The Ultimate Gift

            Here we are, with just two days before Christmas!  Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  I am nearly ready.  Part of the food is prepared for tomorrow’s dinner and pies are being baked next door by my daughter.  The tree is up and gifts are wrapped; tucked beneath the beautifully decorated branches, heavy laden with ornaments and tinsel.  

This might be my favorite time of year.  (Easter is right up there with Christmas!)  I love the Carols, the smells, the fellowship, the joy, the sharing, the kindness, and especially the Christmas story.  Jesus is why we have Christmas.  He is the ultimate gift.  All other gifts pale in value next to Him; our Savior!  My heart is full and I am grateful for the blessings and bounty of this past year.  

            As a child of God I am adopted into the Christian family!  I have a Heavenly Father who cares about every facet of my life. He is the definition of Love.  I sincerely hope you can claim Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and know the love He provides.  It goes so far beyond what humans can give…..after all….  It was God, the Father, who sent Jesus, the Son, as a tiny babe that first Christmas over 2,000 years ago…..who grew to be a child and then a man who died on the cross so one day we could be with him in Glory!   What greater love is there than this?

 

Merry, Merry Christmas my friends.  May you be blessed and enjoy the time spent around the Christmas tree with your families, yet never forgetting that Jesus really is the reason for the season!

Week 4 Day 2    

Read John 1:1-13                                                                     Another Name for Love

Key verse:  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural decent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  John 1:12-13

             

Many years ago friends of ours adopted a beautiful Korean baby.  Year later, they adopted another child with a huge array of physical disabilities.  In addition to these children they have four biological children and have been host parents to countless other foster children.  They have big hearts with enough love to share, so that no child within their reach would feel left out, neglected or unloved.  Every child became truly their own.  Each was treated and cared for equally according to their needs no matter what their social background, medical needs or psychological issues.  This required endless hours without sleep, an enormous amount of patience and fortitude.

            God has a heart big enough to encompass all his children, just like my friends.  God’s love surpasses all we can imagine.  He wants us to accept his love and return this gift by simply serving him.  God has the capacity to love each of us equally.  God doesn’t care about our nationality, race, gender, or financial situation.   We have the opportunity to be adopted into the family of God by receiving and believing him.  

            We will one day join him and live with him forever if we make him the Lord of our lives.  We will feel loved and accepted in his family.  As we continue this Advent season, we might ask ourselves, “How can I become part of the family of God, and show my love for him, more completely?”

Consider:

1)  It can be difficult to know how to love a God we cannot see or touch.  How do you express your love for God?

2)  How would you describe the difference between loving God and loving a member of your family?

 Adult Challenge:   Consider “adopting” a person or a family who is in some way different from your own, perhaps a family from your church that is going through difficult times this Christmas season.  Create a plan for the next several weeks (or whatever time frame suits you) during which you supply them on a regular basis with a card, a phone call, a home-cooked dinner, fruit, small necessities, a gift card or any other “gift” that displays caring as Jesus would.  Be as creative as you like!  You may choose to do this anonymously, or you may want to inquire ahead of time if he/she/they would like to be adopted by you.  Realize that reaching out in this way will help you as much or more as it helps the other person!