different people, one life changing gift

Jesus: God’s Gift

We all love good gifts don’t we? Jesus is the best gift you could get from the One you deserve it least! God so loved the world that He gifted us His only Son so if we believed in Him, we would have eternal life.

 Baby Jesus, God’s Gift affected the lives of the people around Him. Different people, roles and reactions. All people we can resonate with and learn something from.

Mary

In Luke 1:26-38, we meet Mary, soon-to-be mother of Jesus. I encourage you to read this section before continuing. 

Mary was a young woman. I’m sure she was scared, maybe embarrassed and a bit confused. It seems she wanted to do God’s will, but it’s important to note that she already had plans of her own. She was going to get married to Joseph, be a wife and a mom and have a happy life. Then one day, the angel of the Lord tells Mary that God is pleased with her. (Yay!) He is in fact very pleased with her. (Yay!!) And then he tells her… all her plans and dreams are about to change. (Wait, what???) 

Maybe someone is reading that has or had her life figured out, all your ducks in a row. You are trying to follow God, doing everything right, and now God is saying, “Sweet daughter of Mine, things are about to change, but trust Me. Sometimes My thoughts and yours are not the same, but will you trust Me?”

Mary had questions. There’s nothing wrong with questions. It wasn’t easy for her. She didn’t know everything. But she trusted God. She trusted God with insecurities, day to day struggles and change. 

He will not give you a step-by-step plan, but He will give you step one and say, “Trust Me. I’m with you.” I can imagine she was nervous, but the moment her eyes met the eyes of Jesus, I’m sure she knew it was going to be okay. The moment you say yes to Jesus, it is going to be okay. It won’t be easy, but He’s with you. It’s you and Jesus.

Joseph

In Matthew 1:18-24, we see the backstory of Joseph. I encourage you to read this section before continuing.  

Joseph was a rule follower. He was faithful, hardworking, caring and obedient to God’s Word. He wanted to do the right thing, BUT, this time, he did not understand what was happening. It just didn’t make sense. He needed an angel in a dream to explain things to him! Aren’t we all like that sometimes?

God is moving and changing things, but it just doesn’t make sense. But once he got it, he got it! He woke up, and he did exactly what he was told to do, without reservation!

Shepherds

Luke 2:8-21 talks about the birth of Jesus from the perspective of the shepherds. I encourage you to read this section before continuing. 

Shepherds were hardworking people, familiar with difficulties and people looking down at them. The night the angels appeared to them, the shepherds were doing their job: keeping watch. The shepherds were regular people, like you and I. They would never have expected to see what they saw that night. Angels? The glory of God? I’m sure they thought others may get this revelation but not them… not me.  But the Lord DID chose them. He DID chose me and you, He IS CHOOSING me and you. 

Maybe you are thinking like one of those shepherds. This Gift, this Jesus, has to be for someone else. It couldn’t possibly be for me! I am just a shepherd. I am just broken, depressed, imperfect, a sinner, so far from God, (YOU name it). He would never choose me! But He did. 

These shepherds were also quick to react to the angels and Jesus. As soon as they heard, they did not waste any time looking for Jesus, and after finding Jesus and being changed by Him, they spread the word and glorified and praised God.

We are just like the shepherds, chosen by God. You are imperfect and may be broken, but God wants YOU. He saw you the way you are and said, “This Gift is for you. Jesus is for you.”

I’m sure we can find ourselves somewhere in these people. We may be confused and scared. We may think we are not enough, think we have too much sin or feel too broken. Maybe you are waiting for Jesus to make sense to you. Maybe you are trying to do everything right. Maybe you are doing everything wrong and you are tired of it. Just like the people we read about, we need Jesus. We need Him for salvation, guidance and completion. We each need to receive this gift, like they did, on our own. 

 If you’ve accepted this gift, He is yours and you are His. He is your shepherd. You can say with David, “The Lord is my shepherd.”

When I don’t understand, the Lord is my Shepherd. When it doesn’t make sense, the Lord is my Shepherd. When someone else’s life looks better than mine, the Lord is my Shepherd. When He tells me things are about to change, the Lord is my Shepherd. When He tells me to wait, the Lord is my Shepherd.

The Lord is my Shepherd and Gift from God.

– Pam Holmes (Meg’s mama)