The GIFT Giver
This Season, Experience the ULTIMATE Giver of Gifts
Ephesians 2:8, ‘For by grace you have been saved! Nothing you did could ever earn this salvation, for it was the love gift from God that brought us to Christ!’ (TPT)
December 21st, 2022
the GIFT: Silence
The Giver had placed kings in power, some great, many of them selfish and ignorant and self-proclaimed. He had given signs and wonders and made mankind smart in their own sight. He had sent prophets, and they had prophesied about life and death and everything in between. No one listened. The Giver promised that One was coming Who would take away the sins of the world and make all things new and return all the enemy had stolen. Even though it piqued the interest of some, it still was as if He’d never spoken a Word. Again, the Giver found Himself saddened and alone as mankind did whatever suited their fancy. So on the greatest stage of all, as the curtain fell, the Giver quiets His voice and goes silent. Perhaps it would be the most clamorous noise He would ever utter: His silence. He chose not to explain Himself—would they have listened anyway, since they never had before?
But even in His silence, the Giver is busy. What is to come is the greatest gift to ever be given to anyone, anywhere. Just because He is not speaking, does not mean He is not working. In fact, truth will be seen soon; He is working all things out. And at once, He realizes, His silence has stirred something in the human heart that all the years of His speaking and directing and guiding had never achieved. His children were listening finally, watching and waiting, seeing what move He might next make. Just like one holding their breath, like a big gasp, even nature was waiting and watching. This one would be big, He thought to Himself; His gaze far away as He stared though time and watched it play across the stage of life before Him.
The Giver pulled Himself up the planks of the tree, lifting Himself above it all as He found His footing sturdy and sure so He could look out and reflect. It truly was if the stage had been set, behind the fallen curtain of silence and introspection. Everything was in place, and had been for nearly four hundred quiet years, while He was busy holding what seemed to be His stillness. Behind the scenes, He had been active and very much at work, while it seemed the world had settled into a chaotic lull. No one would be able to comprehend what was next, what eternity was exhaling while this moment breathed deep. Something stirred within the Giver; it was time! as the curtain was raised for one final time.
Luke 1:26-38, ‘During the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent from God’s presence to an unmarried girl named Mary, living in Nazareth, a village in Galilee. She was engaged to a man named Joseph, a true descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Rejoice, beloved young woman, for the Lord is with you and you are anointed with great favor.” Mary was deeply troubled over the words of the angel and bewildered over what this may mean for her. But the angel reassured her, saying, “Do not yield to your fear, Mary, for the Lord has found delight in you and has chosen to surprise you with a wonderful gift. You will become pregnant with a baby boy, and you are to name him Jesus. He will be supreme and will be known as the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will enthrone him as King on the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign as King of Israel forever, and his reign will have no limit.” Mary said, “But how could this happen? I am still a virgin!” Gabriel answered, “The Spirit of Holiness will fall upon you and almighty God will spread his shadow of power over you in a cloud of glory! This is why the child born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your aged aunt, Elizabeth, has also become pregnant with a son. The ‘barren one’ is now in her sixth month. Not one promise from God is empty of power. Nothing is impossible with God!” Then Mary responded, saying, “Yes! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her.’ (TPT)
