The Cost of Christmas and a New Way of Thanksgiving
What
it costs God to make this (Christmas 🌲) commemoration happen?
Isaiah 9:6
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.
Jesus became like one of us when He was born as flesh. (John
1:14)
But He is already with us from the very beginning. (John 1:1-4)
God gave the greatest price. How much can I give (to God )?
Well, my personal understanding from the Lord is this, we are
here to reflect the life of Christ (Romans 8:29) for Jesus is our forerunner
(Hebrews12) . If Jesus, as the Holy begotten Son of God cost this His life, as
we mirror Christ, it must also cost us this life. In fact, in Matthew 16:24
Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Meaning, the full price of our salvation is not just accepting
Jesus and the gospel that He died, was buried and rose again to save us from
our sins (1 Corinthians 15), but a complete and total surrendering of our lives
to Him. (Galatians 2:20)
What does it mean of complete and total surrender?
Hebrews 12 explains it this way :
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let
us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and
let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who
for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will
not grow weary and lose heart.
12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of
shedding your blood.
12:5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as
sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose
heart when he rebukes you,
12:6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he
accepts as a son."
12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son
is not disciplined by his father?
12:8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you
are illegitimate children and not true sons.
12:9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our
spirits and live!
12:10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but
God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however,
it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been
trained by it.
12:12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
12:13 "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be
disabled, but rather healed.
12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without
holiness no one will see the Lord.
12:15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root
grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Meaning, completely surrendering is accepting first that we are
sinners, then repent. When the Word of God says repent, that is throwing every
single sin that easily entangles our lives and hinders us from coming to God.
After that, submit to the Lord's discipline (discipling) for the Lord is clear
that those whom He loves, He rebukes and discipline until such time that the
righteousness of God has become mature in us and is now became our lives . You
see, if people see the holiness of God through you, we give them a hope to have
also a share in this life that we have - the life of Christ in us. If people do
not see the holiness and righteousness of God among us, the Word is clear,
without holiness, no one will see the Lord.
What is generous giving then? (sharing respect, love and
service?)
I gave you one parallel verse of the heart of the Bible. 1 John
3:16 says : This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life
for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
If Christ Brings Truth and Life in Me, I am ought to also share
that Truth and Life to other people. Why ? Because that is the greatest gift
that brings eternal value to everyone, a fruit that will last. That is the
overall idea of doing good, to bring eternity and salvation to every single
person within and outside your circle.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down
his life for his friends.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
The harvest here is not pertaining to material Things on earth
but to every life that we can bring before the footstool of God.
I tell you one story, (Matthew 9:35-38)
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and
sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they
were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to
his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the
Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
If we surrender our life to God, the Lord will made this life so
meaningful that can be use by the Lord to make an impact towards others.
The true essence of Christ becoming flesh in Jesus can be found in
Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
Now that it is finished in victory (1 Corinthians 15), those who
believed and received, and repent and completely leave the old life , he is now
a new person (2 Corinthians 5:17) and the truth of God is in him. Whom the sons
sets free is free indeed. (John 8:32,34)
Now that the Truth is in me, therefore, the Bible says to be the
light.
Matthew 5:13-16
5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness,
how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be
thrown out and trampled by men.
5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
5:15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put
it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your
good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
May we have this conviction in our hearts, Whatever I have in my ✋ hand, God can
used to bless others .
Be thankful to God every second of everyday.
The cure to complaint is a greatful heart.
~
Hi friend, one way of saying
thank you is to lay a life through lending a helping hand. It’s a bit too late
for a Christmas gift, but being generous is not only limited to Christmas season,
but you can be like Jesus all throughout the whole year round. Find out more by
clicking this link: https://www.compassion.com/christmas-gift-for-needy-children.htm
IT’S
TRUE. YOUR GIFT DOES MAKE CHRISTMAS UNFORGETTABLE.
 |
| Jarwin smiles with his gift of a toy truck |
Meet 5-year-old Jarwin. He lives in Colombia. Even though his
parents work very hard, they struggle to make enough money to feed their
family. Some years at Christmas, they cannot afford to buy Jarwin a gift. But
when Jarwin began attending the local Compassion program, he received a VERY
special Christmas gift from someone just like you!
“I wanted to give a toy car to Jarwin for Christmas,” said Jina,
Jarwin's mother. “One day, a man was selling toys on the street and I saw a
nice small car, but I had no money to buy it. Then, the day of the Christmas
celebration … I saw the big gift that they delivered to my boy and I shouted
with emotion. Even without seeing what was inside, I thought, “That is a car
for my child!” When he opened it, I realized that it was exactly the same car
that he wanted, but this was a big one.”
Happy and fruitful 2020 start for
everyone. God bless your life =)
This blog post is a blog for Compassion Bloggers.
Compassion Bloggers is a ministry of Compassion in Jesus’ name whose mission is to release children from poverty.
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