{"id":1157,"date":"2009-12-20T14:30:18","date_gmt":"2009-12-20T20:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"2109977988"},"modified":"2009-12-20T14:30:18","modified_gmt":"2009-12-20T20:30:18","slug":"today-the-gathering-bigger-is-seldom-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/today-the-gathering-bigger-is-seldom-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Today @ The Gathering: Bigger is Seldom Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"Today at The Gathering<\/a> in our series, \u201cThey Promised Me Chocolate,\u201d<\/strong> we turned our focus to what are the best gifts in life.\u00a0 At Christmas time we run around intent on trying to find that one perfect gift.\u00a0 We often have the idea that the bigger and more expensive it is, the more potential it has to have lasting value.\u00a0 When the truth of the matter is, some of the best gifts in life can\u2019t be contained, can\u2019t be earned, and, believe it or not, cannot be lost; only surrendered.<\/p>\n

So today we talked about the eight best gifts of Christmas.<\/p>\n

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  1. The gift of election.<\/strong> This word makes a lot of people nervous.\u00a0 But it\u2019s right there in the Scripture; that God predestined, called, justified, and glorified those He loves.\u00a0 Arte you a person who feels chosen, feels like God has pursued you and found you; not to condemn you and hurt you, but to love you and lift you; to redeem, to reconcile, and restore your life?\u00a0 That\u2019s the gift of His electing love.<\/li>\n
  2. The gift of inner peace.<\/strong> This is actually the outgrowth of the gift of election.\u00a0 Jesus said he left his peace with us.\u00a0 But it is not a peace that is defined or described, or even identified oftentimes by the rest of the world. Peace in that interpretation means the cessation of conflict.\u00a0 The truth is, we can live in the midst of conflict and still retain our inner peace.\u00a0 The world around us can be in a swirl and we can be totally calm inside.<\/li>\n
  3. The gift of meaningful work.<\/strong> Oftentimes we worry way too much about what we will achieve with our work and forget to enjoy the work we have \u2013 meaningful work.\u00a0 The Scriptures say that to eat, drink, and enjoy the fruits of our labor are some of the best gifts from God.<\/li>\n
  4. The gift of laughter.<\/strong> Seven times in the Psalms we are told to make a joyful noise.\u00a0 What is that?\u00a0 Laughter.\u00a0 In Proverbs we\u2019re taught that a cheerful heart is good medicine.\u00a0 God gives us the gift to laugh: to laugh at ourselves, to laugh at situations, to laugh at things that once caused us great pain and worry, but seem so small and insignificant now.<\/li>\n
  5. The gift of fun.<\/strong> If you\u2019re not having any fun, then you\u2019re doing something wrong, because life was intended to be enjoyed.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, the Scriptures in Nehemiah tell us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.<\/li>\n
  6. The gift of friends.<\/strong> Life is not a solo sport.\u00a0 We\u2019re not made to live on an island of conflict, by ourselves, cut off from those who love us, lift us, and care about us.<\/li>\n
  7. The gift of love.<\/strong> God\u2019s love never fails.\u00a0 It constantly prevails.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a feeling.\u00a0 It\u2019s a reality, an action, a commitment that God will never leave us nor forsake us.<\/li>\n
  8. The gift of hope.<\/strong> The Scriptures promise that anyone who puts their true hope in God would never be disappointed.\u00a0 If I am disappointed it\u2019s a result of my perspective or even my pain, but not of God\u2019s failure.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Remember bigger is not always better.\u00a0 The answer is not always more money, more stuff, and more control.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, when you overestimate how much of the world you own and control, you\u2019ll be miserable.\u00a0 When you open your hands and realize that the very best things in life can never truly be lost, you begin living the life God intended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Today at The Gathering in our series, \u201cThey Promised Me Chocolate,\u201d we turned our focus to what are the best gifts in life.\u00a0 At Christmas time we run around intent on trying to find that one perfect gift.\u00a0 We often have the idea that the bigger and more expensive it is, the more potential it … Continue reading “Today @ The Gathering: Bigger is Seldom Better”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidfoster.tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}