Tuesday: Great Gifts

For God so loved the world!

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. I pray the old saying comes true -- If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. Speaking of the Lion and the Lamb, we better not tell folks that it comes from the Bible or someone will try and block us from using it. It's Tuesday, and that means it is Schools day on this line. Pray for our schools, warriors, and for all who work or attend the schools and all others who go through the doors, and also pray for those school bus drivers and the safety and souls of the drivers and the kids who ride on the "Cheese". And as you pray for our schools and the busses that transport the kids and all who work there and go there, please take time to praise God for our schools and for this true fact ... the safest travel on earth is School Bus travel, based on miles per person traveled.

Great Gifts: As a child, it seems we looked forward to receiving gifts at holidays or at our birthday, but if you are like me, as we age, we look forward more to giving the gifts than getting them.

It is fun to look back at some of those Great Gifts we have received or given in our lives. Let's look at that this week. Sometimes the Great Gifts are just a nice act of kindness. This morning, I cut a couple of oranges in half and "juiced them" into a cup and put them on the nightstand beside Dolores ... fresh squeezed orange juice because today is Tuesday ... no other reason.

Great Gifts: Take a few minutes today and look back on your childhood at some of the greatest gifts you have received. I will never forget one year when I was about five or six and my Aunt Romaine and Uncle Lester came down from Carlisle Pa. around Christmas. They brought me a gift. I opened the nice box to find a roll of toilet paper that had been opened and unrolled and re-rolled. I sat on the floor going through this paper looking for the prize. I got to the end and there was a beautiful pocket comb. It was great, for I liked them, and my daddy would put wax paper on them and play them. It was a great gift in a time when people just did not have much money. It was fun, and yes, my dear late mamma re-rolled the toilet paper and we used that also. I remember another time that my late brother Leonard wrapped up a rock just to see what I would say. When he saw the tears in my eyes he went to the closet and got out a train set he purchased with his paper route money. Then I did cry. I loved trains and still do. Do you have a gift like that? What about one you might have gotten someone else? I can remember bringing a toy drum home for our son Glenn when he was just starting to walk. I was more excited about it than Glenn was. I handed it to him, but I did not show him how to work it... I put it on the floor, and he put his foot right through it ... sort of trashed that gift right from the start. Again, some of the most simple things made the best gifts, but all too often they are not appreciated. Here is a little homework assignment for you ... please look back in your past and tell me two great gifts you received and two great gifts you gave.

Now let me go to the Bible and look at just a few great gifts today. Again, we are going to be looking at this all week, God willing.

John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." (NIV)

There is not a doubt in my mind that this is the Greatest Gift given in all times by anyone. God gave us His Son Jesus to die for us. However, we will be talking about gifts from God more this week.

Now I want to point out one other thing before I end today. A gift needs both a giver and a receiver. Now I point this out because all too often we do not give gifts in good faith, nor do we receive them in good faith. I will talk about that tomorrow.

Dear Father in Heaven, the Greatest Gift that You gave us was and still is the gift of Your Son Jesus. Also high on the list of the gifts you have given us is our children, and today I want to thank You for our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. What a great gift from God, and I give You praise for them. I give You honor and glory for our school children worldwide and for all who work with them, be they the ones who clean the toilets, cook the food, work in the office, deal with the special needs children, drive the busses, teach the classes, or lead the systems. Lord, bless them all, and today I ask You to go back into the schools, and let your presence be felt. Lord, we need You in our schools. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Go forth sharing your blessings, which my dear brothers and sisters, is giving gifts to others. One great gift that I have been given is having you all on my mailing list ... and I want you to know, and I am going to write it out today -- I love you all, I really do. Be blessed, and love Jesus more and more each day ... dan.