"Thus says the LORD ... 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' "
~ Jeremiah 33:2-3 (NKJV)
"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you... If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"
~ Luke 11:10,13 (NKJV)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
~ James 1:17 (NKJV)
We all know what it is to open gifts and find something less than "perfect." However much we love the givers, we struggle to find places in our lives for what others thought would be good gifts.
The Lord knows with certainty what will make a perfect gift, and He longs to give us His best.
The best He has to give us is Himself. When a heart yielded to Him asks for good gifts, none exceed the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we need an answer, the Word made flesh is able to speak to our hearts with Scripture. And if we wish to see "great and mighty things," the very best we can receive is a picture of God so clear that whatever else we may think we lack fades out of view.
Finding "good gifts" doesn't require entering just the right words on Google, but simply asking God to select what He knows is best. His choices are impeccable.
Father of Lights, Your goodness and love for us assure us of receiving from You so much more than we ever might have thought to ask for ourselves. You have amazing ways of answering prayers so much bigger than we can imagine. Please build our faith to trust You to send good gifts—indeed, Your best gifts. Surprise us!
Your feedback is appreciated. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
God gives good gifts! Indeed. Thank you Anne.
ReplyDeleteAnne, I wanted to add while I was up in the mountains and under a bright starry sky I felt led by the HS to pray hard for your brother. I pray you find peace knowing the HS has him on so many hearts thanks to your blog.
ReplyDeleteSurprise us! How cool! Paul Simon sings, "Sometimes even music cannot substitute for tears." That makes me think..."Sometimes even words cannot substitute for the communication of the Spirit within."
ReplyDeleteSending love today,
Wendy
One of the hardest things I've had to learn as a Christian is that God knows what I want more than I do.
ReplyDeleteStill working on that one, too...
I've always liked the order of things in Luke 11:10 -- ask, seek, knock. We are such an impatient people! We tend to forget that part of the seeking process involves waiting upon the Lord, waiting for his response. We ask, we knock, and if we don't get an immediate response we rush off again. He has so many gifts for us if only we'll allow him to decide when the time is right for us to receive them.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the blessing of your messages.
Bless you for sharing this, love you my friend.
ReplyDeleteT. Anne, you are so very welcome for whatever you find here to build you up. THANK YOU for those prayers. I trust God to continue His work there.
ReplyDeleteWendy, I never cease to be surprised by how much bigger God's answers are than my prayers.
Billy, I suppose that knowing our not knowing what we really want is God's way of making us ever more dependent on Him.
careann, I truly believe that nearly every "yes" to prayer we receive is less a matter of what than of when. Praise God for His perfect timing!
Denise, thank you for your continued blessings. Love you too! I'm so happy I'm your friend. Into eternity.