The Gift of God

The Gift of God

By Gary Wayne

This Christmas season, as I have read and studied the Christmas story, I keep coming back to the basic topic of gifts and giving.
Rom 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Eph 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God...”.
Joh 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave…”

Text: Isaiah 9:2, 6,

Have you ever given gifts that needed to be opened in a specific order? For instance, the first gift you give are tools to put together the next gifts in line.

The best way to beat the Christmas stress is to stress the things that are important - to emphasize this gift from God to you.
Start by unwrapping the main gift that is designed to help me function with what is to come. Unwrap Jesus first.

Why is it that this time of year can be overwhelming for many people?

How many have received a gift that at the time, the “awe factor” wasn’t that great, so we set it aside to fixate on the shiny gadget type of gift that captured our attention. But at some point as we return the first gift, realizing it’s value over all the other things that grab our focus.

There is an unrealistic expectation that the “magic of Christmas” will transport me into a state of happiness that fixes everything.
Simply receive God’s gift of Jesus into your lives, and life will smooth out, and we can live like heaven on earth.

The truth is that the stress of Christmas time is not new.
Think with me the stress that the major players in this event LIVED with.

Look at the stress Mary began to live with after the angel shard God’s news with her.
What about Joseph before they were married.
After they were married. After the Magi left. Talk about Christmas Stress!

I thought Jesus was the “Prince of Peace?”

The greatest gift is not just that we get to go to heaven when we die, but the presence of Jesus is God’s present to us.

His presence is given so I can handle the stress of life – the stress of a holiday season with Jesus living inside me.
Many times, He doesn’t calm the storm, but He calms the child.

So in the middle of the presence this year – the presence of anxiety, of stress, of business, etc. take a moment to look inside for the gift from God of Jesus – He does life WITH us - His presences gives me the ability to deal with the reality life.