I always ask God for a gift during this season. This year, why don’t you ask Him for a gift too? He just might surprise you.
Transcript
Would you like a free gift?! I love a freebie! Especially during Christmas season. I’m learning to be generous this year. At first, I felt like Golem from LOTR… holding my gold [ring] very tightly. But I’m getting better at sharing now. Whenever I give, it opens my heart in a way I didn’t expect. Giving is interesting… the more you give, the easier it becomes, and giving has truly brought joy to my heart.
Ah, but that’s not the key thing…Looking back, partly of why I was learning to be generous is because God has a generous heart and also loves to give. And as I learned to give, I began to understand more about God’s heart as a Giver.
There’s something about giving that brings joy to my heart. It’s not really about the size of the gift or how expensive these gifts are. I find more satisfaction in giving someone the right gift at the right time. Often, I’d pick up something at the store – because it was on sale – just to give it to someone who needed it later that week! It’s as if God prepared a gift for them at just the right time. As these “coincidence” happens more often, I began to see how God is so good at gift-giving! He is like the best Santa!
As I reflect on my journey with God this year, I am so grateful for what God has given our family. But even more so, I’m amazed at how God has just been generous with everyone around me! He’s been generous with my neighbors, friends I met online, and even at my favorite boba shop. I’ve just seen God’s heart to want to bless people in so many ways.
God truly has a generous heart. He has always been so confident and encouraging whenever I ask or pray. It didn’t matter how big the problems were or how little faith I had, He was always kind and ready to show me a path forward.
In this special season, if you feel burdened about anything in your life, why not talk to God about it? If anyone you know is sick, ask God to heal them. If you have a financial need, go ahead and ask God to pay that bill. If you need a job, tell Him about that too.
This year has taught me how generous and creative God can be. So don’t be afraid to pray or ask God about what you want. I used to wonder why we have to “ask” God or pray about things. Doesn’t He know our needs already? And if He knows about it, and hasn’t done anything, why would it matter if I prayed about it?
Then God kind of showed me that there are a few things missing in my logic. The first thing was that God actually takes our words very seriously. He respects our decisions and boundaries. And when we pray, we’re actually inviting God to come into our situations.
Also, God is very relational, and He loves to partner with us even when He can do everything Himself. So the praying process is like our dialog with God. We share our concerns with Him, and He can show us what He sees, and more importantly, how He plans to answer our prayers.
Often, God wants to take me on a journey when I pray. I’ve brought many problems to God this year, and I’ve been amazed every time at how He resolved things. So this Christmas season, why not ask God for a gift? No matter what you wish for, I know He can and will do something awesome for you.
And that’s it for this episode. I want to wish you a very merry Christmas and a very happy holiday! Thank you so much for listening to us in 2023, and we will be back in 2024!
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