SEPTEMBER 4, Ephesians 1:3, Matthew 5:45

Gifts! Children love them. Your parents may buy you gifts on your birthday. On Christmas Day, you exchange gifts with friends. You feel happy receiving a present. The Bible tells us that there is another kind of gift. What is it? Spiritual blessings - gifts from God. We see God is the Giver of all things from the quote ‘who hath blessed us’. Only God is the source of all things we have. Everything comes from God. In verse 2, we also read that from God we receive g__________ and p__________ (first letter is given). Spiritual blessings are enjoyed by some people (find out more in tomorrow). There are also earthly blessings which God gives to men and women simply because they live on this earth. They are given because of the general providence of God. Consider the sun - the sun rises on both the evil and the good. And the rain falls on both the just and the unjust.

Who gives earthly blessings? Also God! God gives us health and strength. It is He who gives us our clothes and possessions, employment and leisure, family life and fun, our interests and abilities, and all that we enjoy in this life. God is the only Giver. We should constantly remember this fact. But these blessings are for this life only. When we finish this life, we leave them behind. We have them while we are in this world and because we are in this world.

But there are some people who don’t believe that earthly blessings are from God. They don’t believe God exists. Psalm 53:1 tells us that a fool says that there is no God. Fools don’t believe God exists. These are unconverted people. They think only of earthly blessings and do not care from where they come. They believe what they have and can do come from their own efforts and hard work, not God. Their thoughts are taken up with money, health, friends, family, travel and ambition. These are the things that matter to them. Generally, they consider wealth to be most important because with it, they can get other earthly blessings. What is the destiny of these fools? Read Matthew 16:26. They will l__________ their s__________. Fools will end up in hell.

Thought: Are you a fool?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me who was once a fool and for giving me many spiritual and earthly blessings. I pray I will continue to be faithful to Jesus, and it is in His precious name I pray, Amen.