My Birthday Gift From Jesus Christ
March 5th marked my 47th birthday. While it’s not a significant milestone like turning 45 or 50, I took the opportunity to remember, reflect, and express gratitude to God, through Jesus Christ, for His faithfulness in my life.
On this special day, I had a specific request for Jesus Christ: I wanted Him to speak to my heart personally at some point, just to reaffirm our closeness.
I understand that God, through Jesus Christ, is not obliged to answer my prayer, and He defines our relationship, guiding our connection with Him. While waiting for the bus home, I had the thought that “He has given me His Spirit.”
After being a Christian for over 33 years, I was familiar with this truth, but God was helping me to understand its significance on a deeper level, answering my request in the process. I felt the Lord impress upon my heart that by giving me His Spirit, He was giving me His very Inner Self—His thoughts, feelings, motivations, and essence. He has held nothing back and shares everything with me out of love.
As I pondered this, my heart broke upon realizing the depth of God’s love demonstrated through the gift of His Spirit. To truly understand this, it helps to consider our relationships with others. People often show only their outer selves—like a mask or persona. You can spend hours with someone and still not truly connect on a deeper level. Friendships may allow for more heart-to-heart connection, but even in the closest relationships, like marriage, we often conceal parts of ourselves due to shame or fear.
However, with God, He has given us His Spirit to dwell within us. As I continued to meditate, the song “Give Me You” came to mind, and I began to sing it back to the Lord as a response to His love.
My heartfelt plea was for a fuller experience of the Spirit He had already given me. As I sang, I felt as though God was singing those words back to me: “Give me you.” It was a profound moment of connection, where He invited me to seek His face, and my heart was fully engaged. It was a time of being entirely present with the one I love.
During the bus ride home, I reflected on my experience with the Lord, realizing the deep love He has for His bride (us). Two essential elements keep any relationship alive: attention and affection. I felt encouraged, but also aware of the need to protect my heart from distractions that might pull my attention away from God—such as social media—and to avoid anything that could diminish my affection for Him.
By giving us His Spirit, God continually offers us attention and love. My takeaway is to “guard your heart’s attention and affection towards Him”—that’s the language of love.
This was the insight the Lord shared with me on my 47th birthday, and I hope it encourages you as well.
