Eternal Life
๐๐ข๐ก๐ก๐๐๐ง
Have you ever received a gift that was totally unexpected? Share your story with your family.ย
The first Christmas brought with it a lot of unexpected twists -ย baby Jesus was born of a virgin? Jesus was born in a manger? The circumstances were certainly not fitting for someone who will be King!ย Even the gifts the wise men who came along after gave Jesus strange gifts for a young boy.ย But there was an even more unexpected - that because of the birth of Jesus, we get to receive a gift! What is this gift?ย
๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฒ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ป ๐ฑ:๐ญ๐ญ-๐ญ๐ฎ
11 ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ. 12 ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ; ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ.
For the longest time, people celebrate Christmas by giving gifts to family and friends.ย Isnโt it strange that we celebrate the birth of Jesus yet the gifts we prepared are not for him but for others? Because many have misplaced their focus during Christmas, we often overlook the significance of this event - that God set into motion His plan of salvation for mankind, that the baby being born that very night was the Savior the world needed. Nobody knew it, but the baby lying on the manger would be our greatest gift ever, the gift that many are still rejecting to this day. This gift is freely given to everyone, to anyone who receives it. But just like any gift, if you don't receive it, you will never get to enjoy it and the benefits it brings.ย
One day, eternity will come, and those who truly have Jesus in their hearts, they will begin the life that Jesus gave them - eternal life.ย This eternal life is life with our Father, spending every minute worshiping Him, praising Him, and being in His presence.ย What joy will that day bring! But what of those who did not receive it? It will be an eternity of suffering and punishment. In Matthew 25:34, 41:ย
34 โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ.โย
41 โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต, โ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด.โโ
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๐๐จ๐๐๐๐
๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ/๐:
๐ฎ-๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ
If Jesus gave you a gift, do you want to receive it?ย
๐ณ-๐ญ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ
What do you think is the most valuable gift you have ever received?ย
๐๐ถ๐ฑ/๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐:
What gift have you given Jesus for his birthday?ย
Is there anyone you know who may want to receive this gift?ย Say a prayer for them.ย
Jesus gave Himself to us.ย This is not meant in the figurative way because He literally offered His life in exchange for ours. By His death on the cross, we are spared from eternal punishment, but are instead given the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. It is a gift free for us to receive.ย May we never take this gift lightly.ย ย
(Parents, if you think your kids are ready, you may ask them if they want to receive this gift and if they are, you can pray with them for them to receive the gift of salvation.)ย
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ
Dear God, thank You because You love us so much that you made this plan to send Jesus to die on the cross in our place, so that we get to spend eternity with you. May we always treasure this gift that is so costly for You and may we share it with those who still have not received it. In Jesusโ name, amen!ย
๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐๐ฅ
Ever wonder how Christmas is celebrated around the world?ย
Check out this link: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/g34837704/how-christmas-is-celebrated-around-the-world/
Sadly, none of them mentions Jesus.ย Let us share this good news with people who have not yet heard about it.