James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My wife Karen and I enjoy watching the birds with our morning coffee. We have a wide variety of birds at the seed feedershanging on our deck. We have four hummingbirds that we love to watch, too! One day Karen showed me a video on her birding app of someone who made a hummingbird swing! Yes, a swing,and the hummers love it! \u201cI can make one of those,\u201d I thought. So I went to the store and bought a wooden dowel and colorful shoelaces to hang it on. It was a cool little project! Then I hung it between two feeder poles, and we waited in anticipation for the tiny birds to discover their new little swing. But the hummers did not use the swing! Instead they sat on the shoelace holding the swing in place between the poles! So I tried a variety of materials trying to find a combination that our little guests might enjoy. Time after time they chose to sit perched on the line holding the swing–whether it was a leather lace, a shoelace or even a zip tie–but never the swing. So yes, I did! I bought a \u201cprofessional\u201d hummingbird swing online for $8.00. When it came, I used a piece of thin wire to hang it from feeder to feeder and again we waited, excited! It is a lovely little swing, made of black ornate wrought iron on top with colorful beads up and down each side and a beautifully sanded wooden perch to swing on! And yes, they love it! But no, not the swing, but the wire holding up the swing! All four hummers love taking turns sitting above the swing on the mounting wire! While I sat watching, greatly annoyed, Karen couldn\u2019t stop laughing and sending pictures to her bird-loving friends so they could have a good morning laugh, too\u2014which they did! I finally said to the Lord, \u201cI have tried everything I know to do to entice these little ones to just try it! I know if they did even once, they would absolutely love it! Lord, there isn\u2019t anything more I can do for them!\u201dWithout hesitation, the Lord said, \u201cI totally understand! Like when you buy a child a gift you know they will love, yet they spend all their time playing with the box it came in!\u201d I ponderedwhat the Lord said and started thinking about the Lord\u2019s gifts to us! In Luke 12:32, Jesus says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how does the Lord give us the gift of the Kingdom of God? Through the giftings of the Holy Spirit! \u201cNow about the spiritual gifts (special endowments of supernatural energy), brethren, I do not want you to be misinformed,\u201d the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:1. As the Lord led me through the followingverses, I became aware of the magnitude of the gifts the Lord gives to His people. Through the Holy Spirit we have the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, revelation, power, authority, signs, wonders, miracles and more! The Lord has gifted these to us to enjoy and to use, so why do so many people know about these gifts, yet are content to play with the box, so to speak, instead?Many people believe these gifts are given only to special people who earned them. No! These are gifts, not rewards! Playing with the box means knowing the gift is there, like the birds with the swing, but choosing to stay away from it! Possibly looking at it, discussing it, but never delving into it. The Lord desires us to want His gifts because He loves us. And we should desire to have His gifts because we love Him and want everything He has for us. 1 Corinthians 14:1 tells us to \u201cFollow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So much more to the Christian life is wrapped up in the activation of these gifts! God calls us to live supernaturally natural lives (John 14:12), meaning the Christian life is to be exciting and awesome, using the gifts on His behalf to bring healing or deliverance or salvation to those in need. People get to experience His love for them personally as signs and wonders are performed through us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit!It\u2019s as exhilarating as riding in a convertible with the top down on a beautiful warm spring day! Joy beyond words! So how do you start experiencing this? Continued next week!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. My wife Karen and I enjoy watching the birds with our morning coffee. We have a wide variety of birds at the seed feedershanging on our deck. We have four hummingbirds that we love to … Continue reading The Gift or the Box<\/span>