What Jesus Offers…

Many of us unwittingly think that God is tight-fisted, that He is unwilling to share with us and that even when He does so He is grumpy/cranky/reluctant about it.

In fact, that was one of the devil’s tactics in the Garden of Eden with Adam & Eve–he tried (successfully!) to trick A & E that God was somehow being selfish by not allowing them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (unfortunately for us they didn’t take time to reflect that God gave them EVERY OTHER STINKIN’ TREE TO EAT FROM! Come on–He only gave them ONE RULE!!! If the owner of CostCo said you could have EVERY ITEM for free in the store except one single item, would you really get upset!?)(Genesis 3:4-5).

Loved ones, God is NOT selfish (though He has the right to be!) and He is certainly NOT tight-fisted–He gave up His only Son to be brutally tortured and executed for us!

Furthermore, how amazing would it be to realize that God offers so much to us in the pages of the Bible–there are many things that He WANTS us to have, He is like Wisdom calling out to anyone who will listen, “Come and receive my amazing treasures for FREE!” (Proverbs 1:20-33). We often think we have to convince God to give us what we want…but we fail to realize that really it is God Who is trying to convince us to receive from Him what we need…

In the Gospel of Matthew alone, Jesus offers EIGHTEEN amazing gifts to us…to ANYONE!

We will receive them…if we receive HIM.

(please click on the Scripture references below to read the actual Bible text)

1. Rest (Matthew 11:28-29)

2. To learn from Him (Matthew 11:29)

3. A personal invitation to follow Him (Matthew 4:19, 8:22)

4. Inner stability/survival through devastating storms (Matthew 7:24-25)

5. His willingness in all areas of our lives (Matthew 8:3)

6. Mercy (Matthew 9:27-30)

7. Good News (Matthew 9:35)

8. Compassion (Matthew 9:36)

9. Authority to baptize and teach others to obey Him (Matthew 28:18-20)

10. A life of purpose/a mission/goal (Matthew 14:16, Matthew 28:18-20)

11. Instructive warnings for our protection (Matthew 10:16-26)

12. Earthly/temporary suffering (Matthew 10:34-38)

13. A full/complete understanding of the Truth revealed by the Bible (Matthew 5:17, 21-48)

14. Courage (Matthew 14:27)

15. Rewards (Matthew 19:29)

16. Generosity (Matthew 20:1-16)

17. Comfort/protection (Matthew 23:37)

18. His body and blood (Matthew 26:26-28)

.
What amazing offers from Jesus! WOW! He offers us even more throughout the rest of the Bible! What He offers us in Matthew is so much better than a new smart phone, a bunch of money, fame, six-pack abs, etc. He truly knows me better than I know myself, He truly knows what I really desire…

If you want to receive Jesus as your Savior, please talk to Him and say something like this:

“Jesus, I believe that you are God and that you died on the cross and returned back to life to pay the penalty for my sins that I deserve.

By faith I receive You as my Savior–I humbly accept what You did on the cross as my only ticket to heaven, to forgiveness, to eternal life.

I thank You now with words–thank YOU!

Please help me to thank You moving forward with my actions.

Amen.”