Pick up the gift

Posted by Jeffrey Smith October 12th, 2015 2,281 Views 0 Comments

James 1:16-17: Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Ever since I was a kid, I would have money fall right in front of me. Literal coins and bills on the ground, floor, wherever I went.
When I was 15 years old until I was 20, I spent the summers in a resort as a worker. I stayed in resort housing. Almost every day I would walk into my room and a coin would fall seemingly from the ceiling right in front of me. They were often random coins like fifty cent pieces, late year quarters, buffalo nickels, and even Indian head pennies. I would show people, and they would call me lucky. As I write this, just today I had a penny cross my path. I knew it was more than luck when I was a kid, but I didn’t know until much later that this was truly from the Lord.
One time I was running on a trail in the middle of the woods and I saw a dime. I was so focused on what I wanted to do, that I took note of where the dime was, knowing that I was due to come back that way on my circle route and pick it up then. Instead of stopping what I was doing right then and there to receive a perfect gift from the Father, I took it upon myself to wait on that gift and moved on with what I was doing.
On my way back, I stopped at where the dime was, and it was gone. There was no sight of any other person on that trail, but the dime was also not on that trail. I felt sad that I had been so blind to a perfect gift. I was so caught up in my ambition that I missed out on a divine exchange that is very intimate between me and the Father.
When the Father gives us a perfect gift, we must receive it. We must stop what we are doing right then and there and receive the divine exchange.
The greatest gift the Father has given us all is Jesus Christ. Once we fully receive the gift of Jesus Christ we never want to miss out on it. His gift to us is peace, provision, and grace, perfect, grace. His gift of grace, in exchange of for our sins, is there for us to receive daily, hourly, minute by minute. We just have to be there to receive it. We have to stop what we are doing and pick up that perfect gift. When we do something stupid, get caught up in ourselves too much, or focus on our own ambition, we can get exposed to the enemy. We become ripe for accusing. While we may deserve punishment, we don’t have to accept it, as long as we recognize and hold on to the perfect gift of grace.
After I realized that the dime was gone, I thought, man I blew it. God will never reinstate His way of showing me love and care by placing coins in my path. But instead of wallowing in my self pity, I remembered that Jesus paid the price for all of my bonehead moves, and I asked the Father to continue to speak to me in that intimate way. It was not long and it happened again. Recently, I felt the Lord motion me to look in front of me and there laying on the ground was a neatly folded five dollar bill. I smiled, and elated, I thanked the Lord for blessing me with His perfect gift to me.
Brothers and sisters, we all have that intimate gift exchange in Jesus Christ. Give thanks and praise to Him, and daily find the blessing that is more precious than silver or gold, more precious than any money or stone. The perfect gift of access to the Father, to be loved by and love Him in all ways. Praise You Jesus!