HAVE YOU RECEIVED GOD’S GIFT? by Pastor Jim
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I pray you and yours are well I remember getting my dad a gift for Christmas one year, only to get it back a couple of years later I waited a couple of more years and guess what I did? … You guessed it.
God offers His grace to the world, through His Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Giving us the gift of His grace is one thing, but what happens next?
We can choose to:
- Reject… Unfortunately, many will outright reject Jesus. They may not believe in God at all, or they may trust their own good works, or they are not interested in changing the religion they grew up with.
- Reduce… Another response is to pick parts of what Jesus taught and only apply the parts we want to our lives. Or, only be a Christian when we are at a church event; sort a “compartmentalized Christianity”
- Resist … Truthfully, even devout Christians wrestle with this. Why? Because this side of Heaven, no believer is perfect in their walk with God. And wherever we are imperfect, there we are resisting the Holy Spirit. Why? Because it is the Holy Spirit who works to make us holy.
But we can (and should) choose to:
- Rejoice… Especially in difficult seasons of life. It is easy to be joyful when there are no struggles, but it is essential to be joyful when the going is tough. Luther said, “The devil hates happy Christians” Why rejoice? Because God’s grace has given us eternal life and earthly purpose.
- Receive… God has taken the initiative to bring His grace into our broken hearts, this certainly deserves a, “thank you” from us There is no work on our part. He gives us His grace.
I received God’s gift of grace when my dad and mom had me Baptized. I can honestly tell you that there has never been a day in my life that I did not know God’s grace. I recognize and rejoice that I am very fortunate to have the parents that I do (even if my dad did give me that Christmas present back).
If you have never been Baptized, if you have a loved one who has never received Jesus and believed on His Name, please let me know. I would love to help that happen. Please tell me God is blessing us at Faith Lutheran Church. We praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
V/r, Pastor Jim