Integrity- People of God

The spirit of Christmas is Grace! Grace is showing favor, kindness, goodwill and love to someone who is undeserving and it is unmerited and unearned. Love is expressed through kindness, goodwill and favor we show to someone who may not deserve it but we give it anyway. Love gives its best and expresses and shows the love it has for those they love. God so loved this world He gave His Best, Jesus, to save us even when we were not being our best. He loved us while we were lost and did not care or love Him and He expressed that love in the Gift of Christ our Savior. Love is a sacrifice; love gives even though it may not receive.

Jesus emptied Himself of all He had a right to, positional as the Son of God, and humbled Himself to be born as a child. Jesus was born of flesh and blood and restricted to a life set in time for the service of others to show the Grace and Love God has for us.

Luke 2: 10-11  Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

When God gave His Best, Jesus Christ our Lord, men responded in worship and wise men sought Him and gave gifts to honor the King of kings. Wise men are still seeking Jesus and giving gifts to honor our Lord and King. When these wise men went looking for the Christ there was much cost and much preparation. They came from a far country to search out where the King was born and they had prepared great costly gifts to give a King who was worthy of all they had and more. These gifts to show honor to the God in heaven and were given to a carpenter and his wife. We honor our God when we honor His children. We give to God when we give to the least of these, our brothers and sisters, who are in need on the earth.

We should decide to give the gift of Grace, the Spirit of Christmas to those who may be undeserving and who have not earned this gift. We give this gift of Grace and Love to honor our Lord and King. We express the love He has shown to us to those around us.

Romans 5:6, 8 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus walked in the Grace of God as a man, to fulfill His purpose drawing on the same power of the Holy Spirit that we have access to today. He has given us the ministry of reconciliation and the command to love others as He has loved us. We should determine we will give this gift of grace and predetermine how we will express this Spirit of Christmas to those around us. This time of the year the world softens its heart and expresses kindness to one another. How much more should we, who are in the household and family of God, express His Grace to others?

Jesus is our example and He was led by the Spirit of God to give the good news of the gospel, that God’s kingdom has returned to the earth and we can now be set free. He showed the love of God to the brokenhearted; they did not have to be alone, fore they can receive God as their Father and the Holy Spirit as their companion and guide. To those who are enslaved to addictions and the appetites of the flesh, they too can be set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. We also can help those who are blind to the truth of God’s word by showing the love of God in our actions. Those who are oppressed through injustices of this world system or live under the tyranny of social and cultural hatred can be set free by the Blood of Jesus and the love of God. Now is the acceptable time to receive from God this precious gift of Grace.

Luke 4:18-19 The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; ¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

The Gift of Grace is the Gift of Christmas. Jesus is our Gift of Grace – our reason for Christmas. Jesus came and provided what we could not provide for ourselves. Let us be the provision someone may need during this Christmas season. Let us, as the wise men before, prepare our gifts for our Sovereign King and predetermine how we will show honor and worship to Him, through the people we serve. Let us give the Gift of Christ in a word of encouragement, in an expression of concern, in the displaying of love to those who may be unlovable and may be in desperate need of His love.