The Gathering Place Where Family Matters

“For I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me” (John 6:38).

The Lord Jesus said, “I came down from Heaven.” Have you ever really considered this awesome statement? Truly the Lord Jesus came. But what if He hadn’t come? What if He had said:

“I don’t want to come down from Heaven”
“I don’t want to leave My glory”
“I don’t want to be inconvenienced”
“I don’t want to live among My creation”
“I don’t want to be involved in the messiness of people’s lives.”
But He didn’t say these things. He came down from Heaven. What an incredibly amazing plan! How will you honor Him this Christmas as you express your thankfulness for His coming?
www.michaelpeck

Imagine for a moment that the day has come. It is your birthday. Everyone around you has been getting busier and busier in honor of your day. Now the day has arrived, but hardly anyone speaks to you! In fact, some people around you never speak one single word to you all day. Parties take place, and in fact, some of the parties that are supposedly celebrating your birthday turn out to dishonor you. Cards are sent in honor of your birth. Gifts are exchanged in honor of your birth. And yet, somehow, you are pretty much left out of the celebration of your own birthday. The question is, “So how would that make you feel?” I just can’t help but wonder if perhaps that is just how the Lord Jesus must feel at times. So my challenge to each of us is to keep Christ in Christmas. Make Him the focus. Read the Christmas messages from His Word in Matthew 1 and Luke 1 and 2. Give a special gift to a ministry or an individual in honor of the Lord. Really listen to the words of the Christmas music. Determine to celebrate the Lord Jesus in honor of His birth.
www.michaelpeck.org

10. Be telling the truth to your children (3:9-10). Tell them their gifts came from Mommy and Daddy.
9. Be reaching out to others (3:11). There are many folks with individual needs. Find someone.
8. Be demonstrating compassion (3:12a). At the Christmas season hurting people need encouraging.
7. Be watching out for selfishness (3:12b). Humbleness of mind keeps a Biblical focus of priorities.
6. Be enjoying the peace of God (3:15a). In spite of lots to do at Christmas, let His peace reign.
5. Be listing the many things for which to be thankful (3:15b). That’s the right kind of list-making.
4. Be reading God’s Word before opening gifts (3:16a). The day is in honor of His birth, after all.
3. Be flooding your home with Christmas music (3:16b). What beautiful words on which to meditate.
2. Be checking your heart’s condition (3:16c). Is God’s grace manifesting itself in your heart?
1. Be honoring the Lord Jesus (3:17). Everything we do should honor His birth.
www.michaelpeck.org

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

The Lord Jesus and His gift of salvation is the greatest gift that has ever been given and ever will be given.

The price He paid is beyond description. The grace He extended in beyond compare. The destination He experienced is beyond expression. The plan He fulfilled is beyond explanation. In all the gift-giving of the season, don’t forget the best, the greatest of all gifts – the Lord Jesus Himself.
www.michaelpeck

“The Indescribable Miracle of Christmas”

“And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

The eternality of God is beyond the grasp of mere human beings. We most certainly can and must believe it. However, even the brightest and most brilliant among us cannot begin to fathom He Who had no beginning and Who always existed. That eternal God the Son took upon Himself a complete human nature and became the God-man. He was 100% God and 100% man. It is nothing short of miraculous. Regardless of what your circumstances are at this moment; stop and reflect upon the mighty miracle God performed so that the Lord Jesus could be your Savior. Awesome!
www.michaelpeck.org