If things are what you want, God can give you things,

but if it is God you want

you must be willing to hold “all these things” lightly

and cling tenaciously to God himself.

These things, these blessings we covet,

the gifts, and even the spiritual gifts we desire,

the characteristics and disciplines we crave,

they are residual of His presence.

It is He and He alone that is our chief pursuit.

He and He alone is our first desire.

That is why Paul could say…

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”

God’s presence is worth far more than all His gifts.

God’s presence is worth far more than any blessing.

But we must know this as the blessings come.

We must keep this idea in mind when prosperity finds us.

We must be very careful that we do not unwrap our gift,

discard the wrapping,

and after a quick thank you,

become consumed by the gift while neglecting the giver.

If it is things you want…God can give you things.

If things are all you want you will be satisfied for a time.

But soon you will find things are not all you want,

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