Advent 2016 Gift Exchange with the Great Gift Giver

Let me share about a gift exchange that has come to be my favorite personal tradition as a result of asking the Lord how to make Christmas a celebration that both He and I would value.

Each year, the Lord and I have our own special gift exchange.  I ask Him not only what specific gift I can give to Him for Christmas, but what gift He would like to give me.  Then I wait, and each year through various means He has faithfully and wonderfully answered.

I’ve been so pleasantly surprised and at times humbled by the quality and preciousness of the gifts He has given and asked for from me  — gifts the world can never manufacture.​

Without being too specific, I’ll give you an idea of a few of our exchanges.  One year He gave me a new ability I had longed to have.  One year He asked me to give Him a specific fear of mine.  It was difficult to believe that such an ugly old thing would be a worthy gift, but how pleased He was to take it from me and fill that available space with more of His love.

If there is  someone you’ve not been able to forgive, don’t you think giving that to Him would be the gift He desires Most?  Giving Him our right to be right, so that He can give us freedom from bitterness.

One year He gave me a special new friend, and I gave Him the apartment I was moving into to use as His own home.​

As you can see, these aren’t items you can run into the discount store and grab at the last minute.  I passed this tradition on to my church family one year.  Each attendee on Christmas Sunday received a small blank paper in the form of a package.  During the worship time they were invited to write down what they wanted to give Jesus for His birthday.  As they came to the front and hung their little note package on the Christmas tree, they were handed a note package with a gift promised in scripture written on it.

The creativity, honesty and love involved in my personal gift exchange with the Great Giver has made this tradition the highlight of my Christmas through the years and has kept Jesus the focus of His birthday.

I pray Holy Spirit will go to your deepest desire and give you a revelation of the Great Gift Giver, Jesus!