following morning, as I was reading Matthew Henry’s Commentary on 2 Samuel  22:1-51, I had an “ah-ha!” moment as I read these words:

Remarkable preservations should be particularly mentioned in our praises…

Those who receive signal mercies from God, ought to give him the glory.

Matthew Henry then points out that the very day God delivered David, David sang a song of praise to God, while God’s mercy was still fresh on his mind.

Dear Reader, daily listing God’s mercies, while they’re still fresh on our minds, keeps us reminded of His great goodness to us. By listing seemingly simple things like enjoying a meal with loved ones, we’ll be reminded of the remarkable preservations that He has given to us.

Apart from His tender mercies, all so undeserved, we would be the ones weeping in a hospital and praying for a life-saving miracle for a loved one.

My precious mother knew the truth of that, for she often said, “We should thank God for what He’s given us—and thank Him for what He has spared us from.”

Dear Reader, we can do both if we do two things:

1.  Notice and then list seemingly ordinary ways God says, “I love you.” For example, I’ve noticed—and written down—gifts such as these:

#25—Family photos showing “the way we were.” Happy memories!

#34—Overcast skies holding the promise of much-needed rain.

#99—Time today to “just be.”

2. Ponder the things He has spared us from. For example, relative to the three gifts above, I could also list: 

• few unhappy memories
• no severe drought
• relatively few days with no time “to just be."

Even though my current list now contains almost 1800 “good gifts” I’ve received from His loving hand in less than a year since I started keeping the journal, the list could easily double if I were to also list the things He’s spared me from.

Adding to the list each day has helped me to become even more thankful for the obviously "good gifts" He's given me--and for the things He has spared me from!

A photo of pages in my "Gifts" journal

Ways to Say, "I Love You."

After I’d (belatedly!!!!) e-mailed a friend some photos I’d taken at her husband’s retirement party, she replied, saying, “Thank you, Johnnie. You’re the best!”

I replied, saying, “I don't know about ‘the best,’ but my heart motivates me to love people and to do my best to let them know I do. Taking pictures (and sharing them, even if weeks late) is one way I say, ‘I love you, and I'm happy to be part of your life, part of your special moments!’”

Participating in special moments with family and friends is indeed a joy; but when those memories are recorded, shared, and preserved in pictures and/or in words, then the special moments can be enjoyed again and again every time the pictures are viewed and/or the words are read. That’s why I delight in being a photographer and a writer. 

Dear Reader, what gifts/talents do you use to demonstrate your love for others? Counseling? Cooking? Coaching? Chauffeuring? Feeding? Encouraging? Nursing? Repairing? Sewing? Teaching? Visiting?... Whatever it is that we enjoy doing and are “good at” can easily be used to enrich the lives of others. If we’re constantly on the lookout for ways to use our skill sets, we and others will be greatly blessed. And, more importantly, we will honor our Lord and Savior.

“A new commandment I give to you, 

that you love one another: 

just as I have loved you, 

you also are to love one another. 

By this 

all people will know that you are my disciples, 

if you have love for one another.”

~Jesus (John 13:34-35, ESV)

Gifts Are Waiting!

The Sunday before Christmas, our pastor preached a wonderful sermon about “The Gift of Prayer.” During the message, he said we are the ones who lose if we reject God’s invitation to confidently “draw near the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, ESV). Whether we stubbornly refuse the gift of prayer or simply neglect to draw near to God, we miss out on the wonderful gifts God wants to give us, gifts He has already prepared for us, gifts just waiting until such time as we turn to Him and ask for them.

Upon hearing that, I immediately thought about the Christmas gifts that were wrapped and waiting in my house. How sad—unthinkable, actually—that the intended recipients of those gifts would fail to express any interest in receiving them, that they would go on their merry way without paying any attention to me and to the gifts I've lovingly provided for them. Yet, we do that same kind of thing when we fail to pray. For example, the Bible clearly says, “You do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:2b-3, ESV).

Dear Reader, all sorts of wonderful gifts are in God’s storehouse of blessings, gifts with our name on them, gifts just waiting for us to humbly ask God for them and then gratefully receive them. Let us, then, draw near the throne of grace every day!