GREATEST
GIFTS
BREAD
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For
everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door
will be opened. 9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him
a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If
you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:7-11 (NIV)
3 For by
the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more
highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in
accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one
body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many
form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts,
according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it
in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching,
let him teach; 8 if it
is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of
others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern
diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:3-8 (NIV)
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is
a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all
apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those
having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of
administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all
apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have
gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But eagerly
desire the greater gifts. 1 Corinthians
12:27-31 (NIV)
16 Don't
be deceived, my dear brothers. 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. James 1:16-17 (NIV)
22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
9 You,
however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the
Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9
(NIV)
BUTTER
“His favors are always performed with the love
of His heart. He doesn’t send us the cold
meat and the broken pieces from the table of His luxury, but He dips our morsel
in His own dish, and seasons our provisions with the spices of His fragrant
affections. When He puts the golden
tokens of His grace into our palms, He accompanies the gift with such a warm
pressure of our hand, that the manner of His giving is as precious as the boon
itself.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Though Paul greatly valued spiritual gifts, he valued even
more a quality of life which the Spirit produced. Spiritual gifts were
variously apportioned to individuals in the church so that no single gift was
possessed by every member. On the other hand the Holy Spirit sought to produce
the fruit of the Spirit in every Christian, chief among which was love. This
was more important than the gifts.
The
way Paul referred to this was a
manner of life preeminently characterized by love.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.” Elizabeth
Barrett Browning
“God’s greatest gifts come through travail.” F. B. Meyer
“If you
hold the past too tightly, your arms have no room for the present — no room for
the gifts of now.” Ann Voskamp
“Once it was the
blessing, now it is the Lord; once it was the feeling, now it is His Word; once
His gifts I wanted, now the Giver own; once I sought for healing, now himself
alone.” A. B.
Simpson
“Your days never
fail to betray your priorities.” Ann Voskamp
“Life is a stewardship; invest
it wisely. Everything in life -- not
only possessions, but also family, friends, relationships, and everything you
have -- is a gift from God. He entrusted you to manage all of His bounties on
His behalf. You don't own it, but He's giving it to you to manage it for Him.
You see, the whole of life, Solomon said, is a stewardship, and so we must
invest it wisely.” Michael Youssef
“You can have a saved soul and a lost life.”
Alan RedpathHEART SAVOR
· All good and perfect and pleasing gifts are given by God Who is love and
never changes.
· Gifts are given for the body of Christ as God sees fit. They are not given to promote self rather Christ. How silly it would have been if the donkey
Jesus rode upon entering Jerusalem thought the people to be praising him.
·
I am to use what God bestows for His
glory and my good.
