God Came Down

                                                               
If we don't put up any other decoration at Christmas, this should be the "ONE." At the heart of our focus is a little baby boy, named Jesus, who God sent to this world to take on our sin that we would never be separated from God.  Your gift of grace from your Heavenly Father, wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger, who spent his life teaching and sharing the truth of God's love.

God loved YOU so much that he sent his own Son to be your substitute for the death we all deserve with our sinful natures. Today we have the "greatest story ever told" before us in our Bibles, told to us by those who walked with Jesus in his time here. Graced with the Holy Spirit, they spread God's message, wrote God's message, and proclaimed the Savior to all.  We sing hymns about the story and life of Christ. We celebrate once a year his arrival into our fallen world.

And here we are. The story doesn't change. God's grace doesn't go away. His love never ends. Your gift was delivered with your name on it. You were cleansed by the blood of Christ who separated himself with your sins from God, and by the GRACE of God Almighty and by the sacrifice of his Son, you were given this gift of cleansing for eternal life.

What will you do? Leave it unopened? Discard it? Ignore it? Open it and receive God's grace?

Our choice is to live in this fallen world convinced we know best and seek no other than ourselves.... or to recognize our sinful nature and the need for a Savior each day in this fallen world. We have a real enemy among us, Satan, who tells us that we know best and need no other. Rebuke the liar right away who himself was in the heavenly realms with God and rebelled against him wanting his own power and way. He seeks to steal away as many of God's children as he can before Jesus returns to judge the world. Satan cares not for you. He's a deceiver. He only wants to separate you from your Creator God while he can. Satan was defeated at the Cross, and he knows it.  All he has is to take your soul with him to the lake of fire, away from your eternal home that was offerred by Jesus Christ.

Remember the humble baby in the manger. Every day renew your life, empty it of the world, accept God's cleansing love, and grow in the faith that a baby boy came to give to you.