Friday, December 25, 2015

THe Greatest Gift of All


“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 12:17).

Hey Gang:  I pray, as we near that day set by man that we celebrate the birthday of our Lord, that you will take some time alone and give thanks for the gifts that God gave to us through His Son Jesus Christ.  Keep in mind that when Jesus came to earth as a man and suffered and died on the cross so that you could be reconciled to God, He had you in mind- even though you had not been created yet.  
Luke put it this way: “And human hands can’t minister to His needs, for He has no needs!  He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and satisfies every need there is” (17:25 Living New Testament) 

The most memorized verse in the Bible lays the very foundation for God’s love for His creation and His desire that none should perish but have everlasting life with Him: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is also the most profound verse in the Bible.

The greatest gift – He gave Himself.  Our greatest gift – to give ourselves to Him and those He sends our way.  He gave us life so that we would have something very precious to give to Him.  He gives us abundantly, more than we need, so that we can share those blessings with others who are not as blessed as we are.

I have learned that when I give to others the presence of God flows through the giver in compassion, which is love in action.    And I have also found that the greatest of all gifts is not purchased at Macy’s, but rather words of comfort to those in stress, a casserole dish to someone who is too ill to prepare dinner, or shoveling the walk of the shut in next door.

And a neat promise of God is that the giver is always blessed more than the receiver. The first blesssing will be the joy of the Lord saying ‘thank you.’   Matthew put it this way, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” (25:40). 

Sooo, as you prepare for the sharing of gifts on Christmas morning, keep in mind the greatest of all gifts was not made with human hands, but comes from the Father of Lights, THE GIFT OF SALVATION, who was in the beginning with God!

Blessings,

Gramps

No comments:

Post a Comment