God’s Gifts

2 Corinthians 9:15 (NIV)—Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Sometimes when a person is given a gift, they wonder what the giver wants in return. A genuine gift is given with love without expecting anything back. Do you accept a gift with a thankful heart? Or do you think the other person is looking for something in return? We live in a world of mistrust. Sometimes it is hard to understand what “real” love is all about. God’s love is always unconditional. He never changes.

God gave us the wonderful gift of salvation and all that is needed from us is to accept His gift of freedom. We were sinners of this world when God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us. He loved us so much that He died for us even while we were still sinners. We should have been the ones who died for our sins, but Jesus took the sins of the world upon Him and died in our place.

Each and every one of us must realize that we are sinful and condemned before God. (Romans 3:10-12). Only then will we be able to understand and receive God’s indescribable gift of salvation. We must realize we are separated from God because of our sin; and find out that He gave us a way to be saved. By His freely given grace, we are able to be forgiven. Jesus’ sacrifice was the only way we had a chance to be reconciled to God and saved from condemnation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)—8) For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9) not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 12:3 (NIV)—For by grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

When we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and sincerely ask Him into our life as our personal savior, we become a believer by faith. After knowing the sacrifice Jesus did for us, it is hard to understand why everyone is not saved. People have their reasons to not choose to accept His free gift of salvation. It is sad because some people don’t believe there is a heaven or a hell and they just want to live their selfish lives without thinking of the consequences later on. They will remain in their sin, which is disobedience and rebellion against God. The Word of God says that for the wages of sin is death. Death means that eternity will not be spent in heaven in the presence of the Lord. There really is a life after our death from this world.

God has given us the gift of becoming His child once we become a believer. We cannot be His son or daughter while we are separated from Him by sin. This is one of the greatest benefits of being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. We become co-heir with Christ. We will inherit the kingdom of God upon our being saved.

Another wonderful gift from our Father, God, is His Holy Spirit. He is our Helper, Comforter, Teacher, Guide, and he convicts us of our sin when we do something wrong. We don’t have any condemnation after we are believers; but conviction is different, it is a nudge to keep us on track so that we may repent immediately, and stay in good standing so that we may be a good witness to others.

Spreading the Good News to others is our Holy Father’s wish; to do as Jesus did in His days of ministry. We should always be prepared to tell others of the hope we have in Christ Jesus. You have probably heard that our actions speak louder than what we say. How true it is. We cannot be a good witness to others if we, for example, are smoking and swearing or gossiping about someone. Who could tell that that person was a Christian? We cannot share Christ with others when they cannot even respect us. We are not to conform to the transgressions of this world.

The gift of the Holy Bible is so wonderful that people call it a “love letter” to us from Him. Reading the Bible is a privilege.  If we seek God’s face, we will find Him. The more we read, the more we learn about the Holy Trinity–the Father God, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit. God loves to give us gifts, they are also called blessings. If you count your blessings every day, you will have less time to think of the problems of that day.