The most wonder gifts that we could ever receive, are the gifts from the Lord. The bible tell us in James 1:17, that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. Over the years, I grew to understand that the things that are bestowed on us by God, although free, are the most significant, beautiful, lasting and choicest gifts; this is due to the facts that whatever the Lord gives us, is born out of genuine and unconditioned love. Growing up, I did not appreciate this truth, but as time past by, I realised that all that really matters in this life, is what we do for others, and not ourselves. The Lord Jesus was a great example of such a sacrificial person. He willing gave His life for us at no cost and with no conditions. He demonstrated His love for us, that while we were yet sinners; He died for us, Romans 5:8. The bible tells us that He who knew no sin, became sin, so that we might become free the the curse of the laws of sin and death, and made us righteous in Him, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
I have always said, that all gifts irrespective of how little or big, cheap or expensive, they may be, deserves a sincere gratitude and a simple “thank you”. Jesus gave us His special gift through His redeeming Blood. There is absolutely nothing or any amount of money that we could pay Him back with, for His perfect gift of salvation and eternal to us; but all He chose to be compensated with, was our reciprocated love . His simple yet powerful choice of compensation, arose a curiosity in me and I wanted to really understand why He gave us such a priceless gift, yet asked for little. My curiosity led me to the point where I became overwhelmed by how much Jesus loved me. As I grew older, I came to fall head over heels in love with Him because of His wisdom, love, purity and His good intentions to build my life. Through loving and appreciating Jesus, I too learnt to love the right way, and for the right reasons. One major truth that I learnt through loving Jesus, is that genuine love knows no bound and it is born on the inside rather that from the outside. In other words, except you learn to love who you are, you could not honestly love another. This is due to the fact that when we are loved by others, it is because they like what they see in us and not on us. Therefore, until you appreciate who you are on the inside which is seen and loved by other people, you would not truly experience the power of love and get its true meaning.
I have grown to the point in my life now, where all I truly desire is not what I want, but what Jesus is willing to give me. This knowledge was not instilled in me, but in the course of time, I realised that although I may be able to afford many nice things; real and lasting joy only comes through the gifts freely given to us by Jesus, and not from the things we possess. Through loving Jesus, I came to realise that when we pass on from the earth, we will leave all that we own on the earth, except one simple yet profound thing; and that is only the memories built on true and pure love. Jesus did not only give his special and priceless gift to the godly alone, also to the ungodly. This left me thinking, “who does that?” Jesus did, and He did it with gusto. What an amazing, kind, unique, beautiful and selfless person He is.
Through Jesus’s gift to us, we learnt the true intentions of the Father’s heart towards us. The bible tells that it pleased the Father to sacrifice His only begotten Son, who He loved immensely. Isaiah 54:10, “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand”. Realising how precious we are to the Father, is something that I could never truly understand, but with all humility will be forever grateful for.. He is God! What is man that He is so mindful of? Oh what a Father He really is; He is the biggest Lover of all time. The gift of Love, brought such a powerful and awesome God humbly to His beloved Children. Now, that is what I will call the power of love.
When I first read 1 Corinthians 13 as a young girl, which beautifully defined love, it blew my mind. Love in that passage, was described like it was alive and living like a person. And as time went on, I have come to the realisation that Love is truly alive and living in the Person of Jesus. As when we succumb to His love for us, love will also come alive in us. If you have never loved until it hurts, you may not realise the gravity of the sacrifice of love that Jesus willingly gave us. Isaiah 53:7, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth”. The redeeming Blood of Jesus, speaks the language of love to all who would accept, appreciate and abide by His exemplary love. It is the perfection through the love of Jesus’s gift to us, that casts our all fear, set captives free, raises the dead, heals the sick and unites us with God the Father.
Apart from the perfect gift Jesus gave to us on the Cross, there are many other physical and spiritual gifts, which He lovingly blesses us with. I remember when My husband and I were looking for a house to purchase recently, I could not care less where the House was, if it was detached or not detached, big or small, cheap or expensive nor care about other people’s opinion; all I wanted was the House the Lord choose for us. I realised that I had grown quite significantly in my walk with the Lord, and that I had grown to understand that with His gifts, comes peace, joy, protection, provision, blessing, increase and life. That got me very excited. When we finality found the right our for us to purchase, it was the Lord who choose it for us amongst many others. And although the enemy did all it could to delay the purchase, what kept me and my family going, was the fact that all was well because we didn’t choose the house ourselves, but Jesus did. Thank You so much Jesus for your unfailing, unconditional, sacrificial, redeeming, justifying, pure, cleansing, rejuvenating and true love for me. I am forever much obliged!!!
Why does Jesus love us so much?
1. He created us and gave us life: Genesis 1:27, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
2. He cherishes us: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
3. He has good intention towards us: Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.
4. He know how weak we are: Psalm 103:14, “For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust”.
5. He too lived in the world and experienced what we are experiencing: Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin”.
6. He delights in us: Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God …will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
7. To teach us that love is a weapon to fight against the enemy: 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Praise God!
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