Jesus said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”—John 15:11
Not that long ago, I saw an acronym on Instagram for JOY; Jesus Occupies You. I thought, don’t we all need a little bit of that? Really, we need a whole LOT of that. It gave the word, Joy a whole new meaning for me. I want Jesus to occupy me every day, don’t you?
It is easy this time of the year to have more of a desire to bless others with a gift of some kind. While I do it throughout the year, I do try to be more intentional during the Christmas season. I know before I had a relationship with Jesus that Christmas was one of the few times I did attend church. By giving a gift with a tag that includes a scripture and lets the person know it was prayed over for them, I could be planting a seed for them to seek out a Christmas Eve church service. I don’t want to miss an opportunity of possibly being a part of someone’s story that helped lead them to Christ.
My ministry is about sharing the love of Jesus through my hands and heart through items I knit or crochet. In my car, I currently have a bag full of hats, scarves and other gifts to pass out to someone when I feel God impress it on my heart to do so. This past week I was able to give away three!
A few months back, I shared how I felt God laid it on my heart to give a cashier a gift, but I was in a rush and didn’t do it. On my car ride home, I was beating myself up about it. Last week, I had another opportunity to bless this woman. She was in the store stocking shelves. For me, this this is the perfect scenario, because I won’t hold up a long line. I approached her and let her know that I knit gifts to give away to people that make a difference in my day. I told her how much I appreciated her always being friendly with a smile on her face. I had one of my felted gift card holders with a Chick-fil-a gift card in it. I mentioned that I pray for God to lead me to the person to bless with it and I already missed one opportunity with her and wasn’t going to again. She asked if she could hug me and thanked me for it.
The second item I gave away was an ear warmer/headband. It was to the woman at the office supply that laminated something for me. When I let her know I appreciated her service and gave her the gift, her eyes filled with tears. It wasn’t as if she received some grand gift….a headband that moved her to tears. I have no idea what was going on in her life, but she obviously needed to know someone saw her and what she was doing mattered.
The third gift was given on a colder and windy day. There was a hatless young lady in the the grocery store parking lot gathering carts. I had one of my 3-in-1 hats in Christmas colors that I was able to give to her. This particular grocery store is really good about employing special needs employees. I try and go out of my way to thank them and have conversations with them when they are bagging my groceries. She seems to love her job and I wanted her to know I noticed the good job she was doing.
I may never see the fruits of any of these gifts I gave away this week, but I don’t look for chances to do good because I am looking for God’s approval. I do it because as a disciple of Christ I am called to share the Gospel to everyone, everywhere I go. Think about how your one kind act can have a ripple effect. A kind gesture can multiply. I have experienced, the more I spread love and kindness, the more I feel Jesus occupying my heart. Could your kindess lead a lost soul to Jesus? Where can you spread some joy, help or friendship to someone this week? As we walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit’s promptings, we can be a powerful witness for our Lord and Savior.
Father God,
Forgive me when I miss an opportunity to bless someone. I thank You for Your grace and mercy for second chances. Empower me to give Your message of love and hope wherever I go this week. I give You praise that no matter what is happening in my life, that Your joy flows through me. Help me to stay attune to Your Word so that I can be obedient to who You are leading me to share the love of Jesus. It is in the name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen.
December Memory Verse
Putting last month’s memory verse, Mark 16:15 as my screen saver, did help me to memorize it, so I plan on doing that again.
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”—Psalm 119:105
If you are knitting or crocheting gifts to give away, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make.