True Vine Fellowship
Holiday Gifts 12/17/2011
 
As I sit here in my office contemplating the season we are in, I am reminded of Christmas times past. I truly believe that (at least for me) I learned the meaning of love and giving. Not necessarily because of the giving of presents because growing up there were some Christmas’s where gifts were a little hard to come by. I am talking about the joy it would bring to my heart even as a child to see the smiles of friends and family members who received their gifts with great expectancy. Don’t get me wrong, I would feel a little sad at the same time, when it seemed like we had nothing and others had so much; at times even angry wishing I had more. Yet at the end of the day I was over it and ready to enjoy the singing and hot chocolate.

As a child, I didn’t know anything about JESUS birth and the true reason for the season we celebrated. I knew the story of his birth but not the meaning. One day, which also happened to be one of the first times I went to a Christian church, I was taken to a Christmas service where we learn about the not just a baby in a manger but the reason this baby came.

The thing I kept thinking about was this baby JESUS was like me in the sense of Him not having much yet people were happy. I understood that! I understood how you can have so little and yet be so happy; what I did not understand was why. Jesus was born under extreme circumstances in humble surroundings and lived a simple life. Yet HE did something that I could never do. He died for all mankind!! His beginnings were a picture of HIS ending, humble, extreme, yet glorious.

I was in my mid teens when I feel like I finally got it, the message that is. Those times when I didn’t get what I wanted, as much as I wanted, or whatever the case was, all along I had the greatest gift of all waiting on me to accept HIM. It took a few more years until I finally did.

You have so many gifts that the LORD has given you. It does no good to focus on what we don’t have instead be thankful for what you do have. Breathe for this life and eternity for the next. GOD has blessed you with more than you know. HE has a plan for your life! Remember what Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first the kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Be blessed this holiday season, you already are!!

Pastor D. 

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