Greg Laurie daily devotion - December 3, 2013

The Message of Christmas



For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. - (John 3:16)



When I was a kid, I always wanted a family but never had one. I remember one Christmas with my mom when we were living in a hotel. I got up on Christmas morning, excited about opening my presents, but she was passed out from a night of drinking. I looked around and thought, It has got to get better than this.

I believed that Christmas spoke of something greater. What Christmas really speaks of is what we can have in a relationship with Jesus Christ. The primary message of Christmas is that God came to us: " '��Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,'��which is translated, "God with us'�� " (Matthew 1:23).

The message of Christmas is not "Let it snow"��; it is "Let us worship" because God is with us. The first Christmas gifts were not from the wise men to the Child. Rather, the first gift of Christmas was the gift of Jesus Christ from God to us: "��For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

The message of Christmas means this: You will never be alone in life again. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23). That is an amazing statement. God the Father and God the Son are saying they want to make their home with you and me.

Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). That is a promise to all people. Why? Because of Immanuel - God is with us.





Copyright � 2013 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright � 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Awesome message CeriseRose. Thank you!

Luke 2:8-13 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came on them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were very afraid. And the angel said to them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

Thank you for your kindness, Delightfulthots.

I pray that your's is a Very Merry Christmas!


Jesus told us after His resurrection...

...and, lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world. Amen.


A guarantee that no "Christian" is alone at Christmas!

Amen! Thanks for the beautiful reminder of the true meaning of Christmas.

I wish you many blessings at Christmastime and always, Realcarebear!

You are a blessing to Mingle2!

In Christ,

CeriseRose

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Thank you CeriseRose.
It is good to know and understand what we celebrate. I was about 8years old when I thought much about the birth of Jesus Christ been on the 25th of December, and I was confused of the year. Lolz!
I thought and thought and thought much about the year so that I'd be able to tell others the story of how Jesus was born, the day, the week, the month and the year. Then I asked my grandmother if she knew the year Jesus was born. She laughed and explained Chrismas to me.