Jesus A Gift To The World
Isaiah 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign: The virgin[b] will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel.[d]
Matthew 1:23
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[a] (which means “God with us”).
Luke 2:7
7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Luke 1: 30-35
30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God.
Luke 2:13-14
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This morning as I look out of my bedroom window, I can see snowflakes gently falling to the ground. There are only three days left until Christmas, and basically, the entire town has come to a silent halt. For days now, the weather stations have been predicting, that the temperatures would plunge to very low and dangerous levels and that we would see snow. It was also predicted that this would be one of the coldest Christmases on record, across forty-five states.
That being said, isn’t amazing how God chooses to slow things down. I consider this a huge blessing, especially this close to Christmas. What a great opportunity to enjoy spending time with God, focusing on His birth and His sacrificial stay here on earth. This is a wonderful time to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate or hot tea and spend hours reading, journaling, and studying His word. It is also a great time to refamiliarize yourself with the story of the birth of Christ.
Also, take a moment and think about all that Mary and Joseph went through in preparation for Jesus’s entry into this cruel world in the form of flesh. I encourage you to put yourself in Mary’s shoes for a minute. How would you have responded to the Angel that brought Mary the excellent news, that she had been chosen to be the mother of Jesus? How would you feel knowing that you were indeed carrying the Savior of the world? How would feel knowing that you were bringing a child into this world, knowing that He would be crucified? You see even though she understood the purpose for His coming, He was still her son.
It may be a little difficult for you to focus on all that I am asking you to do If you have not finished your Christmas shopping. You are probably going into panic mode right about now, wondering when the streets will be cleared enough for you to finish your Christmas shopping. I want to encourage you to take some time to release yourself from the commercial side of Christmas, relax, and just for a few minutes simply bask in the spiritual side of Christmas. After all, it is what truly matters. Everything else will work out one way or the other. I know that when you do, you will feel a sense of peace and you will be blessed for being in God’s presence. You will also be focusing on what Christmas is really about and that is Jesus! May you and your family be blessed with a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
