{"id":35970,"date":"2023-11-25T03:30:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T11:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=35970"},"modified":"2023-11-17T18:51:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-18T02:51:43","slug":"november-25-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2023\/11\/25\/november-25-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"November 25, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The Best Gift of All<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”<\/em> Ephesians 2:8<\/p>\n

Twenty-five years ago this Christmas, my husband (then boyfriend) got me a nightshirt that has Snoopy and Woodstock on it and says \u201cYou\u2019re the best gift of all.\u201d Snoopy is carrying Woodstock in his arms\u2014it\u2019s adorable. I speak of it in present terms because, yes, I still have it and wear it whenever I need to feel a little special.<\/p>\n

The two relationships I had come out of prior to this one had made me feel anything but special. One was full of physical, mental and emotional abuse, and the other full of incredible deception. When I look back on those days though, what I remember is blessing\u2014without the abusive one I wouldn\u2019t have my son, and without the deceptive one I would\u2019ve married the wrong man. I found that God truly does work all things for good. \u201cAnd we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose\u201d <\/em>(Romans 8:28). \u00a0He brought me back to my high school sweetheart, a kind and gentle man, who to this day, though I can\u2019t fathom why, still thinks of me as the best gift of all, outside of one other Person.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, more than twenty years ago, my husband found a \u201cbetter\u201d best gift of all. He found a Savior and Redeemer, the One who came down from heaven, put on flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus, whose birth we celebrate every Christmas, is the Snoopy to our Woodstock. He carries us, loves us and tells us that we are the best gift of all\u2014a gift so precious to Him that He was willing to die for us. \u201cSurely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed\u201d <\/em>(Isaiah 53:4-5).<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many\u201d <\/em>(Romans 5:15). I pray we take time this Christmas to appreciate how priceless this free gift truly is.<\/p>\n

Thank you, God, for sending the best gift of all, Your Son, to earth to redeem us and show us just how precious we are to You.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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