What we need for Christmas

We each have our lists of what we want for Christmas. And perhaps some of us are the responsible types that only ask for what we ‘need’ on our Christmas list. But I want to take a moment to talk about what we really need for Christmas:

We need the Lord. We need His presence. We need His Spirit. His gifts are nice. We are grateful for the talents He has given us to use and to invest for His glory. We ought to be overwhelmed with gratitude at the blessing and favor that He has bestowed upon us again and again. But most importantly we need His presence. When Jesus came to earth, He was known as Immanuel, God with us. We have forgotten this. Or perhaps we think that God was with the disciples but not so much with us. What we need for Christmas is a fresh encounter with “God with us, Immanuel”. And no, we don’t need this encounter through a nice Bible story, sermon or church service, as good as those things are. We need to encounter the Living God in the presence of His Holy Spirit. We need for Christmas to realize that the greatest gift ever given is when God gave us Himself! And when He gave us Himself, He gave us love, righteousness, holiness, compassion, glory, power and so much more! God wants to continually pour Himself into our hearts if we will but ask Him and wait and receive His promised Holy Spirit! I challenge you: this year ask God for one thing only, and ask Him again and again: “Lord, please, give us Your Spirit”!