DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT WEDNESDAY - THE GIFT OF GOD. Part 2.

In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering. - Howard Hendricks.

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." - John 4:10. (ESV)

"Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior." - Bill Bright.

In Part 1, we announced that it is less than four weeks to Christmas, and that our text presented us with a great example for sharing the good news of Jesus, because Christmas is about giving gifts, and we have the ability to share the best gift with people who need it most! Hallelujah!

The very reason why so many are lost today, is because the god of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds of them who are lost. The devil is so busy telling the lost how much they will have to give up if they get saved, but not one time does he mention “The Gift Of God.”

Jesus told this woman... "If you knew the gift of God…” This is what I want to share with you for a little while, to encourage you, let’s study the... “The Gift Of God.” Yesterday we discussed how Jesus Gives Rest To The Weary, and today we see how...

He Gives Righteousness To The Guilty
What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; - Romans 9-30. This gentile world is guilty of every hideous sin against God that one can imagine, and yet, God in His love and mercy will give them righteousness, in the person of Jesus, who is the sacrifice for all sin. If they accept Him as Lord and Saviour, He will cleanse them from all sin and set them free, as He did us, when we were sinners.

Some Biblical examples were Saul of Tarsus, guilty of sinful crimes against God and his people, and yet he was given righteousness. Rahab The prostitute from Jericho, guilty of Immoral living, yet to her and her family, God gave them righteousness. Even you and I came under this category, but Thanks God, He has made us the righteousness of God in Christ! Hallelujah!

In the Antarctic summer of 1908-9, Sir Ernest Shackleton and three companions attempted to travel to the South Pole from their winter quarters. They set off with four ponies to help carry the load. Weeks later, their ponies dead, rations all but exhausted, they turned back toward their base, their goal not accomplished. Altogether, they trekked 127 days.

On the return journey, as Shackleton records in The Heart of the Antarctic, the time was spent talking about food, elaborate feasts, gourmet delights, sumptuous menus. As they staggered along, suffering from dysentery, not knowing whether they would survive, every waking hour was occupied with thoughts of eating.

Jesus, who also knew the ravages of food deprivation, said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS." We can understand Shackleton's obsession with food, which offers a glimpse of the passion, Jesus intends for our quest for righteousness. - Source Unknown.

He Gives The Spirit To The Obedient
And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." -Acts 5-32. God never promised a bed of roses to any of us, yet, to the obedient ones He has promised something greater than all the roses of this life. He promised us the Holy Spirit!

The giving of the Holy Spirit, is evidence that it is the will of God, and that Jesus Christ should be obeyed. I would rather have the Holy Spirit bearing witness in my soul, when I go about my daily chores in my every day life, than to have all the trimmings and trappings of this world.

We cannot expect to be redeemed and saved by Christ, unless we give ourselves up to be ruled by Him. Faith takes the Saviour in all His functions, who came, not to save us in our sins, but to save us from our sins. Hallelujah! What a mighty God we serve!

On Dec. 4, 1893, Walter Gowans and Rowland Bingham of Toronto, Canada, and Thomas Kent of Buffalo, N.Y., landed at Lagos, Nigeria. Their aim was to establish a witness among the 60 million people of what was then commonly known as the Soudan, the area south of the Sahara between the Niger River and the Nile.

Gowans and Kent died in the first few months. Bingham returned to Canada, formed a council, and went back to Africa in 1900. That attempt, too, was unsuccessful. In 1901 Bingham sent out a party that succeeded in establishing the Mission's first base, at Patigi, 500 miles up the Niger River.

When these first SIM pioneers landed in Nigeria, Gowans was 25 years old, Bingham was two weeks away from his 21st birthday, Kent was 23.

It is not the multitude of hard duties, it is not constraint and contention that advance us in our Christian course. On the contrary, it is the yielding of our wills without restriction and without choice, to tread cheerfully every day in the path in which Providence leads us, to seek nothing, to be discouraged by nothing, to seek out duty in the present moment, to trust all else without reserve to the will and power of God. - Source Unknown.

There is a reason for the season, let us be obedient to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, and reveal Him to others.

Loving Father, help me by the power of the Holy Spirit, to spread the good news of the gift of God, to people who need the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives. Direct my paths Lord, and grant me wisdom, that I may win them for you, in your wonderful and mighty name I pray. Amen.

Be encouraged!
GBYAY