Silver and Gold I have none…
This Christmas season, let’s remember what Christmas is all about! The love of God! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. Jesus is the gift to the world and God’s love came down to earth so that we may know the love of God and have a personal relationship with Him. We know that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We know that He removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 NLT – “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”
Don’t let mammon have any room in your life this Christmas. I know many of us can overspend and even go into credit card debt just to give gifts that our loved ones want or desire. That is not the way your loved ones would even want their gifts; to have you in debt. I can tell you that the best gifts are free.
All the gifts that come with our free salvation is a blessing to us and everyone around us. We learn how to love like Jesus loves, be more selfless than selfish, and give more of ourselves. It is a process that we have to work at daily as we pick up our cross daily to follow Him. We have to fight our flesh constantly.
As a single parent, living paycheck to paycheck and the only food in the house was baby food, I had to learn to lean on Jesus for everything. I asked Him to help me give a gift for Christmas to my daughter so she would experience the joy of opening gifts. He taught me how to give real gifts. For example, one year I gave a bouquet of flowers. One flower for each year of her life. I typed on paper each year of her life and what was significant and the memories of each year. Then I taped it to the flower and set them out for her on the table. She is now a mother, wife and in her mid-thirties and that is one of the gifts she remembers the most. It wasn’t a particular barbie or toy that she opened but the flowers. She told me many times how much she loved it. The cost was minimal but the impact was great.
Acts 3:6 (NLT) “But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
Fast forward to today and my husband and I had our grown children come down to Florida from Connecticut to celebrate Christmas together. We gave them stocking stuffer gifts and other smalls but what they cherished the most was my husband copying their child videos to thumb drives and I wrote out the prayers I prayed for each one of them daily. They were overjoyed and made blankets with the prayer printed on it, framed it and made other reminders with the prayer on it. They still talk about it and often call me just to have me pray for them.
So today, reader, as you are reading this, this is my gift to you. Silver and gold I have none, but in the name of Jesus I pray health over you, peace, joy and love. My gift to you is this – I pray that you will know God personally and experience Him today and every day. I pray that God will give you a heart of flesh and fill you with His love. I pray God’s spirit will guide and lead you in all your ways. That God will bless you in your coming in and your going out and everything you put your hands to. I pray God will send good people in your path to continue your knowledge in Him. God has plans to pros-per you and not harm you. God has ordained you, knit you, chosen you, called you and ordered your steps. I pray you know He only thinks good thoughts towards you. Merry Christmas.
Love,
Pastor Dr. Deb Walsh
