Wrapping and Unwrapping

Last year I gave myself a title -

The Queen of Peekless Packages.

Usually proud to be humble,

I don't like to brag about myself.

But, I know how to wrap presents.

I begin saving empty boxes in the fall,

so I am ready for wrapping festivities.

But, the purpose of the present isn't just to wrap it up.

We intend the receiver to

 unwrap the gift, love it, appreciate it  and use it.

We hate giving a gift that is a flop,

it didn't fit or the receiver didn't enjoy it.

We would be infinitely more disappointed if our gifts

remained unopened under the tree.

That would be ridiculous.

Do you think the Lord Jesus ever feels that way about the gifts He gives us?

Our first gift is salvation.

Ephesians 2:8

For by grace you have been saved through faith,

and that not of yourselves;

 it is the gift of God,

There are other gifts the Lord gives and wants us to

unwrap them,

love them,

use them,

and

share them.

Ephesians 3:7

I became a servant of this gospel

by the gift of God’s grace given me

through the working of his power.

Romans 5:17

...those who receive abundance of grace

and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life

through the One, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:18

 ...through one Man’s righteous act the

free gift came to all men,

resulting in justification of life.

1 Corinthians 14:12

 since you are zealous for

spiritual gifts,

 let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.

C'mon, open those gifts.

1 Timothy 4:14

Do not neglect the gift that is in you,

Use them.

2 Timothy 1:6
I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you...

Share them.

1 Peter 4:10

As each one has received a gift,

minister it to one another,

as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Don't leave them under the tree.1 Peter 2:24

...who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree.

MM Meditation - the Stave of the Crucifixion

Mark 14

42 Rise up, let us go; lo, he that betrays me is at hand.

43 And immediately, while he spoke came Judas,

one of the twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves,

from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.

44 And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying,

Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely.

Men with weapons of war came after the One sent from the God of Peace to help mankind find peace with the God.


In the strength of their flesh they brought weapons to subdue, to conquer and to overcome. Their sweaty, sin-stained hands gripped blunt, wooden clubs drawn in anticipation of silencing the mouth of the innocent One who preached and purchased the salvation they were rejecting.

They did not know the ironic foreshadowing spoken by their powerless wood-hewn clubs.

The same word that was translated "stave" was also translated "tree."

Their first weapons, the clubs, wielded no power.  Their second weapon, the cross used to crucify our Lord, was the greatest form of torture.  The wooden beams brought suffering to the Lord Jesus, but what they meant for evil, God meant for good.

I Peter 2:24

"Who Himself bore our sins
in His own body on the tree,

that we, having died to sins,

 might live for righteousness—

by whose stripes you were healed."

They had no power in their staves, but we have power in the tree, because the grossest weapon of cruel murder was the greatest tool of salvation.

May we praise, thank and adore Him for enduring the the torture of men's wooden weapons, while bearing our sins on the Cross.

Our joyful response for Him dying for us, should be to fully live for Him.

***********

Each item mankind used to torture or mock the Lord Jesus Christ,

the Lord Jesus Christ used to show forth His glory in Salvation.

The Scourge of the Crucifixion

The Thorns of the Crucifixion

The Robe of the Crucifixion

The Sword of the Crucifixion