Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Yesterday I attended one of the best Christmas worship services ever, at Crossover Bible Fellowship. So many Christ glorifying moments in song, dance and enactments. Two things that captivated me most were…

• the youth and children’s reenactment of the life of KING JESUS all with the use of their bodies for props and characters.
• The preacher emphasizing God gives good gifts, especially because they’re gifts we didn’t realize we needed until we received it.

The preacher’s words, and the entire service set my mind in meditation on the God’s Perfect Gift.

Today’s scripture, James 1:17 (NLT)
[17] Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.

Consider…
As I began to write today’s post, I planned to focus on the gift of baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger, however the Holy Spirit transformed my thinking. Although Psalms 127:3 (NLT) affirms
[3] Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.

…that’s doesn’t make baby Jesus the perfect gift.

Here’s where the Holy Spirit upset my traditional way of seeing Jesus as a gift from God. While Jesus was given, He wasn’t a gift, He was God! This Divinity wrapped in humanity, could be better described as the packaging or vessel of God’s gift.

I realize what I am saying seems ridiculous and unscriptural, but look at the wording of Romans 6:23 (NLT)…
[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do you see it, the GIFT of God is ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH Christ!

Don’t miss God’s intentionality of wording in the scripture. He says what He means and means what He says.

Thus, Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT) also emphasizes…
[8] God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

SALVATION is a gift from God!

Over the weekend the Holy Spirit pointed out that Christmas really represents God’s gift of new life, which is why He gave His only begotten Son as a baby.

Remember what Jesus told the esteemed religious teacher in John 3:3-6 (NLT)…
[3] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” [4] “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” [5] Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. [6] Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

Jesus emphasized people must be born into God’s Kingdom, there’s no other way.

It’s from the backdrop of Jesus explaining how people talking about Heaven can ultimately enter it, when Jesus said in John 3:16-17 (NKJV)…
[16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [17] For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

God sent His Son so that WHOEVER believes in Him will live forever with Him.

The Holy Spirit referenced Romans 3:22 (NLT) for emphasis…
[22] We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

But notice, even Jesus explained that His purpose for being given was so the world could be saved through Him.

The Holy Spirit is emphasizing, don’t miss out on the the main gift by being overly focused on the package it was delivered in.

Don’t miss understand, I am by no means minimizing Jesus and His importance! I mean above all God says Jesus is LORD!

What I am saying is that while Jesus was given, the gift was the new life Ge delivered. before Amazon Prime was Jesus Devine, who delivered God’s perfect gift to everyone everywhere!

2 Corinthians 5:15-21 (NLT) explains what I am trying to say better than I can…
[15] He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. [16] So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! [17] This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! [18] And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. [19] For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. [20] So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” [21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

The perfect description of God’s perfect gift is tucked away in these verses. We can see it by zooming in on…
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.

Notice, New Life through Christ is God’s gift.

Don’t miss the significance of that last statement either…
from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.

That triggered me hearing Jesus declare in John 14:6 (NLT)… “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

The Holy Spirit is telling me we must not miss the fact that God delivered Jesus to us to deliver us back to Him.

I just heard the lyrics from ‘Mary Did You Know’…

Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered
Will soon deliver you

You see we miss the true meaning of Christmas is we remain stuck in the old sin-stained and sin-filled life we were born in, rather than living in the new blood-stained sin-freed Life that God has given us through Christ.

Imagine only having old tattered, battered and worn out clothes, and then you’re given a brand new outfit, but you never put it on. That’s what the Holy Spirit doesn’t want us to miss, Christ is the new Life God wants His children to wear.

That makes me hear the hymn lyrics…

Precious Lord, take my hand
Lead me on, let me stand
I am tired, I’m weak, I am worn
Through the storm, through the night
Lead me on to the light
Take my hand, precious Lord
Lead me home

Paul testifies, as we should too, in Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)…
[20] I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

After Paul testified, he explained in Galatians 3:26-27 (NLT)…
[26] For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. [27] And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.

Stop wearing your old dingey, tattered and battered sin-stained clothes, and put on your new sin-freed life in Christ fit.

Just as I was about to pivot into some of the perks of the gift of new Life in Christ, the Holy Spirit redirected me again.

He told me to close with Colossians 3:10-15 (NLT)…
[10] Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. [11] In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. [12] Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. [13] Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. [14] Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. [15] And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

God is saying if you want to show recognition and appreciation for my perfect gift of new life through and in Christ, wear Him everywhere you go!

The Holy Spirit just dropped the needle on good song lyrics to get dressed to every morning, by Anthony Brown…

Everywhere I go I take my Jesus with me
Everywhere I go I take my Jesus with me
Everywhere I go I know He’s right there with me
That’s why I’m still winning every time you see me
Everywhere I go I take my Jesus with me

Today as you are putting on your chill at the house or go out into the world clothes, make sure you include the Colossians 3 fit laid out for you by God.

New Life is God’s perfect gift! Wear it everywhere you go!

Today’s song is…
New Life

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)