SHOWER JESUS WITH SPIRITUAL GIFTS

Shower Jesus with Spiritual Gifts
By Alice Smith

"Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name."
Hebrews 13:15

For most of us, the words "spiritual gifts" bring to mind God's gifts to us by the Holy Spirit--the gifts of teaching, giving, and exhortation, and the other four motivational gifts listed in Romans 12; the gifts of prophecy, miracles, tongues and the other six manifestation gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12; the gifts of apostle, prophet, pastor-teacher, evangelist and the ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4.

Not only does God give us supernatural spiritual gifts, but He is also gives us every physical gift: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). Health, food, clothing, family, friends, money and more are all expressions of grace from our "favorful" and faithful Father God continually showers us with gifts--both inwardly and outwardly!

It's not difficult to think how we can give back physical gifts to God--our time, titles and offerings are good examples of that. But did you ever stop to think that we can also give a spiritual gift to God? Can you think of one spiritual gift we should continually shower on Him?

You probably know where I'm headed now. I'm talking about an attitude of gratitude (see 1 Thess. 5:18). Unfortunately, if there is one grievous and besetting sin in America today, it is the sin of ingratitude. As I travel the nations, the places where God seems to be doing the most are among people who are utterly and outspokenly grateful to the Lord Jesus for even the smallest blessings. This--a heart filled with gratitude and praise for who He is--is the spiritual gift He desires us to shower on Him!

A wife asked her husband of many years if he loved her. He told her of course he did. To which she said, "Then why don’t you ever tell me?" Dryly, he replied, "Honey, I told you 'I love you' when I married you. If I ever change my mind, I'll let you know."

We often live like this clueless husband--forgetting that the greatest spiritual gift we can give to God is our love (see 1 Cor. 13:13). To love Jesus means that we focus our attention on Him and shower Him with our affection. Focusing our attention means that we merge His person and His will into every experience and aspect of our lives and our thinking. Because God does not change (see Mal. 3:6), if there is something we are doing or thinking that can't be merged naturally with who He is, then we need to change.

We can't continue to think and do what conflicts with who He is and who we are in Him. To do so will make us unstable, and instability in even one area of our lives will make us unstable in all our ways! James 1:8 tells us that "a double minded man [person] is unstable in all his ways." Loving God means that we focus on Him or incorporate Him into our lives so that we live totally for Him. We honor the Lord this way.

If we cherish the Lord, we will tell Him so. Don't make God your mind reader; He has ears! Just as He hears the prayers of His people, He also hears their praise. Only a God with ears would make birds that sing, puppies that yap, and donkeys that bray, and having done so brag, "This is good!"

God created you with the ability to verbalize and orally declare His goodness, grace and mercy. So speak your heart to Him. But can’t He read my mind? you ask. Doesn't Jesus know what I feel even before I feel it? Then what's the point of saying it?

The Father not only loves to hear the melodic tones of the sparrow, but His heart hangs on every word of love and praise you speak. It is like honey to His heart! The angels surrounding His throne must surely envy the look that appears on His face when He hears you say, "Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you for your love and grace." With all the praise the angels can muster--and they offer Him praise day and night--that simple sentence of gratitude is one they cannot express and will never experience!

Another reason for speaking your praise aloud to God is that you need to say it. Matthew 12:34 says, "For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh." Your heart and mouth are inextricably attached. They reveal each other. You are being transformed by the words you say. If you constantly confess the negative, then your heart will turn more negative. As you constantly hear yourself praise and thank Him aloud, your heart is changed! (See Rom. 10:17.)

Another reason to praise God out loud is to declare His victory to the whole spiritual world. From the day we were born we have been and will continue to be constantly monitored by both God and the enemy. Praising God aloud declares His goodness into the air where the enemy (the prince and the power of the air) can hear it (see Eph. 2:2.) God has destined us, His Bride, to do this (see Eph. 3:10).

Yes, we have a heavenly Father who continually showers us with all good things. But does He have children who think about what they can give to Him? What spiritual gifts are you offering to the Lord today? Even if you haven't a dime, the one gift you can consistently and continually shower on Him is the one gift He most longs to receive. A grateful heart of praise!