Giver of gifts!

                                                 
What does the word “gift” even mean? Here is the dictionaries definition:

1.“something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor towardsomeone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.”

2. something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or withoutits being earned: Those extra points he got in the game were a total gift.


The sound of shredding paper is deafening, the shrieks, the screams, the laughs, the thrills, the joy lighting upon the faces. What Christmas day must look like to the Maker of it! What it must sound like, all combined and done simultaneously! What does He hear on that day? He sees it all and hears everything, and to think, every gift that anyone receives on that day (or any day) they have only because of Him. So really He is the Giver of all gifts!  And I am tempted to think on that day, do I even give thought to the giver of all gifts?

People rushing everywhere, they shove this person aside, running into that cart, grabbing anything and everything in sight. They stand in line after line, hour after hour, just to buy gift after gift for the special people in their worlds. Chaos! Pure chaos! Those are the words that best describe the all dreaded “black Friday.”

From that Friday on, the stores are filled with people looking for gifts for everyone on their lists. Some people’s lists are bigger than others, but their goal is all the same : to get a gift for someone in their world, to make that person feel special and loved.
We all know the feeling of joy, that inexpressible happiness, that surge of love and excitement, that comes when someone opens the gift we bought for them.

Whether you are a millionare and have just gifted your child with the latest  most expensive gifts, or you are the little child who has saved his money to buy his mother her favorite candy bar and give her his home-made card, the joy in giving is all the same. It does not matter whether you spent a lot, a little, or even none at all, a gift is a gift, and the joy of giving is always the same!
I can remember giving someone a gift this past summer, and it was a pretty substantial gift, it cost me something.

I also recall taking part in a “white elephant” in my dorm at Faith a few weeks ago. We were not allowed to spend any money, but rather had to give stuff that we found in our rooms and did not mind giving away. I took great care in going through my room, I made sure to find things that people would want and use. To be quite honest, both joys in giving were the same! Oh sure, the price tags were much, much different, but the joy was the same!

I wonder if the Giver of all gifts feels the same? And to answer that question, I give a definite YES! Why? Because we are made in the very image of God, and so we know that He feels that same joy, that inexpressible happiness.

However His is much different, it is fuller! He knows it better than we do, because ours is marred and tainted by sin, and often has a streak of selfishness in it, making it less tasteful and real. God’s however is pure, and a holy joy! You cannot separate His attributes, He is all merciful and yet all justice at the same time. WE cannot comprehend this because we are finite, and He infinite. So in other words we get only a small ray of this joy, God gets the whole sun! We get a small drop, God gets the whole cup!

I got to thinking about this idea gift giving last night, when I shared the Christmas story (the greatest gift) with the Kids at Kid’s club last night. And ironically, but definitely not coincidental this morning I opened my Bible to Ps. 127:2, and read about gifts that God gives again, see if you can catch it:

“It is vain for you to rise up early,

To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.”


Did you catch that gift? Sleep! God gives us sleep! He invented it, made it so that our bodies needed it, why He even provided a specific time for it, when there is minimal light so that we can get the rest we need!

Ironically the next verse I read in devotions also holds another gift inside of it. Psalm 127:3:

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.”


This one is more well-known. We have often seen it on posters in the nursery. And I’m sure that you, like me, have used this passage to remind you of this truth, especially when the children in your world are being exceptionally hard!

While I was encouraged reading about these two gifts that my Beloved Heavenly Father has given me, and while it was a joy to reflect on the specific “rest” He has given me (I let myself sleep in till 6:30 this morning instead of rising at 5am lol). And while I enjoyed reflecting on the specific children He has gifted me with (my cousin whom I get to see everyday, and also another babysitting child my mom watches, my neighbors and the kids at all stars whom I saw last night). While all that was joyful to reflect on and thank the Lord for this morning, I was also spanked by my Father this morning.

The “spanking” is found in the first part of verse 2 of psalm 127.

It says  "It is vain for you to rise up early,

To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;”


At first this verse seems to be able to preach and push for a 7pm “go to bed time” and a9am “wake up time.” This way we would not be rising early, or sitting up late. But that’s where the end of the verse comes in: “To eat the bread of sorrows.” To eat the bread of sorrows is pointless and wasteful. It is meaningless. So NO this verse is not saying go to bed early and wake up late, rather it is telling us to get the rest we need. Not to rise early to do frivolous and pointless things (which would be my tendency because I am an early bird) and not to stay up late doing pointless and frivolous things.
Instead we are to use the time we have been given wisely, so that we will not abuse the gift of sleep that God gives us!

Just like with any gift we give to others, God’s gifts can be abused! That is the point of the first part of Ps. 127:2. It is talking about how we abuse God’s gift of sleep. We want too much, or take too little.

Very tragically, and much worse perhaps, is how the gift found in the next verse (Ps. 127:3) is abused. We all know that the abuse of children, the precious and wonderful gift God has given, has been abused. I don’t need to expound on the ways they are abused: abortion, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. The numbers and ways are countless. The stories sickening, the lives ruined, heart wrenching.

And I have only touched on two of the gifts of God! These two, are gifts God has given, and yet as with every gift He gives, we take them for granted. How often do we unwrap His gifts only to be found ungrateful, wanting more, or wanting something different (and I am not just talking solely about the two gifts of sleep and children above, I am speaking to all His countless gifts!) We are found abusive of the wonderful gifts He gives.

And to think, that He, like us, longs to see us unwrap His gifts and use them. Longs to see the warmth and the smiles light upon our faces, to hear the joyous shrieks, and chuckles and laughter (depending on your age). To see us use them in the proper way, timing, and the proper amount!

But so often He finds us doing the exact opposite! And to think, everyday is a gift giving day for Him! Not just on our birthday, not just on Christmas, but EVERYDAY He LOADS us with gifts to enjoy! And to think that sometimes we do not even notice, we totally miss that He gave us a gift.

Have you ever been there? I’m certain you could easily think of a time that you gave a gift to someone and they abused it, or were ungrateful, or wanted more, or something different, or took too much, or perhaps they didn’t say “thank you” (like the nine lepers) but have you ever given a gift and had the person not even notice that you had given them a gift? To be honest, I’ve had all the above happen, but never had I seen someone not notice a gift I have given. And yet we do that to God, and often it is because we do not even know that He has given us a gift. Or we don’t recognize it as from Him.

And so with those thoughts, spurred by my time with God this morning, my heart was stirred to search scripture and to find more of the gifts from the Giver of all gifts. This way I can be grateful, I can see how not to abuse them! And so here is some of the things I have found. But I did’nt find them all (we may never until we reach Heaven)!!

I would be SO encouraged if you would go and search too! Join my in this quest, to unwrap the gifts from the Giver of ALL GIFTS! Come, join me at the Christmas tree, and please share what you unwrap here as a comment. Share the verse, and what has been given (if it is not explicitly obvious). THANKYOU! And may you and I take great JOY in unwrapping these gifts, and in bringing JOY inexpressible to the Giver’s heart as well!!

The greatest Gift ever given, without whom would be no other gifts: JESUS CHRIST, the sacrifice for sins!
Gen. 3:15 (the Proto evangelium= first mention of the gospel)
“And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”


The end of this verse talks about the fact that Satan would bruise Christ’s heal (the crucifixion) which we know would not be that bad of a wound, but Christ would bruise Satan’s head, which is a deadly blow! We have the victory!!

There are countless other places where the greatest of gifts is recorded, but probably the most well known is John 3:16, don’t let this just pass as normal, just mundane, as often it does! Think of the magnitude of love that the Father had for us! For me He died!

John 3:16
“For God so loved”: This answers why He gave the gift, everyone has a reason as to why they give the gifts they have.

“the World”: You know many many people, but chances are you will not give everyone a gift, but God did!

“That He gave”:Just like all His gifts, or any gift for that matter, it is undeserved and you can’t do anything to earn it!


“His only Son.”: It was’nt like so many of the gifts that we give, which take really no sacrifice at all. This was His one and ONLY Son! This was a sacrifice!


“That whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but will have everlasting life.”: All gifts have a benefit, a certain reason and way that they bring joy to the gifted, and the gift that God gave was no different! Jesus Christ would bridge the gap, He would make it possible for humans, the created, to once again have fellowship with God, the Creator!

Imagine it, before there was time, God decided to make a world with the Holy Spirit and Jesus His Son. And they all are omniscient, they know everything, even the future, they knew that one of their top creations (Angel, Lucifer) would fall, and with Satan many other angels would fall as well. And they also could see what would happen next, they knew that Satan would tempt Eve, and she would fall and Adam with her. And that sin would reign in every man’s heart after them.


They saw and knew this would happen. But they also knew that Jesus would pay the price. Jesus would do it, it was planned from the beginning of time, and out of love for man!

It is the gift that surpasses ALL time!! It is the One gift that we always will have!


Here are some of the first gifts that were placed under the Christmas tree of life:


1. Gen 1-2: He gave us creation!!!


2.Gen. 2:7: He has given us a body (“He formed man”). And He has given us life, and not just life like the animals have, He breathed into us eternal life! Two deep and crucial truths can be found within this gift.


A. We are separate from animals. We are different!
B. We will live forever! No matter who you are you will live FOREVER. The question is not if you will live forever, but rather where you will live (heaven or hell) and how you will live. If Hell is the destination then it will be a life forever stuck in ones sinful heart and depraved body.

The worse thing about hell is perhaps not the heat, perhaps not the darkness, perhaps not the thirst, but rather that one is stuck forever in their sin, unquenched, and growing day by day but never satisfied!

Or if the destination is Heaven, then life abundant, free from sin and with your Savior, finally able to Worship Him in truth and out of a pure heart!

So the gift in this verse is life eternal:

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”


3.Gen. 2: 21-24: God gave us companionship, (this is the passage where He created Eve for Adam). He gave us family as well.


4. Gen. 1:29: He gave us plants specifically:

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

5. Genesis 9:2 : God gave us the fear of man in animals, and aren’t you glad! I mean it is bad enough when they do have the fear of man (we still hear of animals attacking people) can you imagine how much worse it could be without the fear of man in animals? Can you imagine what it would be like if the dominion mandate had not been given?

“And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.”


6. Genesis 12:7: This obviously applies only to those who are of Jewish descent. God has given the land of Israel to the Israelites:

Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.



I’ve barely scratched the surface folks! There is much more to be found in Scripture! To be shared just from your own life! Please share! So that we can join one another in thanks to our Wonderful, Gracious, merciful, loving, GIVER OF ALL GIFTS!!