The Best Gift Of All

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16 (NKJV)

Christmas is a time when people give and exchange gifts.  Some people give and get more gifts than others, some people may receive something that is not exactly what they wanted, and some people receive a gift that fits them perfectly, and it is just want they wanted.  There are all kinds of gifts someone can give, but the best gift would always be something that the other person has needed and hoped for.  Giving a gift that no one wants would be a mistake, but giving a gift that someone had only dreamed about would be the best gift of all.

At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, at least that is where our focus should be.  Today, the emphasis of Christmas is more about family, celebrations, and gift giving, which is fine, but we should not forget the most important reason we have to celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus.  Some believers get concerned and even upset when others lose their focus on the true meaning of Christmas, and while getting upset with people for any reason is not very helpful, it is good to understand the real reason for celebrating Christmas and to remember how God sent Jesus to save us.

Although we do not usually think of John 3:16 as a Christmas verse, what that verse tells us is at the heart of what Christmas is all about: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  The gift God gave us of Jesus was the perfect gift, the best gift of all, and it is just what we needed.  God loved humanity so much, that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to the earth to die in our place, so that we could be reunited with God.  That was, and is, the best gift of all, and it is exactly what we needed!

Where Is It, And What Are We Doing With It?

"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV)

Nearly everyone has a smartphone, and they can be very useful.  But what if you bought a new smartphone, or someone gave you one, and it was the newest smartphone available with all the apps and features you needed and wanted, but you never used it?  What would it be like to have that new phone and never take advantage of all that it could do, and what if you not only never used it, but you only took it out of its package and then put it back?  That would be very strange, and it is something no one would ever really do.

We are very fortunate today, because we have the complete Bible, where in the past some people did not own a Bible, or even have the complete set of Scriptures that we have today.  God gave us His Word to help us, to show us how to follow His plan, and live the kind of life He planned for us, but it is up to us to do something with it.  God's Word should not just be in our head, on some paper, in a book, or in some audio or video file, God's Word needs to be in our heart, and an active part of what we do and what we say.

Deuteronomy 6 says that God's Word should be in our heart, we should teach it to others, we should talk about it, and it should be a vital part of our life.  If the Word is in our heart, it will come out of our mouth, it will direct our actions, it will be the focal point of our life, and the basis for how we live.  If God's Word is just in our head, on some paper, or in a video, then we won't think about it, we won't act on it, we won't talk about it, and it will not guide our life.  Where is God's Word in our life, and what are we doing with it?

Living In The Right Spiritual "Time Zone"

"giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."
Colossians 1:12-14 (NKJV)

In my personal life and ministry work, I have done a lot of traveling.  When I travel overseas, there is a several hour change in the time, and that means adjusting to a new time zone.  My strategy is that once I am on the airplane I change my time from the location where I am to where I will be.  Some people keep their watch and devices in their former time zone during the entire trip, and even after they have arrived in their new location, which only makes adjusting to the new time zone more difficult.

When someone becomes a Christian, a born-again follower of Jesus, they move into a new kingdom.  So there has to be an adjustment from living the old way of life, in the devil's kingdom, to a new way of life in God's Kingdom.  If we try to continue to live the way we have in the past, then just like trying to live in the wrong time zone we will have some problems.  We have left the past behind, and even though we may sometimes feel like we are still a part of that former kingdom, we need to make the shift and adjustment to living in God's Kingdom.

Colossians 1:13 says that we have been conveyed, transferred, out of the kingdom and power of darkness into the Kingdom of God's Son, Jesus.  You could say that in God's Kingdom we are in a new spiritual "time zone," and we need to make the necessary adjustments to live there properly.  In our new kingdom, we have an inheritance and redemption through the blood of Jesus; we are in a new kingdom, and we have to live that way.  No matter how we may feel, or how much we may remember our former kingdom and spiritual time zone, we have to leave all of that behind and live in the reality of our new kingdom. 

Your Piece Of The Puzzle

"But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body."
1 Corinthians 12:18-20 (NKJV)

Putting together a puzzle can be an enjoyable way to spend time.  When a puzzle is completed, you have a beautiful picture of something, or you at least have an interesting picture, depending on the puzzle.  But, for a puzzle to be complete, you have to have all the pieces in the right place.  Some pieces may look similar, but each piece will only fit in one specific place, so each piece is uniquely necessary to create the entire puzzle.  If a piece is missing, you cannot complete the puzzle, and you will have an incomplete picture.

Many people lack purpose in their life, and they live without a real purpose.  That is one reason so many people have problems.  If someone does not have a true purpose in life, if they are just existing, their life is not as full as it should be.  God has a plan, a purpose, for each and every person, whether they are born again or not.  But, until someone receives Jesus as their Savior and Lord, that person will never really connect with the true purpose that God has given them.  If people understood that there is a place and purpose waiting for them in God's family, it would make a difference in their lives.

The Bible refers to believers as the Body of Christ, and we each have a part to play in the Body.  This is just like every piece of a puzzle being important for the complete picture.  If someone is not filling their place in the Body, then something is missing, just like if you were missing a piece for a puzzle.  God has a purpose for our life, and it is up to us to discover it.  This comes through spiritual growth and development in God's Word and with the help of the Holy Spirit.  We are all valuable parts of the Body of Christ, and God needs us all to take our place so that His will can come to pass.