Good morning,
God’s perfect Christmas gifts
I think that it is important that I begin this Monday Minute with a heart felt confession. For most of my life my deep down focus at Christmas was all about what I was getting at Christmas with no serious thought of the gifts that God had given to me and to the rest of my family, friends and all the other people around me. What I trust is that the Lord will help all of us to take a very different approach to what is under the tree and what God has given to us that will last for eternity. Our Lord is the perfect gift giver who offers the gift of eternal life to all those who admit their rebellion against him and ask Jesus to take control of their hearts and minds. John 3:16 makes it wonderfully clear that He loves the people that are living on the earth. He knows we are all sinful to the core, but what Jesus did for us when he came to this world as the man/God was to make it possible for us to be a part of his eternal family starting in time and going on forever in eternity. That means that none of God’s genuine family will ever quit living even when our old earthly body is traded in for our eternal body. What a perfect gift. Leaving earth behind us means we will always be welcome and loved and never be afraid again.
What’s more is that Jesus, our Savior, has willingly paid for all of our sins so that no one can accuse us of any of our sins when we face Jesus our Judge and Savior and Lover and Friend. We will never face an accuser again when we leave this earthly body behind us. What a perfect gift. Even now here on earth we can face our enemies because we know that our Savior and Lover is always with us to defend us in our hearts and minds in the face of hate and lies that are the normal stuff of being human beings.
Another one of God’s perfect gifts is that as soon as we become a part of God’s eternal family, God sends his Holy Spirit to live in us as proof of our family connection. While here on earth we are surrounded by all sorts of evil people and evil spirits who do their best to keep us under their control. It is easy and natural for us to follow our sinful natures, our sinful world, and Satan’s wicked spirits and feel that we are on the right path for our lives. But our Lord has given us his far more powerful Holy Spirit to live in us and guide and direct us in the face of all these lies and false ideas of what is right and wrong from God’s perfect perspective.
There is so much more in God’s perfect book, The Holy Bible. Just think, this book has been in written form that began over 3,500 years ago and it is still available to us to read and believe and obey all these years later. What a perfect gift. There is so much waiting for us to read and think about in this book that will always be available to us. There is so much more to be found in this book about the gift that he has given. God offers all of his genuine family peace of mind and heart if we are willing to search for His truth and then obey his guidelines as we choose how to live our lives His way. Dear Lord. will you please help us to look for and then celebrate the awesome gifts that are all around us from you instead of being focused on ourselves and what we can get and give this Christmas.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.
Roy Wisner
