A Gift Giver by Alan Smith

Last updated on: December 28, 2011 at 10:28 am by editorconvergingzone

A Gift Giver by Alan Smith 2011-12-28T10:28:31-08:00 editorconvergingzone

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Luke 2:8-12: Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them,”Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” (NKJV)

It was at this time that God wanted to give His greatest Gift to mankind. This Gift would be a living example of the Spirit of God in human form, and God would be giving all that He had in and through this Gift. It is God’s nature to give all of the time, and when He gives, a supernatural element is released. He has given us life, opportunities, food, jobs, the air we breathe, and as noted in the scripture above, even the Gift of a Savior. Just think, every day that is experienced is a day which has been created and given as a gift by the Father. Would you like to give to others as the Father gives to each of us? Would you like to know the secret of the Spirit of giving? Let’s look at the life of Jesus to gain more spiritual understanding of this giving.

Jesus, God’s greatest Gift to the world, has given more to mankind than anyone who has ever been born. He has given us the instructions for how we begin this secret journey of gift giving. First of all, He knew He had to go to the source of all things if He was going to be a Gift Giver. Jesus knew that within Himself He had nothing to give, but when He cooperated and worked with the Father all of a sudden every thing the Father owned became “substance” which He could give away. His “faith” in the Father made Him whole in every thing He did. What a perception Jesus had in being our example of a Gift Giver! Jesus had “faith” that the Father would show Him what He should give each and every day, and His faith became “substance”.

Jesus was also a thinker. He didn’t walk around in a lifeless form. On the contrary, He was always praying; which being interpreted means, He was talking to God. Jesus knew the Father wanted to create and give something new and fresh each day so therefore, Jesus would talk and then think with the Father every day. If we want to be a Gift Giver, we must talk to the Father and then we must think in a certain and a different way. We must understand that how we do things is a direct result of the way we think. If we want to do things in life in a “certain way”, then we must learn to think in a “way” that will be in harmony with the “certain way” we want life to be. Jesus wanted to give so He would “think” in a way which was conducive to giving.

Jesus also wanted to set “free” the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven and He knew that only the “truth” could accomplish this heavenly task. So we see we must “think” in a certain way in order to be in harmony with the “truth”. To think and live life in “truth” for the future requires much more of us than allowing our present surroundings to tell us how to think and live. We must “think” and live in “truth” regardless of our surroundings. This type of “thinking” is creative in nature. So how will we be able to give out of what we now have? Jesus did not think according to His surroundings; no, not at all. Our surroundings are only the truth of the past and not the truth of the future. Our surroundings are proof of past “thinking”. This type of past thinking is very easy and requires no effort, and it will not bring new and fresh things to give away. If we are going to be Gift Givers and give out of the treasures of Heaven, we must start thinking and living for the future and not thinking and living out of the past. We must start doing as Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.” Remember that God is creating a new day every day and He wants us to create it with Him. To do this we must have a creative type of thinking and not a competitive type of thinking. It is very hard to maintain this type of creative thinking, especially when our surroundings contradict the “truth” and our “thinking”. But this is where “faith” comes in.

Heb 11:1: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (NIV)

Every action in the world which is seen will produce an image in the mind that will start a conflict of “past” versus “future”. Only the “truth” sustained by “faith” will change the future. When we walk in this, we will flee from all fear and doubt and walk with the Father into a new day of created abundance from the Kingdom of God. It is from the abundance of this Kingdom that we can give gifts to God and man. God sent His Son to this earth as an eternal gift to mankind. God is the Creator of all things, but this is a minor gift. His major gift is that of giving: giving freely; giving when there is no appreciation; giving when He is not recognized; giving not expecting anything in return; giving because He first loved us. God gives because He sees into the future. He knows that giving freely is pure spirit and pure spirit will last forever. It transcends time and space and will last for eternity. The life of Jesus was given freely and God expects nothing in return from us. All we need to do is receive this wonderful gift from our Father.

Receive this One called Jesus today and receive the true gift of Christmas. When we have done this, we may live and walk through life asking the Father each and every day what we can give. Giving is not just one day a year, but instead, the lifestyle of heaven. Let’s build a fire within our souls today and allow our hearts to be warmed with the Spirit of Christmas. Let’s give what the Father says He wants us to give. Let’s not give out of necessity, but out of hearing our heavenly Father say to us: “Help that mother with food for her children this week. Or, give that homeless man a hug and tell him that Jesus loves him just the same”. Giving comes from a heart that is in harmony with the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s give out of the riches of the Heavenly Kingdom those gifts which have eternal value.

1 Corinthians 13:13: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)

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