You Give, You Give, You Give

“Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”

Matthew 7:9-11 English Standard Version (ESV)

Well Church:

Good Monday. What an awesome God we serve! Grace is a pretty cool thing.

Re: A Father’s Good Gift’s

You give us water

In place of our tears

You give us breath

Instead of collapsed lung

You give us freedom

Instead of bondage

You give us hope

As barter for despair

You give us the cross

Instead of separation

You give us

A Father

A future

A plan

You give

You give

You give

Main Point of the verse:

Mondays tend to lend themselves to selfish thinking. It is a new week and we usually have a new list of things WE want to accomplish. But think about being a kid. Remember it seemed like your parents had millions of dollars in their wallets and purses. You knew when you were out that they could buy anything you wanted (or so it seemed). You knew if you needed anything from a Pez dispenser to a kidney transplant they could take care of it. Yet at this age, we tend to believe that WE have to make things happen. God offers us a life fortified with the same trust  that we had in our parent’s provision and resources when we were younger.

God is a Father who truly understands everything we need. He understands the week ahead of you, your trials and shortcomings and grandly enough...He has a plan. He is looking for us to ask of Him and petition, to seek him in the answer and desire Him to be a part of it. We know that God has great things in his possession. We know that he will carefully consider our prayers. I think the key to this verse is to remember to ask genuinely, intentionally and to ask what is, “Right.” In order for this to take place we have to spend more time getting to know the attributes and qualities of God via His word. Like, he doesn’t give you things always in your own timing. This is usually because our timing is like a broke Casio calculator watch from 1994. He won’t give you things you can’t handle. So if you want a spouse, but He hasn’t prepared you to handle that responsibility yet, He will lovingly make you wait. He knows you better than you know your wants.  God will not give us things that aren’t according to his will. He is plainly saying in this passage that if we, with all our flaws, can still give our children cool, useful gifts for their prospering; how much more can we expect from Him who has none of the flaws we have and unlimited resources?

Will you trust what Matthew is saying today no matter what? Will you ask the Holy Spirit to examine your heart and help you communicate with God in a way that is genuine and desires what is Right?

Be like a kid again. It was easier, remember?

Pray:

Ask God to give you, your daily bread. To give you what you need and what He wants for you. Give thanks to God for being so extravagant and gracious in His giving.

• Antonio Cortez Appling