The Ultimate Gift

December 25, 2015

Jesus – The Ultimate Gift

Have you heard??

“The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” ‭‭ Luke‬ ‭2:11-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Just as the prophet Isaiah foretold…

“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” ‭‭ Isaiah‬ ‭9:6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Unto you. Unto me. Unto Us. A Son. Is. Given.

God gave us the Ultimate Gift when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, from heaven in the form of a baby. May each of you savor the Savior and the hope, love, joy and peace that He came to give.

December 24, 2015

Advent: The Candle of Peace

Advent season is coming to a close and Christmas is upon us! How are those preparations coming along? I find it somewhat ironic that it’s the candle of peace that we lit last, just before Christmas. With time running out to git’r done, the stress levels tend to run high and the peace meter reads low. Whether your stress is Christmas-related or not is irrelevant. No matter the source, the bottom line is that stress and peace have an inverse relationship. So how do we combat stress and enjoy peace instead? I believe the answer is to keep our focus where it belongs. And just where is that? Right where I’ve been attempting to point all along—Jesus, the One whose birth we celebrate on Christmas.

Out of love, God gave us His Son, Jesus. Did you catch all those names for that Boy who brought joy? That’s one impressive resumé, perfect even. We’d be crazy NOT to seek His help. We do that through prayer.

The Prince of Peace entered our world to save us. Take to Him the concerns that are weighing heavily on your heart. Replace those worries with prayers, remembering His faithfulness in the past, and trust Him with the results.

‬‬“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians‬ ‭4:6-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The byproduct of prayer is peace. A peace that cannot be explained.

No matter the magnitude and quantity of your concerns right now, my prayer is that you would know Him as the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present God. May the Prince of Peace reign in your heart, now and always.

(Coincidentally, or perhaps not, “Unto Us” started playing in the background as I put the finishing touches on this post)

December 19, 2015

Advent: The Candle of Joy

Can I be honest? As I sit down to write a post about joy, I’m not feeling all that happy. You see, I’ve fallen victim to everything I’d hoped to avoid this advent season. Sure, my day gets off to a good start as I spend time with Him. But then life happens and Martha springs into action! She gets busy preparing for the Lord’s arrival. Mary, on the other hand, sees no reason to stress over the Christmas “to do” list. After all, Jesus’ presence is the only thing that truly matters.

But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke‬ ‭10:41-42‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Who cares if the cards get sent? Do we really need cookies? So what if there are no special touches given to our decor? And what about gifts? I guess the response depends on who you ask. (Especially regarding the cookies…right, Mom?) Though I know deep down these “things” are non-essential for celebrating Christmas, they have become tradition and it’s difficult to part with that. Jesus wasn’t necessarily condemning Martha, but rather, affirming Mary. So, for all you fellow Marthas reading this, don’t beat yourself up, BUT also don’t lose sight of the one thing worth being concerned about.

Imagine the shepherds watching and waiting for days, weeks, months and years on end for the promised Messiah. Then. It. Happened. An angel delivered the news…

“but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” Luke‬ ‭2:10-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The Savior that we ALL desperately need had arrived, perhaps not quite as expected though.

“And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” ‭‭ Luke‬ ‭2:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The King came to us as a baby. And, oh boy (pun intended), did He bring joy! As believers we have 24/7 access to the joy that comes from living in His presence for the Holy Spirit dwells within each of us. No one or nothing can steal that joy, not even life’s difficulties here on earth. I’ve often heard this differentiation made between happiness and joy: happiness is a circumstance-based feeling, but joy is not. Feelings change with the wind, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews‬ ‭13:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬) and our joy is found in Him!

As Christmas draws near, may we each remain focused on that one thing worthy of our concern—Jesus, the baby boy who brought us joy!

As the popular Christmas carol begins…

Joy to the World! The Lord has come

Let earth receive her King!

Let every heart prepare Him room

December 12, 2015

Advent: The Candle of Love

This past weekend, we lit the 2nd candle on the Advent wreath, the candle of love. The first verse that comes to mind when I think of God’s love for us is the all-familiar John 3:16….

‭‭For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

For further explanation, let’s continue reading the next verse…

“God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17 NLT

That’s some serious love, perfect even! I can’t speak for you, but I find it quite humbling to think He would go to such great lengths for me. Without the shed blood of Jesus, we are dead in our sin. As I mentioned in my last post, God knew all along that His people had a sin problem and were in need of a savior. His answer…

“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” ‭‭ 2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” ‭‭ 1 John‬ ‭4:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

That’s quite a solution, don’t you think? It’s one that demonstrates that His love knows no bounds. As a parent myself, there is nothing that touches my heart quite like the thought of God sacrificing His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us, His broken people, from our sin.

Only Love would give something priceless in exchange for something worthless. He did it for me. He did it for you. He did it for ALL who believe. Unto you. Unto me. Unto us. A Son was given.