# How you can have a great Christmas

Key Passage: Acts 20:35
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Acts chapter number 20. The book of Acts chapter number 20, and I believe the Lord would have us focus this morning on this subject: How You Can Have a Great Christmas. Every individual here, how you can have a great Christmas.

And you say, “It’s not going to be a great Christmas for us. We don’t have much money.” Even if you don’t have much money, you can still have a great Christmas. In fact, a lot of people who have a lot of money have a horrible Christmas. And, of course, I know we have several billionaires in our church, so, you know, those are a lot of money. It doesn’t guarantee. But how you can have a great Christmas.

We’re going to start here in Acts chapter 20. Let me just give you a little background to it. God had used the Apostle Paul to start a church at Ephesus much earlier, and Paul was kind of making his way back to Jerusalem. He stopped by this place called Miletus, and Ephesus is very close to Miletus. So he called for the church leaders of that church at Ephesus to come see him as he was heading to Jerusalem.

They came, and they met for a little while, and Paul spoke to them. One of the sad things was that Paul said, “Now, this is going to be the last time I see you.” And, of course, they knelt and they prayed, and I think they shed tears and whatnot over that. But the words we’re going to read are the last words that are recorded that Paul said to these people, these church leaders of Ephesus.

To me, that just adds a little bit of meaning. He started that church. He loved those people; they loved him. A great church, one of the churches in Asia Minor, mentioned in the book of Revelation. But these are his last words to them. So it must be awfully important if it’s the last recorded words of Paul that he said to this church and these people he loved very, very much.

So that being said, would you please stand as we read God’s Word together, Acts chapter 20?

Would you look in verse number 35, verse number 35, Acts chapter number 20? If you’re there, would you say amen? Good deal. Verse number 35, the Bible says: “I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said…”

Now, just stop for a second. Paul is telling us that Jesus—he got this from Jesus, right? So we don’t have it recorded anywhere in the Gospels of Jesus saying it, but Paul said this came from Jesus, friend. And here it is, here it is: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Would you read that phrase out loud with me? Here we go: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Would you do it one more time, please? Here we go: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. For a little while, how you can have a great Christmas. Would you pray with me? Let God work in a heart.

Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

Years and years ago, my wife went out with a group of ladies from our church. I’m not sure exactly where it was. I’ve got Cracker Barrel in my mind; I’m not sure. My wife doesn’t know what I’m going to tell, so she doesn’t know either. But I think it was Cracker Barrel. She can correct me later on a little bit if I’m wrong here. But a group of ladies went out from our church. My wife was there. I think it was Cracker Barrel. And one lady paid for everybody at the whole table. Not only that, but that one lady gave every person, every lady at the table, she gave them some money. First of all, I’m glad my wife was there. Somebody say amen.

But my wife said this—and I wrote this down, that’s why I can remember it—but she said this: “You know, you heard the one preacher he said, men talk headlines. How did it go? Well, it was good. You know, and ladies talk all the fine print. They tell you everything about it, you know.” Praise the Lord, you need both to make a newspaper, amen?

My wife was giving me all the details, and she said this—I still remember it, I wrote it down: She said, “Out of all the ladies at the table, that lady that gave the meal and gave the money was by far the happiest. She was the lady at the table that was just kind of glowing.”

Now, the Bible says it’s more blessed to give than to receive. And let me just say that’s the beginning of the message. I’m not necessarily talking just about Christmas gifts. I’ve had Christmases where I can’t give much monetarily, and I’m not talking about that per se. It does apply, but it’s much, much more than that. You’ll be giving or receiving a lot at Christmas time.

It might be just a compliment to someone. It might be a smile to someone. It may be a friendship to someone. It may be trying to make them feel good. But all these things, and God’s saying it’s more blessed to give than to receive.

Now, let me say this: It doesn’t say that it’s not a blessing to receive. It is a blessing to receive. Come on now, let’s be honest about this situation. It just says it’s more blessing to give than receive. Nothing wrong with the receiving.

But can I say this? If we’re not careful, there can be a trap in the receiving. You see, if we start receiving, sometimes us receiving something can create a greater appetite to receive more. And Satan, he’s always slyly trying to get our focus on the receiving. Now, nothing wrong with that. I didn’t say that one lady was the only one happy at the table; I said she was the happiest.

But there is a danger if I just receive, receive, receive, receive, that I get focused on what am I receiving? What are they saying about me? What are they doing for me? What are they thinking about me? “Nobody mentioned my new outfit. They didn’t show me respect.” And just easily it can get us focused on the receiving.

If I follow that trap, I’ll get to the point—it doesn’t have to, but it can get to the point—where I become selfish. And it’s all about me, me, me, me, self, self, self, self. And the sad thing is sometimes just a wonderful thing to receive can lead me into this trap of selfishness.

The Bible, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, it says, “In the last days, perilous times shall come.” I remember you kind of heard that reference there: perilous times shall come. And the Bible there lists kind of society—what mankind acts and behaves like. It gives 18 characteristics of mankind during that time. Can I tell you the first thing it says? Let me read it for you. It’s 2 Timothy 3 in verse number 2: “For men shall be lovers of their own selves.”

Can I paraphrase a little bit? They just get focused only on receiving. Nothing wrong with receiving, but it can lead me into that mentality of just receiving. By the way, how many of you would agree we have an entitlement mentality in America? We expect everything to be given to us. And if I don’t have it, it’s somebody else’s or the government’s fault.

Come on now. Of course, the Bible says if a man doesn’t work, he ought not to eat. That’s what God said about it. By the way, our country is getting away from families taking care of families. And there’s no family there. Church is taking care of people, and that’s not so much anymore, just about government taking care of everybody. Ronald Reagan used to say government’s not the answer to the problem; it is the problem.

But friend, we don’t want to fall into this trap of our society. This is all about what I should have, what I need. What are you giving to me? What are you doing for me? And it means me, me, me. And that equals selfishness. And selfishness equals unhappy people. You won’t find a happy selfish person. You’ll find them happy for about three minutes when you give them something.

I was so mad—praise the Lord—I was watching on TV years ago, Hurricane Katrina. Haven’t you remember Hurricane Katrina? Just horrible. And praise the Lord, the National Guard and things came out to help people. And I’m very thankful for that. And that’s what it should be. They were sheltering some people in a stadium. My wife and I were picking up a bus in Kentucky, and we were in a motel room watching.

They had brought—a National Guard guy had brought a plate of food to a lady. He handed it to her. Now, she didn’t pay for that. Well, maybe taxes if she paid taxes. But they were just giving things, housing them there, trying to help out. Everybody trying to help out during that time. And he gave her free food, just handed it to her. And she was mad because it was cold.

Man, if I could reach through that TV and grab hold of that lady for a second! I still remember that. And if we’re not careful, we all get like that when we just get focused totally on the receiving. It’s all about what they’re doing, what they’re saying, what they’re giving to me—just all about me. And that’s a very sad thing, and Satan will try to set us up by getting us focused only on the receiving.

Now, receiving is not bad, not bad. But if I just get centered and focused on that, it’s going to lead me down to a miserable way of living. I’m missing out on the greater blessing. That’s what he says there: It’s more blessed to what? Than to receive.

Yeah. Now, here’s another problem. Y’all listen to me. Here’s another problem with this giving or receiving. Here’s a major problem: If I get just focused on receiving all the time, I can’t control the receiving. I really can’t. I mean, you can be the nicest person. Someone talked to me about this week about a certain situation. I said, “Friend, it’s not you; it’s an individual. Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t reflect you. You’re not going to make this person happen.” And I wasn’t trying to be mean; I was just trying to give some light in the situation.

Look, you can do so much for some people, but you’re just not going to receive back. Or maybe even someone that loves you, a spouse, and they want to be there for you. Friend, they may be going through some major problems themselves, or they may be just stressed to the limit. And if I’m just totally focused on receiving, I can’t control that. So I will be on a roller coaster, right?

“Well, they treated me good. They didn’t forget about me. They called me. They complimented me. They were kind to me.” Then I’m on a high. “But they didn’t even notice me. I got a new outfit and nobody said anything about it. They didn’t treat me like I ought to be treated.” And you’re going to be in a low. And you’re going to be on a roller coaster ride: highs when you’re receiving and lows when you’re not.

The devil loves to get us on this roller coaster ride. It kind of reminds you: “He that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken out without walls.” No laws of protection. Satan can come in there any time and just bombard you and take the city. And if I get just so focused on the receiving, I can’t control that, so I’m on a roller coaster ride. Happy one hour, mad as a hornet the next hour. Happy one hour, depressed the next hour. And I’ll go through my life like that.

But that’s what Jesus—now I say, he said yes, nothing wrong with receiving, but frankly, he’s saying it’s more blessed to give. You can control that.

I mentioned all the week before Thanksgiving, “Hey, go into Thanksgiving. I want you to go and just, Lord, make me a blessing to someone.” Well, we’re trying to focus on giving. I can’t control the giving. You say, “Well, I got a new outfit. I paid.” Brother Farfan sells suits at a store in Nashville. Ask me about it. I hope we don’t leave the church tonight, you know. But I asked him one time when we were out eating, and I said, “Hey, what’s the most expensive suit you sold?” He said he sold a suit for $5,000. I can’t believe Brother Eddie bought it. He hadn’t even worn it yet. What’s going on? Come on, man. He said he’ll wear it next Sunday. Amen.

But look, you know, man, I bought this $5,000 suit, and nobody… You can’t control the receiving. But you can say, “Hey, you know, I’m going to go encourage somebody. I’m going to look for someone to compliment or encourage in some way.” And, friend, I guarantee you you’ll leave the happier one. It’s more blessed to give than to receive.

Satan wants me where I’m just focused solely on the receiving. And, friend, you can’t control that. Even the nicest of persons have bad days. So I’m getting myself in a trap of just focusing—everybody can give a smile out. Just focus on giving. I’m going to be on the better side this Christmas season. I’m just going to work at giving. Give a kind word everywhere you go. I try to encourage someone everywhere. Be ready to forgive.

The Bible says in Psalm 85:6, “For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive.” Don’t say, “Well, I’ll forgive them if they come to me for forgiveness. They forgive me first, I’ll forgive them.” Oh, friend, just go ahead and give.

It is interesting Luke 6:38. It’s the thing a lot of times we’ll use when we’re talking about money. This was very focused on monetary; it applies everywhere. It’s a universal truth. But Luke 6:38, we often use that with money. It’s where it says, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; pressed down, shaken together, run over, shall men give into your bosom.” And we often apply that to finance, but can I be honest? The context of Luke 6:38 is not finances; it’s about relationships.

And don’t wait—don’t wait for somebody to come and be your friend and receive. You go be a friend to them. It’s more blessed to give. Just go ahead and give.

Here’s the thing I almost forgot why I went to Luke 6:38. Here’s the reason: It doesn’t start off with receiving in Luke 6:38; it starts off with giving: “Give, and it shall be given unto you.” And, friend, it all starts if you just stay on the side, I just want to give. So give forgiveness.

I was speaking with someone this week, and they were talking about some relatives of theirs, and they won’t forgive each other; they won’t be around each other. Somebody’s going to have to be the better Christian; go ahead and give forgiveness. Just give.

I’m saying in this world, it’s so much that or just gift. Men, can I say this? I fault this through. I think maybe the most manly thing you can do, especially in your home, is to give love. Men, you’d be amazed what—and I’m not saying you don’t; you’ll probably do all this—but just you giving love, unconditional love to your wife, maybe with your words or your compliments, and to your children, just saying a word or two, encouraging them, you don’t realize sometimes the stability that brings to home. Just me and you loving and expressing that. Don’t be like that guy that said, “Well, I told you I loved you 50 years ago when we were getting married; if anything changes, I’ll let you know.” Don’t do that. It’s amazing, just a loving husband and dad, the stability it brings to home.

Ladies, you’re so much better at encouraging and loving as far as encouraging people than us guys. I mean, us guys, if it was just us, it would be a gray world. Praise the Lord, y’all bring light and color and beauty to this old world. I’m so thankful for that. And ladies, you’re so good at encouraging, and you’re so good at that. And when a home has a wife and a mother that’s just lovingly encouraging and believing in and expressing it, it adds so much color to the world. I’m just giving; it’s just giving.

Brother Hiles, my old preacher for years, he used to have a radio program. He would go off the radio every day—I think every day of the week, maybe five days a week, if I remember right—he had always closed it out. He would say this: He said, “Be good to everybody because everybody’s having a tough time.” Can I paraphrase that? Give to everybody.

He was good about this. He would kind of take it as a challenge. He wanted wherever he was at to leave that person a little bit more happier and encouraged than when he met him. And my family’s tried to adopt that. We’re not perfect at it, for sure, but we try. And over the years, my kids even kind of know about it, whether we’re going through the McDonald’s window or wherever we’re at; we try to encourage a person. And it’s a little bit of a challenge for our family. Sometimes you meet those Grinches, you know what I mean? You say, “Hi, how you doing?” and they’re about to bite your head off.

And it’s a challenge to our family: “All right, let’s see if Mom, let’s see if Dad, let’s see if John can encourage it. Let’s see who can win them over,” we’ll say it. And it’s a great thing. I mean, and I need it, but it’s training us to give. Everywhere we go, just trying to give. It’s more blessed to give than receive. Satan wants me where I’m just focused solely on the receiving. And, friend, you won’t be happy like that.

Brother Hiles used to tell a story. He was at a restaurant somewhere, and the waitress came. It was breakfast time. You ever have a waitress that walks up to you and, you know, they just kind of walk up and they put their heads on, “What do you want?” It was that type of thing.

So he told her, “I don’t know. Coffee, waffle with chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chips on top, and a—what’s the one?—a jalapeño omelet, got a little bit of jalapeños in there. I don’t like a whole lot. Western omelet—that’s all I ought to get, you know. Fiesta omelet, that’s what it’s called. I’ll take that Fiesta omelet, you know, and let’s see here, and some bacon and some sausage and some rolls and some biscuits with gravy on top of it.” And trying to get on your level there, you know. And anybody hungry out there? I’m trying. I’m trying to get you there, you know. I just lost you, though. You’re not going to listen to me anymore, though, you know.

And he had the order, and she said, “Oh,” you know, and she left. And she came and she just brought that plate down, you know, and you ever see it? They bring the plate down and they just got to—and they’re tearing off running, you know. And it was kind of like she was just mean, rude. And he was trying to give instead of focus on receiving. And he left her a big tip. Couldn’t win her over any other way. Sometimes money does the job, you know.

So he left her a big tip. And he was leaving, and she said, “Hey, sir, sir, sir, you dropped some money.” And he said, “Well, don’t they leave tips here?” And she started crying. She said, “I’ve been so rude to you. Why would you leave a tip like that for Pete’s sake?” And he said, “You’re not a mean lady; you’re just broken. You’re hurting over something.” She was crying, and he was able to lead her to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just everywhere you go and give. It’s more blessed to give. I mean, just make that a way of life. I’m focusing on Christmas, but man, just do it all year long.

Now, can I say a word or two about this? Of your motives. If you’re giving just to be seen, you’re not really giving, to be honest with you. Matthew chapter 6 addresses this issue in the Bible, and he lists three different things. He lists almsdeeds. Almsdeeds is where you’re doing something for someone. There are three types of giving things in the Bible: there are tithes, there are offerings, and there are almsdeeds.

Tithes go to the church, and offerings go wherever the Lord leads, and then almsdeeds is something you do for someone. You see someone in need, you shake somebody’s hand, or they shake yours either way, and you’ve got a $20 bill, and you say, “Hey, brother, want to be a blessing to you,” whatever. That’s almsdeeds. It talks about alms, and it talks about prayers, and it talks about fasting in Matthew chapter number six. But it says this—it talks about rewards—a fairly good amount in that section of Matthew 6.

But it’ll say this one time: “No reward.” And then it says three times, talking about those that are doing these things to be seen: “They have their reward.” In other words, they got seen. Somebody saw them. So that’s it. You don’t get more of this blessing, “more blessed to give than receive.” You have your reward. It’s done. Somebody saw you do that. And motives are very, very important.

Can I say this? If I’m only giving so I can get in return from that individual in this situation here, friend, that’s not giving; that’s renting. And if I’m giving just to be seen, I’m actually paying someone to do something for me. That’s not giving. And it must be—let the Holy Spirit—I must be aware of my motives in this matter of giving. If I’m giving just so someone will think highly of me, why, I’m paying them to think highly of me.

But giving… Would your immediate family say you are the same in front of people and the same at home? Or am I just giving in front of everybody? Do I have to let somebody know about the good deed I did? Do people have to bother me if I just do it? Nobody knows about it? Just talk about our motives for a second here. Am I doing it to gain a position?

Look, here’s something that would help with that: Go do something for someone that cannot do back for you. Go to a nursing home. Don’t tell anybody about it, besides your spouse or wonder where in the world you are, you know. Go to that nursing home where they cannot do anything about it. For most of those, it’s their last stop before eternity. They’re not going to be putting it all over the place, but just go and go to a nursing home and just go to be a blessing. Don’t tell anybody about it. Just go in there and love on most people. A lot of times all they need—you say, “I’m not good at that”—a lot of times all they need is just someone to sit there and listen to them, everyone’s smile. Just go to be a blessing. Do something for someone that they cannot return anything to, you can’t do anything back for you, nobody else knows about it, but just go to give. More blessed to give.

Can I just encourage you this Christmas? And I’m not trying to be a downer this morning, but they say Christmas time, there’s more suicides during the holiday season than any other time of the year. Many people battle depression during the holiday seasons. People right here have told me these things.

And friend, can I encourage this? This holiday season, let’s not get caught up in this trap. You’ll be receiving—nothing wrong with that. You get a good gift, praise the Lord for that good gift. And you’ll be receiving gifts, and somebody will be complimenting you, and somebody befriending you, and praise it all for all those things. And I hope you have a great receiving over the Christmas holidays. But can I encourage you, don’t fall for the trap of getting focused on receiving only. It’s a very fine line between you getting focused on that and selfishness. Selfish people aren’t happy people. And friend, you don’t want to be stuck in that trap. That’s where Satan wants you to be.

Hey, if you get down this Christmas holiday—it may be the day after Christmas; that’s when a lot of people battle it, you know, it’s all over, you know—then you’ve got all the bills from Christmas, you know what I’m talking about, you know. You get down. Can I tell you a couple things to do when you get down this Christmas holiday, whatever may be?

First of all, when you get down, get up and give yourself to the Lord. I’m not talking about just salvation, but I’m talking about you. You go somewhere along with the Lord and say, “Lord, here am I, giving myself to you again. I want to give you all of me. These old hands are yours, and these feet are yours, and these eyes are yours, and these ears and this tongue.” Give him everything.

You say, “Well, preacher, what’s going to happen?” Well, he might take that sack lunch that little boy had that he gave, and he might feed 5,000 plus with it. That’d be pretty encouraging. But wake up and give yourself. You just doubt it? Man, I just—I don’t know why. I woke up with the mulligrubs on. Anybody wake up with the mulligrubs on? Yeah. That’s a Greek word. You’ve got to learn that. That’s a very important word: mulligrubs. You’ve got to know the mulligrubs. Get up and give yourself to the Lord.

We used to have a RU program at a church, and they have a great thing as far as trying to help you with your time alone with the Lord. And one of those things they teach you in your time alone with God is: “Lord, is there someone that you want me to be a blessing to today? Lord, would you tell me someone? Who would you want me to bless?” And it may be you just need to send them a text or a call or stop by and pick them up a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. Somebody say amen right there. Come on now. I got one person on the—okay, no Dunkin’ Donuts. I can’t go to that $10 place; I just can’t do that one for me. That’s beyond me, you know. Okay, stop buying; get them a McDonald’s Caramel Frappé. Boy, that’s good preaching right there. I’ll tell you for sure. Amen.

Let’s give yourself to the Lord. And they say, “Lord, is there someone I can give to today?” And then when you get done with that, how the Lord leads—oh, babe. But maybe you don’t have any clear leading. So this is what you do: Ladies, you either make it from scratch or you go down to Food Lion or wherever, and you get those chocolate chip—you know, those ones that not baked, and they’re in that long tube? You know what I’m talking about? Yeah. Okay, man, you can’t cook. Go down somewhere to the deli, you know, and you get some cookies or bake some cookies. Or you can bake a French silk chocolate pie. Somebody say “Me” right there. I’m going to preach whether you like it or not. And then go to your neighbor or go down your street and give a dozen cookies to each individual. Just give.

I’m telling you, friend, Satan wants us to be just so focused on receiving, and we’re on roller coasters. Give. It’s more blessed to give.

I wasn’t planning on telling it. Some of you have heard this story so many times—story number 78. How many of you know, you’d remember that one? You know, Brother Frank says he remembers. Would you stand up and tell that one, Brother Frank, please? I got to tell it, though; it fits so good.

A foreman he used to work for in Florida, and he went to a church—a Baptist church, different churches of mine. We came back to work after the Christmas holidays. “Man, what was your favorite thing about Christmas?” You know? And his church was selling Christmas trees for, I don’t know, for the youth or whatever it was, and they didn’t sell them all. So Christmas Eve, he loaded up Christmas trees on the back of his truck, as many as he could put on there, and he went to the poorest part of town that he could find and just gave out Christmas trees. And he had a bunch of… And he said, “I had a ball. I had the best time. It beat everything, the whole Christmas, me just going out and giving away Christmas trees.” More blessed to give.

Just say this Christmas season—I mean, we do it Christmas season, we may just make a habit of it. I’m just going to focus on giving. And you go see your relatives. You say, “Well, I don’t know what Uncle So-and-so’s going to do. What’s he going to say about me this year?” Don’t go there. Don’t worry about the receiving; you can’t control them. Go and say, “I’m going to go be a blessing to somebody.”

I love it. Ladies, she’d say—good lady—she said she would walk in a room. She’s speaking of ladies, and she said she would find someone that’s just kind of sitting with no friends with them, just kind of alone, and that’s the person she’d go befriend. It’s working at giving. Give to those that can’t give back. Giving, it’s a better way of living; it’s a higher way of living. Just giving.

Now, can I say this? It takes some work. Did you notice back there? We haven’t been a whole lot in that verse. But would you go back to it? Maybe you’re there still: Acts 20, verse number 35. We’re almost done for him. But Acts 20, verse number 35, right there. When you find it, would you say amen again? Amen.

Acts 20:35, “I have showed you all things.” This is Paul speaking to the leaders of the church at Ephesus. “How that so laboring”—if you’re going to have things to give to people, whether it be monetary or even relationship-wise—“you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said it is more blessed to give than receive.”

Friend, you may have to work a little bit extra hours to give it to your family. You may have to spend some extra time in the prayer closet getting your needs met by God so you can give out to others. That’s what God wants us to live by. By the way, God doesn’t necessarily like to give to you; He likes to give through you.

That’s what 2 Corinthians 1 talks about. Hey, the comfort that God gives you, He said, you take that comfort, you give it to other people. Sometimes you can have to labor alone with God: “Lord, I’m hurt. I’m down. I don’t have much to give anybody.” Oh, God knows you’re unselfish. God says, “I’ll give you some more then because you keep giving it out.” That’s where God wants us to live. We get from God joy, peace, love, and you give it out.

By the way, you know who the greatest giver is? God. Friend, He gives us everything. He gave you life. He gave you health. He gave us—sure, it’s got problems—but the greatest country on the face of the earth. He gave us, man, a wonderful church with padded pews. Some of them were torn, but they’re padded pews. We got air conditioning, we got heat, we got lights. You just turn a lever, and the lights come on. I’m saying He’s giving us so much. He’s giving us air to breathe and lungs to breathe it with. My hands aren’t… Well, who gave you the hands, friend?

He gave us—He’s the greatest giver. He gives you the sun coming up every morning, every morning. It might be covered by some clouds, but every morning He gives you the sun coming up. He gave you a beautiful creation. By the way, we live in a great area; this Middle Tennessee is wonderful. He’s given us all very, very much. Then He gave us His best. I mean, the best He had, His only—you know it. Say it with me: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He gave His best. He didn’t get some leftover scraps somewhere and give it to you. He gave you His very, very best.

With a God like that, why should I just get focused on me?

And some have said, “Well, why did God in His economy create it where His Son had to shed His blood?” And I said, “Oh, no way that’ll wash away why is your sin? Jesus shed blood.” But why did God create an economy like that? Well, one—many reasons. But one, so He could give His best to show you His love. “For God so loved the world that He gave.”

Friend, the greatest thing you can do is receive that gift. I understand a little bit, a little bit of God’s—and so many things of this, but just focus on one part of it—but God’s wrath. The Bible says He—believe it or not—His wrath abideth on him. I can understand a little bit of God’s wrath on the lost that will not get saved after He gave His very best, and they said, “No, I’m good enough on my own.” Shame on them. He gave the best thing.

The best thing I can do is receive that gift. God giving His very best so I can go to heaven and say, “I’ll never be good enough. I’m not going to trust in me; I’m going to trust in Jesus.” I receive that gift. And then for Him—be careful, don’t fall into the trap. By the way, some do that with God. Their prayer life is all about them getting, getting, getting, getting, getting, getting, getting, getting, getting, getting, getting. And God says, “No, you ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your own lusts.”

Hey, praise the Lord, receive that greatest gift that’s given to mankind. God gives to you, and then give out everywhere you go. Just give out. You say, “I don’t have much left.” God gives to givers. He’s the wisest investor there ever has been. He says, “Man, I’ve been given joy to that person, and they’re not just hogging it to themselves and going around and looking like they’re all that. They’re giving it out everywhere they go.” God says, “Hey, that’s a good investment. I’ll give them some more joy.” More blessed to give than receive.

Those ladies at the table, I think they all had a great day if I remember what all my wife said. But that one lady—my wife said that one lady, it was just amazing to watch her that day. She was just so happy. She was just so thrilled. I don’t—I’ve never heard that lady say anything about it to anybody, just heard from my wife. She said that lady was just so happy because it’s more blessed to give. Let me see. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes?

Original File: How you can have a great CHRISTmas - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday 12521