Living & Enjoying My R.E.A.L. Life – Lesson 3 – Enjoying God’s Gifts (Download Notes)

 

Thesis The very things keeping me busy — work, relationships, and daily life — are gifts from God to be received, enjoyed, and shared with Him as I live my R.E.A.L. life.

Series Affirmation My R.E.A.L. life is both spiritual and practical as I receive, enjoy, abound in, and love God and His gifts. R — Receiving God’s gifts E — Enjoying God’s gifts A — Abounding in God’s gifts L — Loving God & His gifts

 

Review and Introduction

 

This is Lesson Three in our six lesson series

Living and Enjoying My R.E.A.L. Life.

 

Series Goal: To free Christians from the false belief that their spiritual life and their real life are divided, and to help them live and enjoy their R.E.A.L life in fellowship with God.

 

In Lesson Two — Receiving God’s Gifts — we learned:

• God is a giver by nature & everything good in our life comes from His hand.
• Our everyday gifts — life and breath, work, family, and daily provision — all come from God.
• When we recognize God as the giver & receive His gifts with thanksgiving we are starting to life our R.E.A.L life.

 

In Lesson Three we will focus on the letter “E” — Enjoying God’s gifts.

• Receiving a gift opens your hands. Enjoying it opens your heart.
• In this lesson we learn what it means to genuinely enjoy God’s gifts by including Him in our everyday moments through real conversation, thanksgiving, scripture, and prayer.

 

 

Enjoying God’s Gifts Is Intentional

 

Enjoyment is a choice. God placed His gifts in our lives to be enjoyed and enjoying them means choosing to engage with them and with Him in those moments.

 

Think back to the Garden. God created a world full of beauty and provision for Adam to live in and enjoy. The Garden supplied everything Adam needed — food, shelter, beauty, and meaningful work. God designed every detail for Adam to use, enjoy, and share with Him. And Adam had to be intentional to appreciate it — to stop and take in what God had made and share those moments with the God who made it all.

 

We live in that same world today. Millions of people see the same sunrise or sunset every day but only those who are intentional enjoy it. The same is true for every gift God has given us. Enjoyment requires a decision.

 

James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

 

James tells us two things about God

• Everything good comes from Him, and
• He never changes.

His generosity toward us is as unchanging as He is.

It is common for people to talk about the life they built or the life we built. And we should credit people for making good decisions with what God gave them. But James reminds us that our careers, finances, family, homes, and the lives we live are gifts from God.

It is not what we built up — it is what God sent down. Knowing that prepares us to enjoy our life as a gift from a generous and unchanging Giver.

 

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

 

The Psalmist is making a declaration about what he is going to do with the day God gave him. We will rejoice. We will be glad. That is intentional — a decision made before the day unfolds. It starts with recognizing what God gave us and choosing to include Him in it.

 

Enjoying God’s Gifts

 

Nature and the World Around Us

 

One of the most accessible places to enjoy God’s gifts and include Him in our day is the world He created around us. Creation declares God’s glory and points us straight to Him every single day.

 

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

 

The word declare means to recount or rehearse continuously — like a story told over and over without stopping. All of creation is constantly telling the story of God’s glory. David was intentional enough to stop, look up, and take in what God had made and it led him straight into worship. He wrote it down and thousands of years later we are still reading it. David lived his spiritual life and his everyday life as one — his fellowship with God was woven through everything he did. That moment of stopping to enjoy what God made became one of the most beloved psalms ever written.

 

Application

With all the things competing for our time, enjoying God’s creation does not require extra time. On the drive to work take in the sky, the trees, and the landscape God made. While exercising, stop and notice the beauty around you. When waiting on someone or with a free moment, look out a window and take in what God created. Admire His handiwork, quote a verse, and tell God you appreciate it. That ordinary moment becomes worship.

 

Family

 

Another gift God wants us to enjoy is our family. And like every gift God gives, enjoying family requires intentionality.

 

Psalm 127:3 “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

 

Proverbs 18:22 “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.”

 

God entrusts family to us as a reward and a gift. Whether that is children, a spouse, parents, or siblings — our families are gifts from God to enjoy with Him.

Consider Sandy and Maranda. Sandy prays every night thanking God for her family and asking Him to keep them safe — but she barely knows what is going on in their lives. Maranda is different. She talks to God about her family through the day — thanking Him for them, appreciating how He made them, doing things they enjoy simply because they enjoy them, asking God to protect them, bless them, and grow them in His word. Her fellowship with God is woven through her family time. Sandy asked — I pray every night but you have such a genuine love for your family. What am I missing? Maranda said — I learned to be intentional about enjoying them and I include God in my time with them through the day.

 

Application

Be intentional about enjoying the family God gave you. Learn what they like, show up for them, and invest in those relationships. Talk to God about your family through the day — thanking Him for them, appreciating how He made them, and praying for their specific needs. Incorporate this in your day and when night comes you will have had shared special moments with God while enjoying the gifts of family.

 

 

 

Friends

 

God also gives us the gift of friendship and like every gift He gives it is meant to be enjoyed intentionally. Life gets busy and we do not always invest in our friendships the way we would like to — but Solomon gives us a simple truth.

 

Proverbs 18:24 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”

 

Friendship requires something from us. It takes intentionality and effort — reaching out, showing up, and genuinely caring about the people God placed in our lives. Think about what it looks like to include God in those moments. You are out with friends — laughing, enjoying a meal, doing something you all love. You thank God for those people and the good time He provided. While you are there you take a moment to silently pray for them. Maybe you pray together before you part ways. That time spent laughing and enjoying life with friends became time spent with God.

 

Application

Be intentional about enjoying the friendships God placed in your life. Reach out, show up, invest time. Thank God for your friends, appreciate what He provided, and pray for them as you go. Time with friends does not have to compete for tiem with God.

 

Home and Work

 

Two more gifts God wants us to enjoy are our home and our work. Work is a gift God established from the very beginning — He gave Adam work in the Garden to be enjoyed with Him.

 

Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

 

 

 

Proverbs 24:3–4 “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

 

Psalm 90:17 “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.”

 

Whatever we do is unto the Lord. Our work is an opportunity to serve God through the abilities He gave us. A home built through wisdom is filled with good things — enjoyed, cared for, and shared with God. Moses asked God to establish the work of his hands — to make it meaningful and lasting. When we bring God into our work and ask Him to establish it we are sharing that time with God. Time at work becomes time in worship, dependance, and service to God.

 

Consider Leigh. When he mows the yard or fixes something around the house he talks to God while he works. He thanks God for his home, asks for wisdom to care for it, and sees it as enjoying a gift God sent down to him. His time working at home becomes time in worship with God. It nurtures gratitude in his heart, and praise to God.

 

Application

As you go to work talk to God about your day, thank Him for the ability to work, ask for wisdom, & acknowledge Him in what goes well. As you care for your home thank God for it & ask Him to establish what your hands are doing. The work God gave us & the fellowship He wants with us are meant to happen together.  At the end of the day, you lived your R.E.A.L. life.

 

Church

 

One gift we may not always think of as something to intentionally enjoy is our church. God designed the church as a community of believers called together to worship Him, grow in His word, pray for one another, bear one another’s burdens, build each other up, serve together, and share life together.

 

Acts 2:42 “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

 

1 Corinthians 3:9 “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”

 

Hebrews 10:24–25 “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

 

The early church was devoted — to the word, to fellowship, to breaking bread, and to prayer. We are labourers together with God. When we show up to church we are joining God in something He is actively building. Hebrews tells us to be intentional about the people in our church family — to consider one another, show up consistently, and stir each other up toward love and good works.

Think about walking through a Sunday morning intentionally. You arrive having already talked to God about the people you will see. A song touches your heart and you tell God about it right there. A scripture speaks to something you are carrying and you thank God for it. You see someone struggling and pray for them silently. You encourage someone, use your voice to sing and your hands to serve, and recognize the privilege of doing it all alongside God.

 

Application

Come to church prepared. Pray before you arrive. Engage with the worship and the word. Look for someone to encourage, pray for, or serve. Invest in the people God placed in your church family. Use your voice and your hands for God. As you enjoy the gift of your church with God woven through every part of it you are living your R.E.A.L. life.

 

Closing

 

Nature, family, friends, home, work, and church are all gifts from God meant to be enjoyed with Him. As we talk to Him, thank Him, recall scripture, and pray through those moments our everyday life and our walk with God become one continuous experience. That is your R.E.A.L. life — and it is available to you every single day.

 

As I enjoy God’s gifts — a good meal, a beautiful day, time with family and friends — I talk to Him, thank Him, and pray scripture back to Him, turning everyday moments into real fellowship with God as I live my R.E.A.L. life.

 

What Is Next?

 

Next week we focus on the A — Abounding in God’s gifts. Jesus gathered twelve men and shared everyday life with them and those relationships changed the world. In Lesson Four we discover that God designed us to abound through the people, the resources, and the gifts He places in our lives.