Joyce fell behind in her Christmas shopping and suddenly realized that she had neglected to purchase cards for her friends. Hurriedly, she ran to the “surprise” section of a large greeting card store and purchased 100 cards with a beautiful scene of a family gathered in front of a glowing fireplace enjoying its warmth.

Returning home she hastily signed each of the cards without reading the message. Several days later she was sitting with her husband reviewing the guest list for a family dinner. She decided to show him the card she had sent to their friends.

After looking at the picture, she opened the card and read the verse to Jason, her husband: “This card is sent to you to say, A lovely gift is on the way!” Quite a surprise!

God gave us a “star” to alert us that His “lovely gift” would be discovered in a manger – His son. All of the books of the Bible describe the Gift that He promised to send, tell us the reason for His gift, and what we can enjoy now and in the life to come because of His gift. 

But, as with every gift, there are two parts: one is the giver and the other is the receiver. An angel rejoiced and proclaimed: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” That is God the Giver, giving. And, John said, “As many as received Him...to them He gave life.” But that is our choice: the receiver - to accept God’s gift, His Son.

Prayer: We thank You, Father, for the Gift of life You provided for each of us in Your Son. May we accept Your Gift in faith believing, that He came to save us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. 

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Joyce fell behind in her Christmas shopping and suddenly realized that she had neglected to purchase cards for her friends. Hurriedly, she ran to the “surprise” section of a large greeting card store and purchased 100 cards with a beautiful scene of a family gathered in front of a glowing fireplace enjoying its warmth.

Returning home she hastily signed each of the cards without reading the message. Several days later she was sitting with her husband reviewing the guest list for a family dinner. She decided to show him the card she had sent to their friends.

After looking at the picture, she opened the card and read the verse to Jason, her husband: “This card is sent to you to say, A lovely gift is on the way!” Quite a surprise!

God gave us a “star” to alert us that His “lovely gift” would be discovered in a manger – His son. All of the books of the Bible describe the Gift that He promised to send, tell us the reason for His gift, and what we can enjoy now and in the life to come because of His gift. 

But, as with every gift, there are two parts: one is the giver and the other is the receiver. An angel rejoiced and proclaimed: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” That is God the Giver, giving. And, John said, “As many as received Him...to them He gave life.” But that is our choice: the receiver - to accept God’s gift, His Son.

Prayer: We thank You, Father, for the Gift of life You provided for each of us in Your Son. May we accept Your Gift in faith believing, that He came to save us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture For Today: John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. 

Sign up to get this daily devotional via email and get a free gift!

Joyce fell behind in her Christmas shopping and suddenly realized that she had neglected to purchase cards for her friends. Hurriedly, she ran to the card section of a large greeting card store and purchased 100 cards with a beautiful scene of a family gathered in front of a glowing fireplace enjoying its warmth.

Returning home she hastily signed each of the cards without reading the message. Several days later she was sitting with her husband reviewing the guest list for a family dinner. She decided to show him the card she had sent to their friends.

After looking at the picture, she opened the card and read the verse to Jason, her husband:

“This card is sent to you to say,
A lovely gift is on the way!”

God sent us a “card” to inform us that He would and did send us a “lovely gift” - His son. All of the books of the Bible tell us of the Gift that He was going to send, tell us the reason He sent us this gift and what we can enjoy now and in the life to come because of this gift.

But as with every gift, there are two parts: one is giving and the other is receiving. An angel rejoiced and proclaimed: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.” That is God giving. And John said, “As many as received Him...to them He gave life.” But the choice to receive is ours.

Prayer: We thank You, Father, for the Gift of life You provided for each of us. May we accept Your Gift in faith believing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Once, President Lincoln jokingly asked a friend, “How many legs would a donkey have if you called his tail a leg?”

“Five,” came the confident answer.

“No,” said Lincoln with a grin. “Only four. Calling a tail a leg won’t make it one!”

The same is true of many who call themselves Christians. Simply calling oneself a Christian changes nothing. Unless we have surrendered our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ and asked Him to save us from our sins, we have not been born again. Salvation comes only through faith in
Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the children of God.”

There are many things that we might have done, some things we look forward to doing, a few things we may get around to doing, but there is only one thing we must do – we must receive the Lord if we want to become a Christian.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, in the quiet of this moment I reach out to You in faith believing that You will save me from my sins. I understand that it is not what I call myself, or what others may call me, that matters. Right now, I want You to be my Savior and become a Christian. In Your Name. Amen.

Scripture for Today: John 1:12