One morning, I woke up with one thought rolling over and over through my mind, It's NOT about THE GIFT, its about THE GIVER of the gift!!! I just couldn't get the thought out of my mind as I started my day...
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Its NOT ABOUT THE GIFT!!! Think about it: When a girl bakes a guy cookies, she's REALLY NOT wanting him to focus on THE COOKIES! Yes, she wants him to enjoy them, buuuuuut WHAT she is really wanting, is to see his eyes fill with admiration for her. She wants him to APPRECIATE HER for doing this for him. What she IS wanting is for him to think, MAAAAAN that girrrrrl is one GOOOOOOOD baker! What she is REALLY hoping for, is that he'll think, WOW, I sure would like to have a girl like this in MY LIFE!!!
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Do you think she would like it if he admired and enjoyed the cookies, buuuuuuuuuut NEVERRR focused on HER, the baker, the creator, the GIVER of the cookies, buuuuut just the cookies?? NO, I speak for all girls that can cook or bake at this very moment, NO SHE WOULD NOT LIKE IT!!!
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Now lets apply this to ourselves spiritually. So often it seems that GOD will give us a gift, he'll give us a talent and we get soooooo FOCUSED on our ability that God has bestowed upon us, that we FORGET what its REALLY all about!!! Its REALLY all about HIM!!! Its really all about GOD, THE GIVER of our gift! How do you think God feels if he gives us an ability and all we can seem to focus on is our gift. Ooooo God gave me this gift to write, but all I can do is focus on my gift. God didn't give my an ability to write to bring focus to myself, when I write a story, a testimony, a devotional, the purpose is NOT to bring attention to ME!!! He gave me this gift to GLORIFY HIM!!! Its just another way, another avenue, for God to use, to turn hearts towards him!!! Its NOT about ME, its all about HIM!!!
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The moment a guy gives a girl a gift and she starts paying more attention to the gift, then to him, it's a FAILURE!!! He didn't buy you that expensive tablet so that you could spend all your time communicating with other people, he bought it for you so you could communicate with him!!!! You stay so focused on the gift and NOT him and he is going to wish he had NEVERRRR even gotten it for you.
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It applies to us the SAME way!!! You get so busy, so focused on the gift, on your talent on your ability that you don't even have time to spend with the one that gave it to you. Whatever your talent is, God wants it to draw you CLOSER to Him, NOT away from him. He says, Mary I gave you an ability to write, I want you to seek ME about what you should write about. I want YOU to talk to ME about this gift that I have given to you. Whatever, it is that God has given you, singing, speaking, decorating, God wants you to talk to HIM about it!
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The biggest mistake we can make is when we forget that our gift is all about God. Lucifer, AKA: the devil, was originally the highest most beautiful, most talented angel, HOWEVER, he began to focus on HIMSELF and NOT his creator. The Bible says, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit". (Isaiah 14:12-13)
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Lucifer's problem was the "I" problem!!! He said, I, I, I!!! Or ME, ME, ME!!! And God cast him DOWN!!! Down, down, DOWN!!! I personally remember a time in my own life when I wrote something and most of the credit went to another person. I KNEW what had been MY writing, MY ability, MY talent, MY inspiration, MY work, and it was starting to really bother me. The credit going to another person wasn't intentionally or on purpose, it just happened that way and I believe that's because God was trying to teach me something. He reminded me of the moment he had even given me the thought and how that it had all come together and when he showed me the lives that were being touched, I realized that it REALLY didn't matter WHO got credit, because it wasn't really ABOUT ME!!! God showed me, that EVEN tho I may not have gotten credit, He STILL used ME, to turn hearts TOWARD HIM!!! I realized that it didn't matter if I got the credit, BECAUSE IT REALLY WASN'T ABOUT ME!!! It was about HIM!!!
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You better be careful about remembering where your gift came from and WHY you have it!!! The moment you begin to forget, IF God can NOT humble you, He will cast you down like he did with Lucifer. You have to remember: He didn't give you a music ability for everyone's eyes to focus on YOU, he did it so that you could use it help usher in the presence of God in a service. When you sing, its to GLORIFY HIM! God didn't bless you with a car to just show it off and race your friends, he gave it to you to get to CHURCH and to bring people with you too!!! If you can make people laugh its so that people can see the joy of the Lord flowing forth from your heart! When you speak, its to turn eyes toward HIM!!! Its all about HIM!!!
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When a guy gives a girl a gift, he wants her to be looking at him, NOT the gift! As you unwrapped that gift from him, he was WAITING to hear that squeal of delight as you saw what he got for you and after you squealed, he was waiting for your eyes to turn their focus on him. He was HOPING to see you look at him in AW!!! WOW! you got this FOR ME???Its complete music to his ears as he hears you say, THANK YOU!!! You are THE BEST boyfriend/fiance/husband in the whole entire world! annnnnd I'm the most blessed girl on the face of this earth to have you in my life!!! YUP, thats what he's wanting to hear!!! Its NOT about the gift, its about THE GIVER of the gift!!!!
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God is THE SAME WAY!!! Remember we were made in HIS image, in HIS likeness...When he gives us something, when he blesses us, its because he wants to see us turn our focus to Him, to see us in AW of HIM!!! WOW GOD!!! You gave this to ME??? You did this for ME God??? He longs to hear us say, OH your sooooo GOOOD to me God!!! To think, that YOU God, the creator of this universe, would take the time to think, to care about me, to give me this gift???? Thats AMAZING!!! Oh yes thats what God wants from us!!! Our undivided attention, our complete admiration, adoration and devotion!!! Whatever it is that you have, no matter how great or how small, REMEMBER...
Keep your eyes on the giver of the gift,
NOT THE GIFT!
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights..."
(James 1:17)
