What if God had a gift for you today that you never got because you didn't know you had one, where it was, how to get it or what it was?
In my last blog entry I shared how in addition to being used by God to help deliver a small every day miracle for a young couple in need the Lord taught me a pretty important lesson afterwards. While they had prayed earnestly just an hour before and I felt the Lord confirm just minutes before I was to help them and I had just responded to that prompting - that gift would sit at western union for a few days because they did not know the money was there instantly the next day.
It was not until days later when they asked me when I thought the money I sent would get there I learned that they had not picked it up yet. It was then that I told them the money had been sent to be there instantly and all they had to do was go pick it up. I had paid a higher price to get the money there right away to help them in their need as soon as I could and yet it had not been claimed by them because they did not know they could go pick it up right away. They needed it and I wanted them to have it, but yet they did not get it till days later. While they knew it was coming they did not know when it was going to be there and so they were waiting for it to come. Yet, it was there for them to get right away.
Yet, God had a purpose I believe in this to teach me a lesson.
Later that day the Lord began to reveal to me that He has sent us gifts, but because we do not know He has sent them or how to get them - they sit there waiting for us to claim them.
Don't think so? Well we can all agree that he has sent mankind the gift of eternal life though his son Jesus Christ and yet many do not have it yet. Some have been told, some have not and there are many reasons why people have not yet received that gift - but there are in fact many who have not yet even though that gift has already been paid for and is there for people to receive.
He has promised many gifts in the Bible and yet how often do we not know when, where or how or what we are to do to receive or claim them. To often we wait for them to come when God if we would only ask Him would tell us how and where to claim them because they were already sent.
I felt that God was showing me that it is unwise to just assume that if the gift has been sent then we should have it or get it when it gets here. In this example God showed me a perfect example of how I had sent a gift and it was there waiting to be claimed, but those I sent it to had not claimed it because they did not know they could already claim it.
I wondered what have I asked for and how many of the things I felt God promised me that I do not yet have are in fact already waiting for me to just receive, but I don't know how, what or where to go to receive them. In waiting for us to ask Him these questions, we will of course come closer and grow in relationship with the Lord too. Which is likely why He wants us to ask these questions and He does not just tell us. We will grow in deeper relationship when we are seeking Him instead of just being given what we ask for.
In these past few blog entries I have been sharing about my experience in seeking the Holy Spirit and seeking to partner with God in a new deeper and involved walk with Christ to live and experience every day miracles. Less than a month ago I would not have thought every day miracles was something to even consider being part of on a daily basis. While I have not been experiencing great little miracles every day, I have been thinking and opening to them on a daily basis and that is a pretty significant mind change for me.
I have for a long time read about great and miraculous stories of other people walking and living a life of great movements of God by faith as they sought to be used by God. I have long read about how God used to them in great and exciting things. Yet, only in the past few weeks has God been really awakening, stirring and speaking through many books, speakers, pastors and people on this reoccurring theme and message.
Likely what I am learning has been a gift there waiting for me, but I was not sure how to look or where to look or what to do and so I was waiting. I am certain this is also true in your life too. No matter what level of understanding and daily experience you have in this message - I can assure you there is more in it for you and God being infinite - we can grow more in this daily if we only will ask, seek and pursue the Lord in this message.
You must choose to actively ask, seek and pursue God in this though to grow in it. Don't think it is by chance you are reading this and don't let this slip by you.
The couple I sent this gift to took an initiative to ask and I having sent them that gift told them it was ready for them to pick up. How much more our heavenly father as followers of Christ will tell us how to claim the gifts each day He has for us if we would only ask him.
Sometimes God will start to get our attention to help send us on the right way to then ask, seek and look for answers and direction. I believe that not only has this process been started in my life to learn these things, but that God gave the thought to my friend who told me to start blogging this so that today I would start to write this entry and come to this point where I now feel moved to tell you to ask God and seek the gifts He has for you today.
Less than an hour ago I had not thought of any of this. I was just going to share the out come of this and how I started to think about how God has given us gifts and we don't know we can receive them, but are waiting for them and thinking they are not yet here for us already.
I never would have learned this lesson or been used in this way if I didn't take that first baby step to give a generous tip to my waitress for just $10 to start building on the gift of giving in my life. Today take a baby step of faith and start seeing where God leads you.
Ask God what He has for you today and what action He wants you to take today. Decide now you will do what he puts on your heart to do to help someone so that when he does you will not think yourself out of taking action.
If your heart and motive is to earnestly serve God, obey and love him in your actions He will guide you. Do not worry or think what he leads you to do is more than what he wants and that you might somehow think of something more generous or kind or serving than what he would lead you to do. God gives us peace when we follow him, we may be nervous, but there is a peace in following him. I have had thoughts and fears in taking steps of faith, but there has always been a peace that over came me as I took that step of faith to guide me and I placed my trust and faith in God then and chose to not dwell on the thoughts that come to attack the thoughts of doubt from the enemy and my flesh. God has always proven himself faithful in this simple process.
We are not more generous, loving, giving or compassionate than God. It does take a step of faith along the way and that step gets bigger as we grow in faith. Do not be discouraged if the first few steps of faith you take do not result in the outcome you had hoped for as the Holy Spirit and the fullness of the outcomes from our acts of faith do not always instantly show. Sometimes they will, but this is a process and in time you will see those seeds of faith you act on grow into strong trees of faith.
The second story of the couple I helped I learned yesterday has also turned out even more amazing. What they thought they would need and that turned out to be the same amount I had given away the day before until I then felt the Lord tell me to give them more it turned out was with reason. In my last blog entries I shared how right before I was going to send the same gift to them I had given the day before to another person - I felt the Lord tell me to send even more because they were going to need it.
I thought it would be extra for their other expenses during the week, but yesterday they told me that the cost of the parts was more than they thought and that the extra amount I had sent was just enough to cover the parts! God knew they would need that and He got it to them! They didn't know at the time and had I ignored that last minute prompting of the Holy Spirit they would have been short.
That not only confirmed I had heard from God to send that amount, but that these were two different gifts and I had been certain I was to give the first amount. This was a great encouragement to me because God had given me confirmation I had heard right on both occassions, even though I was not certain at the time. I chose to act in faith and trust that my heart and motives being right God would not led me wrong and here days later God confirmed that!
Since there were then two amounts I had given and I was pretty certain that both amounts were right I now see how God used me in these two gifts. What is also amazing to me is that the process God took me through, the doubts, the questions and the after thoughts of which I thought were not because I was not getting things right - they were in fact God leading me to give and do what it took to do exactly what He wanted of me.
Another small but joyful blessing the Lord gave me yesterday to show me how much he loves me was in a very small thing, but I felt a sign of God's favor upon me for seeking to learn and walk with Him in partnering with the Holy Spirit to be used to deliver every day miracles to others.
I was at a bakery and had stopped to get one of my favorite cookies there and the lady was ringing up my order and a man walked over to get the cookie for me behind the counter. Then he tells me tell you what I am going to give you this other one for free too since it's the last one. I didn't ask for it and the lady ringing me up wasn't going to do it, but this man not near her came over and bagged the cookie for me and gave me the second one for free. I felt it was one of those small things that God was showing me. How he moved this man to go get that cookie and to give me twice of what I asked for. What was also a blessing was that morning I had not been in the best mood and was frustrated about things in my life and yet despite my bad mood God was blessing me. What love God has for us even when we don't deserve it.
These are small and humble beginnings for me in this journey. I do not have a mind blowing story of God moving in my life in this process and journey yet. I think that is best right now so that you too are able to start this process with me and the level of faith it takes to believe God for miracles in your life isn't so hard to find. I know the big stories are encouraging, but sometimes I lack the faith to believe God for them and these smaller stories I hear from others can really encourage me as well as the big stories of faith.
I look forward to the small and big miracles I get to help partner with the Holy Spirit in to deliver today and in the months and years to come. I have a new level of excitement in seeing the Holy Spirit answer my prayers in my life too. Today God has gifts for you to partner with him in giving to others and I believe when we take the first small steps of faith that then God responds in super natural ways to deliver miracles for others through us.
