December Devotional: A Way to Show you have Received Jesus’ Gift this Christmas

December Devotional: Proving You Have Received Jesus’ Gift

Greetings Firefighters for Christ Family and Merry Christmas!  This is the time of year we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  We know the Christmas story of Mary being with child from the Holy Spirit and giving birth to Jesus in Bethlehem.  Jesus was brought to this world to live a perfect life and die as a ransom for our Sins.  This is the ultimate gift from God the Father to us- to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior -so that we would never be separated from God, but with Him in Heaven for Eternity.  With that being said, there is a part of scripture that I want us to read and act on this instruction from Jesus.  It’s in the Book of Matthew, it reads;

The Baptism of Jesus

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Throughout Jesus’ life and ministry he models how we are to live in following him.  It’s an amazing thing that Jesus puts himself in every situation that we ourselves encounter as humans.  He was tempted, he was ridiculed/ made fun of, criticized, tested in every way and yet He did not sin.  He shows us how to pray, how to treat one another and He himself was Baptized.  Now Jesus wasn’t baptized to repent - he had nothing to repent from, but He was Baptized to Identify Himself with sinful men.

So we as Christians- “Christ Followers” are trying to model the Life of Jesus to the best of our ability.  And Jesus is telling us to make a public declaration that we have received his free gift of Salvation from our Sins.  The way we do this is- is through being Baptized.  The definition of Baptism is simply “to dip”, “to cover” or “to immerse” .   And when we are Baptized and “immersed” with water- symbolically according to scripture- we are Baptized in the Holy Spirit!  Lets read Acts 1:5, Jesus says, “  5 For John baptized with[a water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”

So, by performing this physical act of being immersed in water-it’s a demonstration of repentance, cleansing of sin and as demonstration you have received the Messiah.   So now we are to go out into the World representing Jesus.  And Jesus gives us clear instruction on how to do this in the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20,   18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

So we are to preach the Gospel in Jesus’ name and we are to Baptize in His name as well.  In fact, Jesus stresses the importance of this in the Book of Mark.  Jesus says,

Mark 16:16, 16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Now Jesus doesn’t say you will be condemned if you don’t believe and don’t get baptized.  He simply says “who don’t believe”.  But He does say clearly in the beginning of that verse, “Whoever believes and is Baptized”, so he is asking us to follow his model and make that public declaration.  So Friends- as a follower of Christ, knowing the way He Loves us more than we will ever be able to truly understand, don’t you want to follow his instruction and guidance to the best of your ability?  You can be immersed in Jesus Christ you’re Savior!  When you do this- your sins are spiritually washed away-and your old self is buried away and then you rise with Jesus your Savior!  And your actions will be influenced by this Immersion in Jesus.

One last verse I want to look at is 1 Corinthians 12:13, “13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”

How amazing is this!  It’s a testament that we are One in the Body of Christ.  The Body of Christ is eternal friends!  My prayer for all of you and me is to grow and Love one another more in the Body of Jesus Christ.  I want you this Christmas season to reflect on the act of Baptism.  If you have been Baptized, then I want you to remember this public commitment you have made.  How you can remain immersed in Jesus Christ and spread His truth.  And if you have not been Baptized- I want to encourage you to make this public declaration in your Life.  Let Heaven celebrate your coming and receiving of Jesus’ gift of Salvation.  We are going to be having a Baptism day for Firefighters for Christ OC Fire.  I want to invite all of you to attend whether you’ve been Baptized or have not.  And if you haven’t- Let’s make this the Day you step across the line and make publicly known- you are a Believer and Follower of Jesus Christ.  Details will be on the website- FFC-OCFire.com under events.  God Bless all of you and Merry Christmas!

-Shawn