The Main Thing The Gift or the Giver

The Main Thing 

The Gift or the Giver

Whatever your circumstance is

Whatever gift you think you need

Don’t forget the main thing

“God with us”

Make sure the Giver is the main thing not the gifts 

Going beyond seeking the Hand of God

to

Seeking the Face of God

The Gift or the Giver

One of the things we do at Thanksgiving

is make a list of things we are thankful for.

Most of us would say family,
health, friends, home, etc.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us…

Be joyful always; pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Certainly God’s will for us is to be thankful not only for

the things we have, but in the circumstances we are in. 

I am sure you are like me, where you have

been in an unpleasant circumstance.

Maybe you have said…

 God if you were such a good God

why am I in this unpleasant place?

God you have the power.

You are full of love.

Your grace is immeasurable.

Why don’t you give me the health I need,

the money I want, the harmony with my

family, the house of my dreams?

If you have ever been in that place of questioning

 why God has not freely given you one of the good and

perfect gifts that come down from the Father of Lights.

Then maybe you like me were

seeking the gifts more that the Giver.

Maybe we all serve God more for

what we can get than for who He is.

The story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15 tells us of

the younger son who took the gifts, his inheritance,

left the father and spent the gifts on himself.

  

When the gifts ran out, he returned home

because he knew his father was good.

The older brother complained about the

way the father received his younger brother.

The older brother couldn’t understand why his father

would bless him when he wasted the gifts he was

given and deserved to be in a bad circumstance.

The wise father says…

"'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me,

and everything I have is yours.

Luke 15:31

“You are always with me.”

The older son’s gratitude was on the gifts

instead of the presence of the Father.

The younger son realized that it was not the gift

that made him happy, but the presence of the Father.

Yes, our Father in heaven holds

the wealth of the universe.

The earth and the treasures

of heaven all belong to Him.

You may be like the younger son who

saw the father for what he could get.

Or, like the older son who did not

realize he was living in the gifts.

The thing both of the sons missed is…

“You are always with me.”

What is the main thing?

“Emanuel”

“God with us”

Going beyond seeking the Hand of God but…

Seeking the Face of God.

What makes heaven so special

is found at the end of the Bible…

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

 "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.

They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Revelations 21:3-4

Whatever your circumstance is

 Whatever gift you think you need

Don’t forget the main thing…

“God is with men”

Make sure the Giver is the main thing not the gifts. 

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you."  

6 So we say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?"