Monday Manna -  Focusing on The Gift – And The Giver

 
From: "Monday Manna -" <send05@PROTECTED>
Subject: Monday Manna -  Focusing on The Gift – And The Giver
Date: December 23rd 2018

MONDAY MANNA
December 24, 2018

Twenty-one years at service to the world’s business community


Focusing on The Gift – And The Giver

By Robert J. Tamasy

 

With another Christmas just the wink of an eye away, most of us are filled with expectations. These expectations, of course, are based upon how we perceive the annual holiday. For many, it marks the end of the calendar year, a time for seasonal parties and events, and perhaps a chance to take a break from day-to-day workplace demands. For some, Christmas is an annoyance, an unnecessary interruption to “life as usual.” Such people align with Scrooge, the star of Charles Dickens’s classic, A Christmas Carol, wishing “bah humbug!” to everyone daring to exhibit a festive holiday spirit.

 

Purists regard Christmas as a solemn celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the arrival of God to earth in human form. Most of us, to some degree, see Christmas as a time for gift giving – and gift receiving. Little thought, however, is devoted to gift givers. Maybe that should change.

 

Because at its heart, Christmas is about both the gift and the gift giver. A familiar Bible passage tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). In this single verse we read about both the Giver, God the Father, and the Gift, Jesus Christ the Son.

 

It is amazing that a single event – the birth of a baby in a remote town called Bethlehem – would have such an enduring, worldwide impact. In many nations, on every continent, Jesus’ birth is celebrated in a variety of ways. Traditions for how the day is observed differ from culture to culture, but they all revolve about a singular declaration: “The Word [Jesus Christ] became flesh and made His dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

 

This Jesus went on to live an exemplary, sinless life; taught principles that work regardless of one’s belief system; died on a cross, making what Christians believe to be the once and for all atonement for the sins of the world; and rose from the dead, demonstrating not only victory over death but also the offer of eternal life to anyone who would accept this unique gift: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Another passage states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Romans 6:23).

 

So we see a clear distinction. When we receive gifts during the Christmas season, or give them to others, our focus is on the gifts. “What will I receive?” or “Will they like what I am giving to them?” The central, original gift of Christmas – the Son of God – also encourages us to concentrate on the Giver, whose amazing gift of forgiveness for our sins reflects His love, grace and mercy, available to all who would receive this gift offered freely to them.

 

But this gift goes far beyond just forgiveness, because it also presents to us the opportunity of new life, a fresh start. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

 

This Christmas, amid the festivities, sharing of good food, enjoying time with family and friends, exchanging of gifts, and for many of us, the assembling for celebratory worship, I hope you take time also to reflect, to ponder of the benevolence of the Giver, as well as the arrival of the Gift.

 

Until Next Week!


Robert J. Tamasy has written Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace; Tufting Legacies; coauthored with David A. Stoddard, The Heart of Mentoring, and edited numerous other books, including Advancing Through Adversity by Mike Landry. Bob’s website is www.bobtamasy-readywriterink.com, and his biweekly blog is: www.bobtamasy.blogspot.com.


© MONDAY MANNA is a weekly issue of CBMC INTERNATIONAL a non-profit, evangelical ministry that exists to serve business and professional people as followers of Jesus; to present Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to business and professional men. © 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO CBMC BRASIL - adm.mana@PROTECTED - www.cbmc.org.br Also available in German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish versions. If you don't want to receive this e-mail article, please send a message to the person who sent it to you, or if you have received it directly from CBMC, please contact http://www.cbmc.org.br


Reflection/Discussion Questions

 

1. When you think of Christmas, what are the first things that come to your mind?

2. Why do you think gift-giving is such an important part of many Christmas observances?

3. Do you view the birth of Jesus Christ just as a religious or historical event, or as something of much deeper significance? Explain your answer.

4. In considering the gifts of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins, as promised in the Scriptures, are these gifts you believe you have personally received? Why or why not?

If you have a Bible and would like to read more about principles it presents, consider the following passages: Luke 2:1-20; John 1:1-4,12-14; Romans 5:1-2,8; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21; Galatians 2:20.

 

Forward to a Friend
 
  • This mailing list is a public mailing list - anyone may join or leave, at any time.
  • This mailing list is announce-only.

Monday Manna is a weekly edition with normal day by day situations in our working place, and always based in the Bible.

Privacy Policy:

Privacy Policy

Data privacy policy At CBMC, we respect the privacy of our web site visitors and value the protection of personal data and we therefore place emphasis on protecting your privacy. We want to make you comfortable with our data privacy policy and the security measures that we take to protect your personal information. If you give us personal information, we will treat it according to this policy. This Data Privacy Policy explains and clarifies how we, as data controller, treat our visitor’s and customer’s personal data according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Brazilian LGPD. This policy will apply in situations where CBMC (hereinafter ‘us’, ‘our’ and ‘we’) treats personal information collected from the site. By using our site, you agree that your personal information is processed in accordance with this Data Privacy Policy. We encourage you to read this privacy policy.

Collection of information When a visitor to our website e-mails us via the website, we collect personally identifiable information, including name, title, company, address, e-mail address, phone numbers, and so on. Use of information The information we collect from you may be used in the following ways:

• To give you a more personalised service Your information helps us better meet your individual needs. If you have enabled cookies in your browser, that information can be used to be able to provide a personalised user experience. • Improving and optimising our website We are constantly striving to improve our website based on your information and views. • Improve our client service Your information helps us provide you with more efficient customer service and support. • Improve our communication The e-mail address you provide us with can be used to send you information and updates about similar services, CBMC’s events etc. Please note: you can cancel your subscription at any time by following the instructions at the bottom of each email. If you have enabled cookies in your browser, your cookie information can be combined with data you have provided on our site to improve the customer communication.

Third parties We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer the data we collect to outside parties. This does not include website hosting partners and other parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release information when its release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others' rights, property or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.

Google's advertising requirements can be summed up by Google's Advertising Principles. They are put in place to provide a positive experience for users. We, along with third-party vendors such as Google use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookies) to compile data regarding user interactions with ad impressions and other ad service functions as they relate to our website. Users can set preferences for how Google advertises to you using the Google Ad Settings page. Alternatively, you can opt out by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative Opt Out page or by using the Google Analytics Opt Out Browser add on.

Cookies In order to improve your use of this site, we may use cookies. Cookies are small files that a web site or service provider sends to the hard disk of your computer through the browser (if you allow) and which causes the site to recognize your browser and can retrieve and remember certain information. The use of cookies helps us to execute some essential functionalities and improve the user experience in our web shop as well as compile statistics on traffic and communication on the site. Cookies tell us where our site's users have visited, help us measure and target our advertising and marketing activities as well as search results through internet search engines, and provide us with information about our users so that we can develop our online services. Cookies do only record the Internet Protocol address of the visitors, and do not provide us with any personal information about the visitors of this site. You can also choose to turn off cookies in your browser, and / or delete stored cookies in your web browser. Note that blocking cookies may affect the functionality of the site.

Your personal rights You are entitled to request a report on what personal information we have about you by requesting a socalled registry extract. This can be made free of charge once a year. You also have the right to request that incorrect information about you shall be corrected, as well as the ability to request removal of your personal information. You have the right to withdraw your consent to processing of personal data and to prohibit the use of your personal information for direct marketing purposes.

To submit any request, please contact cbmcbrasil@cbmc.org.br for more information. You have the right to submit complains about processing of your personal data to the national supervisory authority.

Changes to this Data Privacy Policy CBMC reserves the right to update or change this Data Privacy Policy at any time and you should visit this site regularly to obtain the latest version.

Contact If you have any questions regarding this Data Privacy Policy or our processing of personal data, or want to contact us regarding your personal data, please contact cbmcbrasil@cbmc.org.br