The Promise

The Gift That Keeps Giving

We have made it to the last month of the year. December. The busiest month of the year. Shopping and travel. Gift giving and gathering. This is the month that so many people look forward to every year. With Christmas music playing in all the stores and Christmas plays being performed at every school, people are looking for that perfect moment of Christmas.

With each Christmas parade, Santa makes his way into the town square to listen to the boys and girls exclaim their desires for the best present. Dollies with big bows. Toy trucks lined up in rows. Bikes hover boards, and VR game consoles are the rage for kids everywhere.

Secret Santa parties at work keep us on our toes searching for the perfect gift that will be the talk of the office. Searching the shelves becomes a tedious venture that soon begins to deflate the very excitement we have waited on all year. The stress of searching for the gift that will be cherished for a lifetime begins to manifest with every department store we enter. It’s not supposed to be this way. We did not envision this becoming just another task that we have to get done.

Thank goodness we don’t have to look for the greatest promise on the shelves of the store. The promise of hope and love that goes beyond this world. The promise of an eternal life with Jesus. There is no need for us to shop for it in the mall. We don’t even have to leave the comfort of our homes to find The Promise. It is within the pages of God’s Word. All throughout the 66 books of the Bible we have The Promise of a Redeemer. We also have words from this Redeemer that says we are chosen to receive this Promise because we are loved by the Father.

And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved. Matthew 24:12-13, NASB

What Does This Promise Look Like?

It looks like a baby boy born to a virgin….

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14, NASB

It looks like a Branch that will bear fruit ..... 

Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,
The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The spirit of counsel and strength,
The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
                                  Isaiah 11:1, NASB

It looks like God’s Word walking among man…

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.    John 1:14, NASB

It looks like peace that is not of the world...

Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.  John 14:27, NASB

It looks like freedom... 

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1, NASB

It looks like love...

“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love." John 15:9, NASB

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8, NASB

The Gift That Keeps Giving

Just when we think that God stops giving us gifts, we find that there is so much more to The Promise. We are promised a way to the throne of God without someone else to run interference for us. We don’t have to wait for a priest to take our offering and prayer to God. Jesus became our High Priest and tore the veil so we would have access to the throne. We are now able to take our prayers, worship, and offerings to the Father ourselves.

The Promise of hope keeps on giving as we navigate life in this world. We will have trials and hard times but God has promised a way through them. He didn’t promise to erase them, but He did promise to part the troubled waters and give us a safe pathway to the other side.

The love of The Promise never fails to keep us close. When we are broken and undone, The Promise is there to give us grace as we fall apart. No matter how much we ugly cry, Jesus is there beside us to comfort us in a way that only He can. He has faced more than we ever will. He knows the brokenness that we sometimes face. If we are willing to surrender our pain to Him, He is quick to heal our broken hearts and give us strength.

The Promise of Christmas is not the biggest thing found on a shelf. It is the most beautiful thing found in the Word of God……. The Love of Jesus.

As we look forward to the excitement of the holiday this December, let us not forget The Promise that is more valuable than the diamonds or gold. Let us hold tight to the Gift that keeps giving.

Spend time in God’s word this month and find the treasures of The Promise within the Red Letters. That is where you will find the Gift That Keeps Giving….