{"id":860,"date":"2011-12-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-18T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=860"},"modified":"2011-12-28T14:50:49","modified_gmt":"2011-12-28T20:50:49","slug":"christmas-gifts-god-gives-to-us-that-dont-cost-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=860","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Gifts God Gives to Us (That Don’t Cost Money)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Remember the old Christmas song I\u2019m Gettin\u2019 Nuttin\u2019 for Christmas?\u00a0<\/em> It was pretty funny.\u00a0 Some of us may think we\u2019re gettin\u2019 nuttin\u2019 for Christmas as well.\u00a0 Maybe we don\u2019t have any friends.\u00a0 Maybe we decided not to do a gift exchange this year.\u00a0 Or maybe we think we\u2019re getting\u2019 nuttin\u2019 because like the lyrics of the song says\u2026we ain\u2019t been nuttin\u2019 but bad.\u00a0 However, we have access to many gifts because God is the greatest gift giver of all.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s gifts aren\u2019t limited to Christmastime.\u00a0 We have the gift of life and most of us have food, clothing, and shelter which are blessings many don\u2019t have.\u00a0 However, many precious gifts we have are linked to Jesus and would not be available had He not come to earth.\u00a0 So in the spirit of Christmas I\u2019ll focus on a few of those.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forgiveness:<\/strong>\u00a0 Christ was born as a baby, lived among us, and when he grew up he gave his life as a sacrifice so our sins would be forgiven. (John 10:17, 18)\u00a0 Through Christ our sins are forgiven and no longer remembered. (Hebrews 8:12)\u00a0 The slate has been wiped clean.\u00a0 No need to remain guilt ridden, for God does not condemn us.\u00a0 There remains no condemnation for those in Christ. (Romans 8:1, 2)\u00a0 Christ paid the penalty for us, so we wouldn\u2019t have to.\u00a0 He died for everyone. (Hebrews 2:9)\u00a0 This is a gift because we did nothing to earn or even deserve it.\u00a0 Christ died for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)<\/p>\n

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)<\/em><\/p>\n

Grace:<\/strong>\u00a0 Grace means getting something good that we don\u2019t deserve.\u00a0 God gives us his unmerited favor.\u00a0 Unmerited means we did nothing to earn God\u2019s favor or grace, but we have it all the same.\u00a0 And it is through this grace that we are justified. (Titus 3:7)\u00a0 That means not only do we escape the death penalty but we are declared righteous before God. (Romans 3:24)\u00a0 We cannot earn righteousness.\u00a0 We are saved not by our works but by grace. (Romans 11:6)\u00a0\u00a0 Grace is a gift from God.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Redemption:\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Now forgiveness and grace are wonderful gifts but God went one step further.\u00a0 Because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins we have been redeemed.\u00a0 What does that mean exactly?\u00a0 Redemption was often used in ancient times in reference to buying a slave. Through the sacrificial death of Jesus we have been purchased by him, bought with the price of his death.\u00a0 That means we are no longer \u201cslaves\u201d to sin. \u00a0It also means we are no longer our own.\u00a0 We belong to God. \u00a0He is our Master.\u00a0 However, God doesn\u2019t consider us his slaves, but his children. (Galatians 4:4-5) That\u2019s quite a gift!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.\u201d\u00a0 (Ephesians 1:7)<\/em><\/p>\n

Salvation: <\/strong>Salvation is one of the gifts given to all believers.\u00a0 It\u2019s the gift of eternal life. (Romans 6:23)\u00a0 Salvation can only come through Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12)\u00a0 Jesus lived, died, and lived again when he was resurrected.\u00a0 This resurrection was victory over what all of us fear most \u2013 death.\u00a0 Christ\u2019s resurrection was not only his victory, but ours, too.\u00a0 (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)\u00a0 Because of this victory Christ lives\u2026and because Christ lives, we can live also. (Romans 6:8-11)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.\u201d\u00a0 (John 3:16)\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes when we receive Christmas gifts we focus on the gifts instead of the motive behind them.\u00a0 God\u2019s motive in all His Christmas gifts for us is love.\u00a0 \u201cFor God so loved the world\u2026\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s you and me.\u00a0 Of course, it\u2019s up to us to accept these gifts or reject them, but if we\u2019re gettin\u2019 nuttin\u2019 for Christmas it\u2019s by choice because plenty of gifts have been made available \u2013 all because Christ the Savior was born.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Remember the old Christmas song I\u2019m Gettin\u2019 Nuttin\u2019 for Christmas?\u00a0 It was pretty funny.\u00a0 Some of us may think we\u2019re gettin\u2019 nuttin\u2019 for Christmas as well.\u00a0 Maybe we don\u2019t have any friends.\u00a0 Maybe we decided not to do a gift … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}