The Gift Of Love For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son. —John 3:16 Nathan, age 8, was working hard (with a little help from his grandfather) to build a birdhouse for his mother for Christmas. He referred to it as his “secret project.” He gave it careful thought and poured all his energy into it. Most important, he was motivated by love. Before Nathan started, he calculated the number of hours he thought it would take to make it (7 1/2), and he decided what colors it should be painted (yellow with a blue roof). On Christmas morning he insisted that it be the first gift opened, and he beamed when Mom said she really liked it. Nathan’s gift was given in the true spirit of the Gift whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. God the Father, moved by His great love, “gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17). Think of the love of the Father that led to the priceless gift of His Son, which was part of His eternal plan (Ephesians 1:4-5; 3:11). God’s gift of love should fill us with deep gratitude and joy. Thank God for this indescribable gift! —Dave Egner The best gift anyone could receive is Jesus. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:1-14 ESV)
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 12:21:54 +0000
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