Has the Grinch Stolen your Christmas?
Dr. Jeff Schreve
REFERENCES
LUKE 2:10–11 ACTS 10:15
Without a doubt, Christmas is to be a time of GREAT JOY. On that first Christmas night, the angel announced to the shepherds “good news of a great joy.” The Savior has come!! WOW!! Those shepherds were so excited. That announcement changed their lives forever. They were filled with joy and wonder and praise.
At Christmas time, are you filled with joy and wonder and praise? Or has the devil, the original Grinch, the thief who comes only to steal and kill and destroy, stolen those things from you? If so, there is still time to get it back!
Think about the angel’s announcement, “There has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” What does that really mean for you and me?
1. The Savior has come to save you from a dark past. So many people are suffering with intense guilt over bad things they have done in the past. The devil beats them to death with shame and guilt. But be beaten no longer! All the terrible, horrible things you have done are no match for the Savior’s blood that He shed for you on the cross. The moment you confess those sins to God and repent of them, you are forgiven!! Remember what the Savior said to Peter, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy” (Acts 10:15).
2. The Savior has come to save you from an empty present.
Many people are surviving and not really living. Jesus came
at Christmas not to fill your empty stocking, but to fill your empty life! He has a purpose and a plan for you. Come to Him. Surrender to Him. Let Him lead you. He wants to bring you joy and peace, regardless of your circumstances. He wants to use your life to make a difference in others, a difference that will last
for all eternity. It makes life worth living to know that everyday is
an exciting adventure with the Lord, an opportunity to touch another person with the love and joy of Jesus.
3. The Savior has come to save you from a hopeless future.
Everyone without God is without hope. No one comes to the Father without the Savior, Jesus Christ. But now He has come, and we can really know Him personally, and we can be assured of His presence and provision while we live ... and His heaven when we die. Paul said, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). WOW! What a future is in store for the child of God!
My friend, do not let the devil steal from you and your Christmas time any longer! The Savior has come, and He has come for you! Receive the good news and rejoice in the truth!
