Date: 12/12/2022

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to Him be the Glory and to the Holy Ghost. This month’s key phrase is: THE WONDERFUL GIFT FROM GOD.

So, what does the gift of Jesus give us and how does it compare to a worldly gift such as a new smart phone, a games console or even a humble pair of socks? Well, earthly gifts, will eventually break down, fail, or run out of batteries. The gift of Jesus however will never break down and it will never fail, because it is eternal. When God gave Jesus to us as a gift, He gave us many things, including:

1. Access to the Father (Romans 5:2) “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we rejoice”. This type of access was unthinkable in the Old Testament but is now made possible for us through Jesus Christ.
2. We are saved from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9) “Christ bore the full fury of God’s wrath against us and our sin”.
3. We are reconciled to God (Romans 5:10) “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We were separated and alienated from God, but now we can have a relationship with Him.
4. There is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1) “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.
5. We are adopted into God’s family (Ephesians 1:4) God is our Father. We are children of God with a new nature, in a new family relationship. We bear God’s likeness.
6. We have eternal life! (John 3:16) “…we will not perish but have eternal life”.

Jesus is God’s perfect, indescribable gift and the amazing thing is that not only are we able to receive this gift, but we are able to share it with others. If we go to a shop and buy a gift, wrap it up and put it under the tree, it is still a gift. For a person to receive a gift they must first be given it! If you know Jesus as your Lord and savior today then you have a gift that you can give to as many people as you want whenever you want because the gift of Jesus will never run out, it will never run dry! The gift is just like the living water that Jesus spoke to the Samaritan Women about in John 4:10 “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water”. The gift of Jesus will never run dry, it is eternal!

Until next week think about have you received the wonderful gift of Jesus? And just know that when you receive the wonderful gift of Jesus; “…with God all things are possible”. Matthew 19:26

In His Service,

Bishop Dr. Calvin Worthem

General Chief Overseer/Senior Bishop