Galatians 1:4
Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue (or deliver us from) this evil world in which we live.
Lot's of smiling faces at Vineyard ReCovery last night.
Back slaps....hugs...hand shakes....and "how are you doing?" filled the room as we gathered for another meeting. This was all punctuated by cups of coffee, along with the most incredible cookie ever made ( all compliments of one Miss Carrie Elrod).
It's Christmas, so the potential for depression and gloom was there also. You see, if you're struggling with addiction, the holiday seasons are poisonous to you. Every where you turn, society portrays it's version of what this season is suppose to look like, and your life does not even come close to what we see on T.V. or in the advertising.
Last night was all about Christmas trees, and the presents we find underneath them.
Large ones...small ones.....all wrapped in brightly colored paper, with bows and such adorning them. I asked the question, "How do you know which one is yours?" Of course the correct response is "the one with my name on it". So we have this package that has been given to us by someone else. Hopefully it is someone who knows us well, and understands what we need. This opens up another question. Do we truly want someone to give us what we need? Or do we want them to give us a present that is what we want?
If we are truly honest, most of us would say...."Dude!!! Give me what I want". But sometimes it really is about what we need.
Jesus has a Christmas tree....
The Cross.....
And there are presents at the foot of it.....
Packages that have our names on them....
Presents that contain Mercy.....
There's one that has hope in it,and it fits me perfectly....
There's a small package there at the cross that is filled with Salvation and Deliverance.
But the real gift is found in the person of Jesus.
We read in Romans 6:23- .....but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Notice that the verse didn't say....The free gift FROM God...
The real gift IS God.....
For in Him we find everything we need....
But at the same time, when we begin to open and understand that He is the gift, we find that we receive everything we could ever want or desire.
Watchman Nee writes in his book The Normal Christian Life "The shed blood of Christ deals with what we have done (our sin), whereas the Cross deals with what we are. Sinner's in need of a Savior."
May you find this Christmas Cross this season....
May you be introduced to the one who gave all so that we might be all.
Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.
God on you....
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