FROM TODAY'S READING (12/19/2013)...
"As I drove to work today, I was pondering different things about Christmas....santa, Jesus, even the popular elf on the shelf. And then it hit me....we are trying to teach our kids two totally different messages....on one hand, we want our children to be "good" so that they can receive presents.....however God gave us a gift that we could never be "good" enough to receive. We are teaching our kids that they have to earn their gifts, but yet God showed us unconditional love by giving us Christ. Just something to think about. I think I am going to re-think how I approach Christmas with my children....if you are "good" or "bad" you are going to be given my presents and presence because I love you, not because of anything you have done. Ok, back to work and off of my philosophical rant.....Merry Christmas!!"
- Jessica Barger Anderson (www.facebook.com)
John 3:16-17 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT) God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
