Regifting

Hope everyone has had a blessed and restful holiday season so far.  Mine has been so blessed and so restful that I haven't posted on here for the past couple of weeks.  I've been seeking the Lord about what to post, and nothing seemed to come to mind until just a few days ago.  He has been dealing with me lately a great deal about remembering to use the gifts he has given me.  In 1Timothy 4:16 (AMP), Paul encourages the young pastor "Do not neglect the gift which is in you, [that special inward endowment] which was directly imparted to you [by the Holy Spirit] by prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you [at your ordination]. "  and in 2 Timothy 1:6 (AMP), he continues this thought by reminding Timothy of the sincere faith he (Timothy) possesses and challenging him with this thought: "That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination]."  It is my prayer that the thoughts I share today will challenge you to think about, pray about, listen to the Lord about, and use the gifts He has given you.

Now let's turn specifically to the text God gave me for today, Matthew 10:1 - 8 (KJV)  - "And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.  Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give." 

With Christmas just past, most of your gift-giving and gift-receiving are probably over.  Now I want to pose this question to you and you do not have to answer: Did you do any regifting this year?  Although most of us might be embarrassed to admit it in public, we may have at one time or another taken a gift we received, left it in the original box or package or repackaged it, and then given it to an unsuspecting someone else.  Our reasons for doing this could be varied: we didn't like the gift, we thought it was a better gift for someone else's tastes, or we had to come up with a certain amount of gifts, using a certain amount of finances, and regifting was the best way to keep ourselves in the black.  Whatever the reason, we often hope and pray the recipient of the gift doesn't figure out that he or she has been "regifted".  It's not that the gift may not be a good, or even great one, it's just that there seems to be a certain taboo related to giving someone else our "leftovers".

Now, how does this relate to the above text?  The twelve apostles had done nothing to receive the truth, purpose, and power Jesus gave them.  They didn't pay a membership fee to join His "club" or pay tuition for His teaching; they hadn't worked their way up the corporate ladder of Galilean enterprise and received access to Jesus as some sort of promotion.  They received what Jesus gave because Jesus loved them and decided to give it to them.  Bottom line.  Now, in this text, he is asking them to approach the work of the ministry with a "regifting" attitude: "You didn't pay for any of this.  These are given to you as gifts.  Now give them to others."  The Amplified Bible states verse 8 in this way: "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.  Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give."  I wonder how many of us, whether we regift in the natural or not, regift in the spiritual with this selfless attitude.  I know sometimes my memory is short and I can forget that I've done nothing on my own merit or in my own power to receive salvation, the new life Jesus gives, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or any of the power, authority, and spiritual gifts He has given me. 

In Acts 3, we see Peter display this regifting attitude when he allows the Holy Spirit to use his words and his hand to heal a man lame from birth.  Peter tells the man in Acts 3:6 (KJV) "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk".  Peter likely remembered that Jesus told him and the other apostles not to even take a purse of money or extra clothes with them on their ministry journey.  He probably also remembered paying the temple tax for himself and for Jesus with money from a fish's mouth.  He understood that he had done nothing to receive what Jesus had given him, he just had to receive it and give it freely to others.  May we have this attitude as well.  Only the Lord knows what things we will do in His name when we do.

I sense there may be some reading this who would say: "I know what my gifts are, but I don't want to use them.  I don't feel qualified, worthy, or capable of using them.  It's not that I don't want to help others, I'm just afraid I'm going to make a mess of it.  The person I'm trying to witness to or pray for is going to reject me, just as if they knew I had regifted them a Christmas gift.  I feel like I'm just handing out leftovers."  Plase allow me to share two Scriptures with you along these lines.  The first is found in 2 Timothy, the verse just after Paul reminds Timothy to keep the flame of his gift burning.  Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP) "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control".  In faith, you can trust that God has given you what you need to use the gifts He has given you: power, love, calm well-balanced mind, discipline, and self-control.  He didn't give you gifts because you already had these things; He gives you these things because He has given  you gifts.  The second verse is Romans 11:29, where Paul is referring to God's plan for the Jews, many of whom were enemies of the Gospel at the time Romans was written.  Paul wanted to reassure the Roman believers that God had plans for Gentiles, but also that He had not given up on His beloved Jewish people either.  In this verse, Paul writes "For God's gift and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives grace or to whom He sends His call.] Praise God for that!  That means God does not have a Customer Service/Returns section like most retailers.  He won't take the gifts back once He gives them to you.  You don't even have a receipt to show for them because you didn't buy them: He gave them to you.  You can set them in the corner and try to neglect them, but I would daresay you won't be happy doing that.  If you received the best material gift you can think of, would you hide it in the corner to collect dust and dirty laundry?  No!  Not only would you use it, but you would probably invite others to use it with you, or at least excitedly tell them about it.  Now we're getting down to kingdom business.

Heavenly Father,
I want to thank you for the cross, for redemption, justification, and most of all, for Your love.  All of these, along with Your Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts you have given to me, have been given to me, not purchased by me.  I recognize that You are Jehovah-Jireh, my Provider and my Source.  Lord, may we not neglect the gifts you have given us, but may we discover them and use them just as freely as we received them.  For those who don't yet know their gifts or are questioning them and the call You have on their lives, I pray that You will help them to discover them, that they will take confidence from You in exercising them, that they would not neglect them or even try to return them, but that their gifts would burn with intense flame within them.  May we not be afraid to regift, for there are many who need the gifts that we possess.  I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.

Happy New Year and may you have much success in regifting!