The best gift I ever received

Share one of the best gifts you’ve ever received.

We live in a material world, so naturally, many people will say that the best gift they have ever received is a material thing. I received the best gift I could ever receive in the basement of an old church. My Sunday School teacher told me about this gift. I can’t see it. I can’t touch it. But I gratefully accepted it, and I hold it in my heart.

You know that we are living in a material world
But I am NOT a material girl

Those of us who believe in Jesus use different phrases to describe the moment we received this precious gift. We are saved. We are redeemed. We are born again. We have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

John 3:5-7

The best gift I ever received was a gift from God. He loved me (and you) so much, He came into our material world to give eternal life to whoever believes in Him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Jesus gave me the gift of eternal life!  He died on the cross for my sins, and He rose from the dead. As one of my favorite childhood hymns says, He lives! He’s in the world today.

I serve a risen Saviour, He's in the world today
I know that He is living, whatever men may say
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer
And just the time I need Him He's always near
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life's narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart
In all the world around me, I see His loving care
And though my heart grows weary I never will despair
I know that He is leading, through all the stormy blast
The day of His appearing will come at last

Knowing Jesus is the greatest gift I’ve ever received. It isn’t just the gift of eternal life. He is with me today.

This morning, decades after receiving this precious gift, I will go to Sunday School to tell children about Jesus. I want them to receive the best gift they could ever receive just like I did.

The Messiah

In my last Bible study, Who Do You Say That I Am, we explored who Christ is by examining his own statements about his identity.

I went to the well in the heat of the day to avoid my neighbors. Some of them look right through me as if I am not there. If they do look at me, they don't even try to hide their disgust.

A man was sitting next to the well. He asked me for a drink of water. A Jew! I couldn't believe he would speak to me. So I asked him how he could ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink. He said that if I knew him, I would have asked him for living water!

I asked him, "how are you going to reach this living water? This is a deep well and you don't have anything to draw water. Are you greater than our father Jacob?"

He said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never get thirsty. Indeed, the water I give them will become a spring of water that wells up to eternal life.”

Wow, that would be amazing! I said, "Sir, give me this water so I don't have to keep coming to this well!"

He told me to go get my husband. "I don't have one, Sir" He said to me, "I know. The truth is, you have had five husbands and are not married to the man you're with."

There was no condemnation in his eyes. But he was a Jew and a Jew has never been a friend of mine.

I said, "It's obvious you're a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that we must worship in Jerusalem."

He said, "Believe me, a time is coming when you won't worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans don't know who you worship. We Jews do know. Salvation comes from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and is here already, when true worshipers will worship God in the Spirit and in truth. These are the kind of worshipers the Father wants. God is Spirit and his people must worship in the Spirit and in truth."

I didn't come to the well to argue with a stranger and I wasn't about to argue with a prophet. So I said, "I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." He said, "I, the one you're talking to, "I am he."

You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was stunned. I ran into town and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?"

The prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of the Messiah more than 700 years before Jesus was born!

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

The woman at the well would have known about this prophesy.

Who do you say that I am?

Lord Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Annointed One. You are Almighty God, the Everlasting Father. You are my Wonderful Counselor and the Prince of Peace. You are Immanuel, God With Me.

Who do you say that I am?

My Bible study group just finished Becky Harling’s study Who Do You Say That I Am? Harling experienced a crisis of faith that led her to read the gospels with fresh eyes. She had been asking herself, where is Jesus? Why can’t I feel him? The study explores what she learned about who Jesus is based on what He said about himself. “Nothing describes Jesus’ identity as profoundly as His I Am statements.”

Harling noted that Jesus asked profound questions. He asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13). After the disciples responded, Jesus asked an important follow-up question: “But what about you? Who do you say I am?”

What is so significant about Jesus’ I AM statements? When Moses asked God, what should I say to the people when they ask your name, God replied, I am.

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Exodus 3:13-14

I remember feeling out of touch with Jesus many years ago and I also read the gospels with fresh eyes. I asked myself, why wasn’t Jesus more present in my thoughts? I wanted a deeper connection with Him.

Most of the I Am statements are recorded in the gospel of John.

I AM the Messiah. John 4:26
I AM the Bread of Life. John 6:35
I AM the Light of the world. John 8:12
I AM the Good Shepherd. John 10:11
I AM the resurrection and the life. John 11:25
I AM the way, the truth, and the life. John 14:6
I AM the true vine. John 15:1
I AM the first and the last. Revelation 1:17

One of my favorite I Am statements is “I am the good shepherd.” The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. Jesus is my good shepherd. I lack nothing. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul! He guides me along the right paths. He is with me; his rod and his staff, they comfort me.

What about you? Who do you say that Jesus is?

Thank you, Jesus for walking with me

Lord Jesus, since I was a little girl, you have walked beside me wherever I go. Because you are with me, I will not lose heart. I am hard pressed on every side, but I am not crushed. I am struck down, but not destroyed. I am perplexed, but not driven to despair. I am ridiculed for your name’s sake, but not forsaken.

When you walk beside me, I am strong and courageous. I am not afraid. I am not discouraged.

Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

I am comforted by your presence. I am encouraged by your presence. I am strengthened by your presence. My cup overflows.

Thank you, Jesus, my rock and my redeemer.

Amen.

Prison walls started falling

On Tuesday, I deleted the Facebook app from my phone in preparation for giving up social media for Lent. Now my phone is just a phone and not a time-wasting distraction. This morning as I drove to the gym, I listened to a beautiful song that not only expresses how I feel about the “sacrifice” I’m making, it reminds me of the real reason for the season of Lent.

Red Letters is a song written by David Crowder and Ed Cash about the life-changing impact of the red letter words of Jesus.

Then I read the red letters
And the ground began to shake
The prison walls started falling
And I became a free man that day

Red Letters – David Crowder Band

The phrase, prison walls started falling describes how I feel about being freed from the addictive hold of social media. Over time, I have become a slave to Facebook, depending on it to keep myself entertained, looking to it for social affirmation, and ridiculously fearing that I will miss out on something important if I don’t read my news feed everyday. It’s only been a couple of days since I gave it up, but the prison walls are already falling.

Red Letters also reminded me of the real sacrifice that Jesus made.

For God so loved the whole wide world
Sent His only Son to die for me
Arms spread wide for the whole wide world
His arms spread wide where mine should be
Jesus changed my destiny

Thank You, God, for red letters
When the ground began to shake
The grace of God started falling
And I became a free man that day
The prison walls started falling
And I am a free man today

Red Letters – David Crowder Band

Thank you, God, for red letters. Thank you, God, for Jesus!

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Photo by Denis Oliveira on Unsplash