Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:10-11
As you stroll through the department stores looking for that perfect gift to put under your tree, Christmas music fills your ears.
As you drive to and fro, here and there, Christmas lights and decorations beautifully adorn houses that twinkle and sparkle before your eyes.
Christmas cards touch your heart as you read every last word, and the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies makes it impossible for you to eat only one 🙁
But…what happens if you’re not able to afford presents or even a Christmas tree this year?
What if you’re suffering from an illness or even grieving the loss of a loved one?
What if the only present you receive this year is fruit cake! Is Christmas pointless then…is it completely ruined?
All of these things, the family traditions, the decorations, the music, the cookies, the cards, the tree with the bright gold star on top, and the presents exchanged by loved ones are all symbols of Christmas, but I dare to answer the question asked by Charlie Brown when he said humbly, “What is Christmas really all about?”
“For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
Jesus Christ is by far the most perfect Christmas gift you will ever receive. His birth is the true meaning of Christmas and what this season is really all about.
Christ was born not by chance, nor by luck, but for the purpose to save the world. Tweet
God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus Christ into this world on Christmas day, born of the virgin Mary and wrapped in swaddling clothes, to ultimately die for you.
Christ died for your sins, so you wouldn’t have to.
As a child of God, there are other presents with your name written on them under your Father’s Christmas tree, and the gifts He has for you are more valuable and more precious than anything money could buy.
They do not expire, break, rot, rust, malfunction, need batteries, or ever need to be returned at the store.
God’s gifts rather are indescribable, innumerable, supernatural, and available for you any time of the year.
11 Gifts God Has Given You
1. The gift of a Savior:
“And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21
2. The gift of God’s love:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.” – Jer. 31:3
3. The gift of God’s grace:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
4. The gift of God’s peace:
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” – John 14:27
5. The gift of God’s Holy Spirit:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you…” – Acts 1:8
6. The gift of a brand new life:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17
7. The gift of freedom from bondage and sin:
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” – Romans 8:1-2
8. The gift of supernatural strength:
“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13
9. The gift of purpose:
“For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jer. 29:11
10. The gift of prayer/ direct access to God:
“And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”1 John 5:14-15
11. The gift of hope:
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13
The list of God’s gifts for us, brothers and sisters, can go on and on and are all found in His infallible Word, the Bible.
As His kids, our job is simply to receive and open them.
Although presents, cards, cookies, and caroling are fun and festive to do during the Holidays, we cannot lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas.
We have to be careful of getting so caught up in the material things of this world that we become distracted from the perfect gift this Christmas; the birth of our perfect Savior.
Jesus came into this world, so we can one day be with Him in heaven and He promises to provide for each one of our needs.
The possibilities for our lives, our purpose, and our impact for the Kingdom of God here on earth are endless, brothers and sisters.
Just as God had a plan and purpose for the birth of Jesus, He has a plan and a purpose for you too.
Key Takeaway
Christmas is a time when we gather around friends and family to celebrate the most perfect gift we have ever received, Jesus Christ.
No matter what we’re given this Christmas, no matter what is taken away, come, let us adore Him.
No matter how we’re feeling or what we’re going through, come let our souls rejoice.
Let us fall humbly on our knees, and give glory to our Lord, our Savior, Christ Jesus our King.
“O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell.
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel.”
Study Verses: Isaiah 9:6, Mark 8:36-37, John 15:13
The 11 gifts from God and the video were so beautiful thank you
Aw Thank you Debbie! It is so easy for us to get so caught up in Christmas that we loose sight of all the gifts God has for us and what Christmas is really all about! I pray you have a very blessed day and New Year! Are you doing anything special today?
Thank you for this work of encouragement. I am a lay person in my church and with your permission I will use this as source material for a devotional I am scheduled to give in early December.
Hi Richard, sure you can use it no problem. God bless you! =]
It really is beautiful! May I also use it for a talk I am giving at a senior centre next week?
Thank you so much of reminding all of us not to get caught up with all the hustle and bustle of buying and stressing over the preparations of the Christmas holiday.
God is most important and the gift of his son, Jesus.
Thank You so much for this message. If it is alright with you, I am going to have each one at our dinner table Christmas night read one of the gifts God has given us. I never want my family, and their families in the future to forgot the real meaning of Christmas
Praise God for this article He led me to!!! He is showing me that all I have to do is rest in His loving kindness. He is my Father, and He puts no pressure on me, as everybody else does. He loves me just as I am, as His child, so I don’t have to worry- just fully lean on Him as He holds His child in His wonderful everlasting arms. I am so full of joy in His presence! He is so very too amazing and wonderful for words to express! Thank you, dear, dear Father! 😀
I’m preparing the same topic for my sermon. Thanks for some ideas and verses! 🙂 Greetings from the Czech Republic.
Why does GOD give too much in god given skills to get a job, while others struggle. Oh, for the record, some of us can’t be a doctor or own a business. Plus, I have been unemployed for four years and brother lost his medical coverage because the company won’t pay for it and they cut his hours. Whey some are given too much and some get very little.
The answer to the “why” might need to wait until you meet Jesus face to face.
I am sure it will be a good answer.
The focus might better be what we all have; life and death.
Will we see his gifts to us in the life he’s given us this moment, this day and throughout our days? Will we acknowledge who they came from? Will we have faith in Him, work at staying spiritually minded, fear God, obey Him and do good works and share with others as
He has called us to do? And will we be ever mindful of the fact that He gave equally to all who will believe; His own Son on our behalf? So that we may all have the Joy that is waiting for
ALL if they accept this gift. The Joy that could never be too much or very little, but that always satisfies.
I pray that this new year brings you an abundance of enlightened moments of His goodness and faithfulness to you and yours. And that you know Him even more and that you find in every PRESENT day…the gifts he has for you.
Did you know that Jesus was not born on the 25th and there is no date in the Bible, its man made, also the word christ-mas, means Jesus death..the catholics used the date from a pagan celebration of worship of a sun god, it has nothing to do with Jesus birth, and also He is not a baby anymore He is a risen king, celebrate that, not that He is still a baby..We are as believers are not in the gospels anymore we are in Acts..Please research it, it will amaze you, and teach you much..God Bless.
My soul is filled with this message
I am so very grateful for your listing of just some of the great gifts that our Heavenly Father, Almighty God, Eternal King, Creator, etc. has so freely and graciously given to all of His children who have believed in the finished work of Jesus Christ our eternal Lord and Savior. As I have become an old man now I have begun to understand just a little more just how graciously and lovingly my Father in Heaven has been towards me, a sinner saved by Gods grace and the precious blood spelt in humility and cruelty to save me from my sins. Oh how wonderful the mighty gifts that come from the lover of my soul and the peace and comforter of my many trials I have faced and will go through till at last I to will reach that glorious shore of the land we call Heaven and home. I don’t understand why I have had to become an old man to really appreciate and be thankful for ALL that my Father has so ordained for me to enjoy during my lifetime here on this Earth but I am very thankful that at least I am now able to thank my God for His giving to me all that I have ever needed to travel my path here during my life time and until at last my journey is finished!!!! Merry Christmas to everyone who reads my words and may I encourage you to seek Gods favor for He truly does love each and everyone one of us!!
Comment…I am bless with this …..may God give you more Grace to do more…….
I was told that cancer is a gift from God. I can’t believe this, please help me understand why people believe this.
Hi, Patricia, my name is David Stewart and I am on the pastoral staff here at CCSB.
In regards to your comment of … “I was told that cancer is a gift from God. I can’t believe this, please help me understand why people believe this.” Let me start out by saying this is not something everyone believes, or teaches for that matter, and according to Matthew 18 you should go to whomever you heard this from and ask him or her to explain his or her statement. You may have misunderstood them or not, but ultimately you never want to ask ‘Jane’ to give an answer or reason for something that ‘John’ said (a hypothetical example naturally using Jane and John)
Let John answer for himself!
With that said, if you were to ask me “p Dave, can cancer ever be viewed as a gift from God?” my response to you would be “MOST CERTAINLY!”…..and here is why… I will use an example that I ran into in this ministry about 10 years ago. A brother from church introduced me to his son we will call ‘Joe’.
Joe had just received the Lord Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Joe explained to me how he had ran from God for 30 years because he loved smoking, and his father told him “if you give your life to Christ you will need to give up smoking”. Well Joe LOVED smoking! So much so, that he smoked 3 packs per day! Therefore, Joe said, “I wanted nothing to do with Jesus or the Church; I wanted my cigarettes!”
Well, Joe went on to tell me that at the age of 45 he developed lung cancer. Through the process of chemotherapy for his lung cancer Joe surrendered his life to Jesus Christ and became a born again believer! Joes exact words were “what a blessing my lung cancer has been; had I not gotten lung cancer I may never have received Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” “I may have spent eternity in HELL”
What was the vehicle that God used to save Joe?? Lung cancer!
I hope that this gives you a good balance of truth for your question Patricia!
Blessings!
P. Dave
Patricia, I can’t answer the question you asked and nor do I believe that God is the reason for things like cancer.
What I can tell you is my Father went through an illness years ago and I have never forgotten something he said to me one day when we were in the waiting room. It spoke to me then and I hope it speaks to you now.
He said Jeff, I don’t like being sick, but I sure like getting to spend all of this time with you on these doctor appointments.
He passed on years later, but that one comment reminded me then and reminds me now that I control how I choose to respond to things, even things I don’t get nor understand.
After that I was always glad for a long wait with whoever I was waiting with.
I pray peace and healing for your situation.
Jeff