Gifts and Gratitude

The giver of all good gifts has chosen to offer to us the free gift of salvation because of His love for us and His grace shared with us.   Here is what Ephesians chapter 2 says:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God ; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   
Think about that:  because of God's grace, we were given something we did not deserve and could never earn - salvation through Jesus Christ, a right relationship with Him.   This Christmas season means that God has sent His Son to us, to each of us, as an incredible gift - and hopefully, as we have shared gifts with others during this season,  we think about this meaningful custom in which we can participate, the resources that the Lord has given us in order to share gifts with others, and how we can communicate the love of Christ through our unselfishness and attitude of charity.   The acts and proper attitude of Christmas bring us the opportunity to show gratefulness to God and bring glory to Him.

In Ephesians chapter 4, we find a powerful passage about the giver of all good gifts and how we have received wonderful gifts of God:
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling ; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.   Earlier today, I saw a stunning picture of a historic church in Mobile - the Trinity Episcopal Church on Dauphin Street, in the heart of an area that was beseiged by a large wedge tornado, that was captured on video on Christmas afternoon.    The early reports were that it was "totally gone".   The facts emerged that the church, along with numerous other buildings in that area of Midtown Mobile, had been severely damaged.   We now know that the roof was blown off and one of the walls had collapsed of the historic structure, but it was STILL STANDING.  Rector, Father Bailey Norman wrote this on the church's website:"...Our church, Trinity Episcopal, took a direct hit from the tornado and is likely a total loss. We have been told by the fire dept to stay away from the building as it has severe structural damage. We will return in the morning to survey the damage. We are so thankful that (so far) no one has been injured that we know of. We must soak all that has happened, but I believe in God's grace to overcome any obstacle and I believe in the good folks at Trinity who will band together to face what is to come..."  Our lives can sometimes seem like that church - beaten by the storms of life, broken by adversity or tragedy, maybe our structure severely damaged.    But, we're still standing!    And, that's the blessed hope of Christmas, the dynamics of a relationship with Jesus Christ - the difference for us is that God never counts us as a total loss - no matter how buffeted we are, no matter how we may feel we are about to be destroyed, we can trust in His love, rely on His grace, and be buoyed by thankfulness that He will never leave us nor forsake us.   Because you're still standing, you can rejoice!    So, be thankful for the gift of new life in Christ, for a relationship with the God of second chances, the Lord of all grace and mercy!!