The Gift

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It was something everyone had wanted for so long. Each person had their own idea of what the gift should look like, what color the wrapping paper would be, the size and shape of the present, and the perfect colored bow.  They even smiled every time they thought about it. It gave them hope.

It was going to be beautiful once they received it!  They couldn't wait. Patiently they longed for it. And they even prayed for it. 

Then it came...not in the packaging, wrapping, or shape they expected,and the bow definitely wasn't right! And goodness, the delivery was ALL wrong! It wasn't supposed to come like this! It was promised to be perfect! And this clearly wasn't!

The waves of disappointment washed over each person and some were even angry! Enraged enough to murder! All because their gift didn't come as they envisioned it!

The gift came in the form of a baby, born from a virgin, unwed mother in a foul-smelling stable with animals mooing and snorting all around them.  

Then to make matters worse, the first people to be notified of this momentous occasion that everyone had been praying for centuries was not the nobles nor the religious leaders and scribes. Rather, the angelic host birth announcement came to a band of uneducated, dirty nomads who-hadn't-bathed-in-months caring for some dumb, smelly sheep in the middle of nowhere. That's who heard it first. Those were the Savior's first visitors to call upon him.  Not his extended family, not the rabbi's or religious leaders, but a rough-looking group of unshaven, stinky shepherds. That's who, in a excrement-filled stable of animals, first welcomed God in the flesh into this world.

That how, where, and through whom God chose to give mankind the greatest gift of all humanity.

What is your gift you are waiting for?  

Maybe it will also be delivered in a packaging, form, or wrapping that you are not expecting?  

Maybe it's in a form a trial, illness, or painful relationship? 

Whatever the form, God will give you the gift that is best for you at this time in your life.  

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Trust him with his gift to you this holiday season as you gaze into the stable, find the manager, and fix your gaze on glowing baby, your Lord and Savior. 

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32 ESV)

Merry Christmas dear friends as you remember the true meaning of Christmas: "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 ESV)