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Dear Christian Believers,
December Greetings and God bless you in the wonderful
name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Soon all of Christendom will be celebrating the birthday
of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God. We know that his
actual birth date was in September, but that’s a
whole other story.
I love the thankfulness and joy that is expressed this
time of year for the birth of Jesus. I’m thankful
for his coming, when all the manifold prophecies of his
coming became a reality. It was no longer just a story
that was told through the ages, or letters that were hand
printed on the sacred scrolls of Israel, but it was the
Word of God that became living and real in the life of
that newborn babe.
I also think about God’s grace and love for us,
HIS plan of redemption and salvation. I think of God’s
gift to the world, His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting
life. God had the perfect plan for all of us and it came
in the form and life of this small little newborn. We
have reason to celebrate, not just a few days in December
but everyday. The birth of Jesus Christ is truly “grace”
from God.
Galatians 4:4
But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, under the law.
Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold,
a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call
his name Immanuel.
It’s by grace he came, and it
is by grace we are saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8)
In I Corinthians 15:10 the apostle Paul
says, “But by the grace of God lam what
lam: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not
in vain;...” It is by grace that we are
what we are, and the question for us is, will the grace
of God that is bestowed on us, “be in vain.”
Paul said for him grace WAS NOT IN VAIN . Why wasn’t
it in vain for Paul? He tells us in the rest of the verse,
..."but I laboured more abundantly than they
all: yet not I but the grace of God which was with me.”
Paul was actively involved in his response to God’s
grace. GRACE is ... “what God does
or has done for us, and it is independent of our performance.”
Faith is ... “what we do in response
to God’s grace.” Paul responded!
Paul believed in God and His grace towards man. He believed
that what God said was ours, is ours. Paul went after
it. Whether it be healing, prosperity or whatever. Salvation
is by grace and it is a gift from God. Paul believed that
and made it known. He knew that he was not worthy of his
ownself, but when God made it known to him, he went after
it. There is a story about a young boy that was in a Vacation
Bible School class and one day the minister met with all
the class in the auditorium. The minister was up front,
and the young boy was in the last row. The minister reached
in his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill, and said to
the class, “the first student that comes up and
gets it can have the dollar” All the students came
swarming up to the front, holding out their hand yelling,
“give it to me, I’ll take it, let me have
it” The boy in the back fought his way through the
crowd and leaped up and grabbed onto the minister’s
arm and climbed up his arm until he snatched the dollar
out of the hand of the minister. The minister smiled and
said, “well, one of you got it!” He went on
to tell the class that salvation is like that dollar.
Once God said it is yours, it is yours, quit asking for
something He has given and go get it. By God’s grace
He made salvation available through Jesus Christ. God
has set it before all men to have, but man must go after
it just like the young boy from the back of the room.
Faith or believing is an action, a response to God’s
grace. We are saved by grace ... THROUGH FAITH it is a
gift from God
We celebrate the birth and coming of Jesus Christ, but
do we accept God’s grace and respond to it with
faith or unbelief? Is God’s grace in vain because
of your lack of response, or is in NOT in vain in because
of your labour of believing? Let’s not waste
God’s grace for our lives. God’s
plan was set in motion with His word of promise; it came
into realization with the birth of Jesus Christ, his life
and ministry, his death, resurrection, and ascension.
Now it’s our turn to respond, by believing, and
grasping all that God has given us by labouring in the
charity and grace of God.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all
John and Mary Lou
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