Just a quick thought here. Hebrews 13:15 (NIV) reads...
Through Jesus, then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge His name.
Man, this just hit me this week because it is Christmas. Christmas is all about... or I should say, should be all about for us Christians.. Jesus Christ coming to earth. Man! Read through the Christmas stories in the gospels and highlight all the things said in celebration and joyful announcement about what this baby will do and who He will be. Guys, those truths are still true today. Even if we have all the covid restrictions, what Christmas is truly about has not changed and can be... no, should be... calibrated without hindrance.
And truly, this is the season to openly talk about Jesus coming to earth... Here read this one verse, it's the angel Gabriel basically telling Joeseph that Marry didn't cheat on Him with another man. OOOHHH Racy... just what gets people's attention,,,, anyway, Gabriel says in Matthew 1:20-21, "But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins."
This Christmas truth is still true today. And we should be giving our sacrifices of praise to God, the fruit of lips that acknowledge that Christmas is about Jesus Christ coming to earth to save His people, those who follow and trust Him as their Lord and Saviour, from their sin. Save us, by forgiving us for it, save us
by taking out sin and darkness and selfishness and just plain old evilness
to the cross when He died. He saves us by stepping into our place of punishment so w
e can step into His place of holiness and reward, even if we still have so far to go to truly be perfect in this life. Amazing! He saves those who follow and trust Jesus and His word over their own ways and thinking and over the ways and thinking of man. He saves even when we are unfaithful and screw up and don't show love to our fellow man as we always should.... He saves us. Guys, this is what Christmas is all about. Let us make sure we don't miss it, and our words and hearts are truly focused on Him and what He has done and is doing, not just what we don't like about what is going on around us.
Man!!! Christmas rocks. Go spread the Joy, the love, and the true message of Christmas this year. We might have to do it in new ways, but we can still do it, and let our lips acknowledge boldly what Christmas is truly about.
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