Gifts from God, episode 126

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,880
If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right

2
00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:13,460
here at When You Love a Prodigal and also help and hope for your own life journey.

3
00:00:13,460 --> 00:00:15,500
So we celebrated Christmas.

4
00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:21,760
I hope you had a wonderful time that you received gifts that you appreciate and maybe even some

5
00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:29,780
you treasure and maybe a reunion or restoration or some sweet time with your prodigal.

6
00:00:29,780 --> 00:00:36,480
And of course, we celebrated the most amazing gift God has given to us, the gift of Jesus.

7
00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:40,160
Jesus is surely the gift that keeps on giving.

8
00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:46,720
And we talked about what he wants from us, but now I want to talk about this week about

9
00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,160
the gifts that he's given us.

10
00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:55,280
And these are not all of them by any means, but here are several important gifts.

11
00:00:55,280 --> 00:01:01,360
And remember which one you think God wants to focus on with you.

12
00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:10,120
So be assured, our God loves to celebrate us and he gives the best gifts of anyone.

13
00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:15,640
First gift that I want to mention is the wonder of his love.

14
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:23,760
Last week we talked about loving him, loving others, but he has offered us incredible love.

15
00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:25,120
He loves me.

16
00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:26,800
He loves you.

17
00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:33,000
No Daisy petal wondering loves me, loves me, not no, he loves us.

18
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,800
And his love for us continues.

19
00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:44,040
For me, I found that I am astonished and overwhelmed and amazed and comforted and encouraged and

20
00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:50,600
lifted and strengthened because his love just keeps flowing to me.

21
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:51,600
Wow.

22
00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:56,480
I hope you live more and more in awe of his love for you.

23
00:01:56,480 --> 00:02:03,200
Yes, yes, I know we, we know God loves us, but do we really comprehend it?

24
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,720
I'm just going to read you a few scriptures that will just blow your mind almost with

25
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:10,680
his love for you.

26
00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:19,000
In the notes of Zechariah chapter two, we read this, I am the apple of his eye.

27
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:23,920
And that means I am someone who is greatly protected.

28
00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:30,640
I don't understand all the realities of apples and protection, but that's what it's saying.

29
00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:35,080
He's protecting us at all times.

30
00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:41,560
Ephesians tells us that I and you were treasures to him.

31
00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:46,680
Reminds me that I am part of the riches of his glorious inheritance.

32
00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:47,680
Okay.

33
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:53,560
So Jesus gets the inheritance of everything that God has made.

34
00:02:53,560 --> 00:03:01,240
And it says we are a treasure to him, part of that great inheritance that he gets.

35
00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:05,520
Zephaniah three says, he delights in me.

36
00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,280
He delights in you.

37
00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,000
I'm told that God is with me.

38
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,200
He takes great delight in me.

39
00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:19,240
He quiets me with his love and he rejoices with me singing over me.

40
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:25,760
You know, I had lunch with my son and his family and he has a three year old daughter.

41
00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:33,920
It was just so fun to have her come in and say, and she was delighted to see me and I

42
00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:38,880
was delighted to see her and gave her a hug.

43
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:42,400
That's how God feels about us.

44
00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,320
He also tells us that we are his joy.

45
00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:53,640
And Hebrews 12, it says, I learned that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set

46
00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,440
before him.

47
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,200
And I pondered that a little, you know, in the past.

48
00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:02,160
It's like he endured the cross for the joy.

49
00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,280
The cross was not very joyful.

50
00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,400
What was his joy?

51
00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:12,000
It made possible for him to have relationship with each of us.

52
00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:13,960
God brought him great joy.

53
00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:21,520
And so he even went to the cross in order to have the joy of loving and knowing and

54
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:25,560
being in relationship with you and with me.

55
00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,000
He also died for me.

56
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:35,080
And because of his great desire for me and you and delight in us, he was willing to redeem

57
00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,720
me with the price of his own life.

58
00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:40,520
It's why he came.

59
00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,760
What an incredible love.

60
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:52,200
Jeremiah 32, God promises, I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

61
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,160
I will never, I want you to hear what he will never do.

62
00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:00,360
I will never stop doing good to them.

63
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:07,680
I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all

64
00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:10,760
my heart and soul.

65
00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:17,360
Now I know in our lives sometimes it doesn't feel like he's doing good, but I can assure

66
00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,560
you we don't see the whole picture.

67
00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,320
I will always be doing good to them.

68
00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,280
What a beautiful thought.

69
00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:34,240
Psalm 103 says for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love

70
00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,320
for those who fear him.

71
00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:43,080
Okay, as high as the heavens above the earth, it's how much he loves us.

72
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:52,480
Psalm 26, for I am always aware, Lord, of your unfailing love.

73
00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:58,840
Now maybe you've had failure in a love relationship of any kind.

74
00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:01,320
And so you know, love doesn't always work.

75
00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:02,320
It doesn't.

76
00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:04,200
It fails sometimes.

77
00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:11,320
And he says, I will always love you unfailingly.

78
00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:19,400
Psalm 36, your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

79
00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,280
You can't get away from it.

80
00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,400
It's everywhere his love for you.

81
00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:32,120
And so at this Christmas time, I hope you're experiencing that you've received this wonderful

82
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:41,280
gift that Jesus gives to you, that he loves you and he can't get away from that love.

83
00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:45,880
Then the second gift I want to mention that Jesus gives you is mercy.

84
00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:50,400
Mercy is the overflow of his love.

85
00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:57,680
Over and over Jesus out of great compassion had mercy on the suffering, the needy, the

86
00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:04,640
mistreated and the sinful, you know, people like you and me.

87
00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:11,160
Lamentations three tells us the faithful love of the Lord never ends.

88
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,800
His mercies never cease.

89
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,080
Great is his faithfulness.

90
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,760
His mercies begin afresh each morning.

91
00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,000
What an incredible promise.

92
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:30,920
You know, I probably don't sin as much as I did earlier in my life, but I still do.

93
00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:33,640
I don't trust him like I should.

94
00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:41,520
I say things I regret later and I don't do something I know he wants me to or whatever

95
00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:43,040
it is.

96
00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,080
And it says every single morning, there's new mercy for you.

97
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:52,400
You can't get away from my mercy.

98
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:57,880
Right as it tells us, but when the kindness and love of God, our savior appeared, he

99
00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:05,480
saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

100
00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:11,280
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

101
00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:12,360
We can't get it.

102
00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,760
We can't be perfect.

103
00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:21,920
We cannot be sinless, but always his mercy is there for us.

104
00:08:21,920 --> 00:08:26,480
Matthew nine says, go and learn what this means.

105
00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:34,560
I desire mercy, not sacrifice, for I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

106
00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:40,760
He says, Father, forgive them for they don't even know what they are doing.

107
00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,520
What an incredible thing that he pours out mercy.

108
00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:51,120
And what happens as we receive that mercy and see how much he loves us is that we make

109
00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:58,360
the choices to do what he wants and do not do the things that displease him.

110
00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:05,840
And it's a growing process, but always his love overflows into mercy.

111
00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:12,920
And then a third gift that I would mention that Jesus gives you and me is grace.

112
00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:18,400
And I say that grace is the generosity of God.

113
00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:25,240
For our savior sacrifice, we receive grace that gives us new life, abundant life, all

114
00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:31,520
the fruit of the spirit who lives in us, all that we need in Ephesians two.

115
00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:38,160
We read in order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of his

116
00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:44,320
grace expressed to us in his kindness in Christ.

117
00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:49,280
By grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

118
00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,480
It is the gift of God.

119
00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,220
It is not of works, lest anyone should boast.

120
00:09:55,220 --> 00:09:59,480
So when we think we can be good, he says, that won't do it.

121
00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:07,360
He says, but because of my love for you, I pour out grace and grace will cover all of

122
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,520
it and give you what you need.

123
00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:18,160
In Romans three, we read, and all are justified freely by the grace through the redemption

124
00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,840
that came in Christ Jesus.

125
00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:25,480
Grace, my grace is sufficient for you.

126
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:30,120
My power is made perfect in weakness.

127
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,160
Whatever our need, Jesus is sufficient for it.

128
00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:38,600
His grace takes care of it.

129
00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:44,960
Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy

130
00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,560
and find grace to help us in our time of need.

131
00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:55,480
I like to picture God, Father, Son, and Spirit sitting on the throne in heaven, which I'm

132
00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:59,120
sure I don't have a very good picture of.

133
00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:06,040
And the Father says to us, as we might be kind of concerned about how we're doing, he

134
00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:07,560
says, come on up.

135
00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:12,000
Come up to the throne of grace and we'll talk it through.

136
00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:16,360
He welcomes us because of his grace.

137
00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:21,160
You've heard grace probably called God's riches at Christ's expense, and that's a pretty

138
00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:23,040
good definition of it.

139
00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:25,320
But it's not to be earned.

140
00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,880
We can't earn it ourselves.

141
00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:35,440
But God in his grace does wonderful things for us and to us and through us.

142
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,200
And so, again, he's saying, come on, come on up to the throne of grace.

143
00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,640
We'll talk this through.

144
00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:47,360
God's grace could be described as God paying it forward to us.

145
00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:50,800
He doesn't wait till we've got it all together.

146
00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:56,080
And so then what is it that I do in response to that?

147
00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,280
You know, what do you say when someone gives you a gift?

148
00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:05,160
Well, if you really liked it, you give an enthusiastic gratitude and thank you.

149
00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,360
If it was just something you want, huh, what a gift.

150
00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,960
You still say thank you, don't you?

151
00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:16,640
But here are these perfect, perfect gifts that Jesus is giving you.

152
00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:21,600
And he says, what is your response to what I have given you?

153
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,640
What has he given us that we've looked at here?

154
00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:30,400
Love and mercy and grace.

155
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:35,840
This will cover most of our needs as we live our lives.

156
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:42,960
So we need to be giving thanks, a grateful response.

157
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:43,960
Thank you, Lord.

158
00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:45,600
I am so grateful.

159
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:49,160
I can't begin to fully express my gratitude.

160
00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:53,520
Your giving is beyond my comprehension.

161
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:54,720
It gives me love.

162
00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:56,120
He gives me mercy.

163
00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,880
He gives me grace.

164
00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,920
And all I can do is say thank you, Lord.

165
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:09,080
And one of the best ways to express my gratitude is to let his love and mercy and grace flow

166
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:17,400
through me to others, including and especially my beloved prodigal, your beloved prodigal,

167
00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:21,640
day by day, moment by moment.

168
00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:23,240
So what about you?

169
00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,680
How is God's love touching your life today?

170
00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:32,120
How is his mercy giving you peace and hope?

171
00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:39,320
And how is his grace, especially that grace that welcomes you to come and talk to him?

172
00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:46,760
And how might he want you to pass those gifts on to the people in your life?

173
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:57,480
God bless you.