{"id":869,"date":"2011-12-25T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-12-25T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=869"},"modified":"2011-12-28T14:48:22","modified_gmt":"2011-12-28T20:48:22","slug":"christmas-gifts-we-give-jesus-that-dont-cost-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=869","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Gifts We Give Jesus (That Don’t Cost Money)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Each year it gets harder to buy Christmas gifts for loved ones who seem to have everything. What do you get the person who has everything?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Well, what gift would you give Jesus?\u00a0 After all, it is His birthday we are celebrating.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0One would think that He and His father have everything \u2013 literally.\u00a0 However, there are gifts from us they would love to receive.\u00a0 So why not consider giving the following?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Believe:\u00a0 <\/strong>Many try to foolishly prove God exists. (Psalm 14:1)\u00a0 They challenge Him with little tests and if God performs to their satisfaction they will deign to believe in Him.\u00a0 Those who take this approach rarely end up believing in God for God does not jump through our hoops.\u00a0 The Bible does not try to convince us God exists; it proclaims His existence and the existence of His son Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We either believe it or we don\u2019t.\u00a0 Belief means to accept something as true.\u00a0 Every promise God makes is contingent on us believing in Him.\u00a0\u00a0Better to come to God asking for Him to help our unbelief than asking Him to perform mini-miracles to prove His existence. (Mark 9:24)\u00a0 Sure it takes a certain amount of faith, but we can ask God for that as well because faith isn\u2019t something we conjure up. (Hebrews 11:1)\u00a0 It comes from God.\u00a0 (Hebrews 12:2) When we believe and accept God as true, we can believe what He says.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.\u201d\u00a0 (Hebrews 11:6)<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Trust:\u00a0 <\/strong>As small children we might have been encouraged to jump into our father\u2019s arms, but we were frightened.\u00a0 When we finally jumped we squealed with delight when our father caught us.\u00a0 Dad was happy because his children trusted him.\u00a0 Trust means to place confidence in or depend on.\u00a0 Unfortunately as we grow up we find we live in an untrustworthy world.\u00a0 Even those we thought we could trust sometimes betray us in some way \u2013 the bank system, the government, the judicial system, the guy in charge of our pension fund, our best friend.\u00a0 People will let you down so it is only natural we would hesitate to trust God.\u00a0 Yet, He is the only one we can truly trust.\u00a0 We can trust God to keep His word and promises.\u00a0 We can trust God to take care of us and our circumstances.\u00a0 We can trust God to know what is best for us and perform it on our behalf. (Romans 8:28) \u00a0We don\u2019t have to worry, fear, doubt, or be afraid. (Isaiah 12:2)\u00a0 We want our children to trust us; God wants us (his children) to trust Him.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 (Proverbs 3:5-6)<\/em><\/p>\n

Worship: \u00a0<\/strong>Why should we worship God?\u00a0 Well, God is good and kind.\u00a0 God extends His love and grace to us.\u00a0 God sent His only begotten son to die for us.\u00a0 God is our deliver, sustainer, and creator.\u00a0 To show God we appreciate all of this we worship Him through praise, music, prayer, thanksgiving, offerings, and how we live our lives.\u00a0 It\u2019s not like God is some egomaniac who just wants to be praised and adored all the time.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the point.\u00a0 God, just like us, wants to feel loved and appreciated.\u00a0 But more than that \u2013 worship acknowledges God\u2019s greatness, His kingship in our lives, and our willingness to have Him rule over us.\u00a0 God is not seeking the worship; He is seeking the worshippers.\u00a0 God wants to have a relationship with us.\u00a0 Worship is our gift to God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.\u201d (John 4:23)<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Give:\u00a0 <\/strong>God loves it when we give and He especially loves it when we give to those who have less than we do.\u00a0 When we visit the sick, serve the poor, help the widowed, befriend the fatherless, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, encourage the despondent, and honor the elderly we are giving gifts to God because it as if we are doing it for Christ.\u00a0 We should always be looking for someone less fortunate than ourselves and make their world a little brighter.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/sup>Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? \u00a0And the King shall answer and say unto them, \u2018Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.\u2019\u201d (Matthew 25:39, 40)<\/em><\/p>\n

When the Christmas presents have been opened and the wrapping paper discarded we will look back on Christmas and reflect.\u00a0 Did we get what we wanted?\u00a0 Did we have a good time?\u00a0 Did we forget that it was Christ\u2019s birthday party?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Remember, it\u2019s never too late to get Him that perfect gift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each year it gets harder to buy Christmas gifts for loved ones who seem to have everything. What do you get the person who has everything? \u00a0Well, what gift would you give Jesus?\u00a0 After all, it is His birthday we … 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\/869"}],"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=869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}