By Jannie Linney
We all know the story of how Adam and Eve caused the fall of mankind, and God sent Jesus to redeem mankind. He sent Him as a baby to grow, teach us, then die, be resurrected, overcoming the sins of man.
“He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was Manifest, that He might destroy the works of the devil” [1 John 3:8]. Destroy those works of Satan in us, and others, “Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” [2 Cor. 5:17]. New Creations don’t continue in the same old lifestyle, knowingly, making sin a habit, knowing Christ is living inside of them. Jesus does not take part in Habitual sin. Thank God, He helps us. We can’t do it alone! That’s why we need Him so much!
Over 2,000 years ago God gave us our Christmas gift, He gave us Jesus. We know Jesus came to pay the horrible price to save our souls, if we will accept it. He gave us Sozo salvation; Sozo is much more than Hell to Heaven! It is a package deal including everything we will ever need.”
Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” [Titus 2:14]. He gave Himself, He held nothing back. The Gift God the Father gave us is the Gift that keeps on giving, year after year!
He gave us Peace; He is the prince of peace. When I lead someone to the Lord, one of the first things they say is, they feel such a peace. He gave us Grace; we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. Grace is undeserved favor plus other things; “Grace reigns through Righteousness” [Rom. 5:21] Grace through right living, causes us to say no to temptation Righteousness protects us from sin. He gave us Mercy; Mercy protection from what we do deserve; Grace and Mercy shall follow us all the days of our life. Sort of a rearguard!
God’s gift, Jesus, Gave us the Holy Spirit; He is our Comforter; Teacher; The ability to pray in a way the devil can’t influence, a way to build up our most Holy faith [Jude 20]. It is a way to talk directly to God. [1 Cor. 14:2]. The Holy Spirit is the Gift Giver so The Holy Spirit gave us the Motivation Gifts. [Romans 12:5-8] Seven Supernatural gifts, that motivates us to function in the other spiritual gifts of the Spirit. Don’t get Spiritual Gifts confused with Talents.
Then He gave us the 5 fold Ministry Gifts “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ” [Eph. 4:11-12]. The five-fold Ministry Gifts we are learning, it is the emptying of our self — so the Holy Spirit can flow freely through us. This is not religion, but relationship, in Jesus Christ. In Him only is ministry effective.
He gave the Manifestation Gifts. [1 Cor. 12: 1-10]. The nine Gifts that manifest, end results that can be seen, through faith in what Jesus did for us. Jesus said He would work with them confirming the Word with Signs following” [Mark 16:20]. That is His Word, not mans. We speak His Word, believing and expecting Him to reveal Himself in our need. The Motivation gifts work through the Ministry gifts to cause the Manifestation gifts to manifest by the Holy Spirit! All these Gifts just keep on giving for us today! It’s a lifestyle. It all came with a Baby that became a King and opened our understanding to a Kingdom. We are talking about Kingdom Living! Maybe we can start looking into all this in this “New Year” He wants to reveal Himself!
“And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His Grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” [Eph. 2:6]. “Christmas is a Lifestyle.” Till The End!
