Believe. Receive. Rejoice.
Believe. Receive. Rejoice.
Alright , Mr . Simple Biz Sky . Lets guide to show.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody, and thank you for tuning into this episode of the Simple Biz 360 Podcast. My name's Jeff Mason and I'm your host for this short show. And , uh, we can be found on YouTube Rumble TV and 28 audio platform. So today , uh, you know, I just wanna let you know that we are kind of coming in for a landing on the podcast next year. So , uh, today is our last Christmas message and we just wanted to make sure we got a nice heartfelt message out today. Today's show is called The Christmas Gift that keeps on giving, and I just , um, you know, want to take this time. I know this is a really confusing world. Things are just going nuts. It seems like , um, the nuttiness just gets quicker and quicker and more and more and, you know, it , it really, it can be , uh, mind-boggling to say the least. And, you know, we're coming up on a holiday that's the, the Christmas holiday. And so many of us know, obviously it's about the Christ child and the birth of Christ. And we know that, you know, we have these big holiday get togethers and family dinners and exchange presents, and we all, you know, we all focus on this day a lot, but , but sometimes we do, we just tend to forget the real meaning of it and tend to maybe not even understand the power , uh, of that gift that keeps on giving. So, I , I , again, just wanna rewind my personal clock to December 24th, 1987. That's when I made a decision in, in a life that was so screwed up with alcoholism and drug dependency that I just said, God, I can't do this anymore. And I give you everything. And in return, I believe, and I receive you in my heart, not my head. And this happened as you, I've told you before in other podcast episodes in Princeton, New Jersey , uh, on Christmas Eve service. And it was there that, that clarity and understanding and truth kind of in just, you know, poured into like, rushing water into my life. And it was really the living water of God that was pouring into my life, and I didn't even know it. And, and so here's what I'd love to just park on and say today, is that if you are experiencing depression, if you're experiencing high levels of anxiety, if you're stricken with fear, if you just don't know what truth is, you, you're having a tough time, you know, navigating the news, and every day it gets crazier and nuttier and you just don't know where to turn, and you're, you're feeling lost , you're feeling empty, you're feeling , uh, hopeless, and you, you need something to grab onto that's truthful. I , I would just invite you to receive the gift of Christmas. And that is let Jesus into your heart. And I know that I can be a stubborn person and I know that what God did with me is not gonna do for everybody, but I know that, I know that, I know. He said to me, okay, you are a stubborn gentleman , so here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to remove the urge of alcohol and drugs from you. And you're just never gonna be able to say you did it on your own. You're gonna know it was from me. And he did. And I've never had another drink since December 23rd, 1987. I haven't had to go through , um, any kind of , um, you know, rehab or 12 step program. God just took the urge away from me to prove to me that he was real. And from that day on, I've been letting God , uh, I've been letting Jesus take the wheel of my life and steer the wheel. And you know, it , it's not a perfect world. It's not, it's not one where automatically on December 25th, you convert to this alter Christian. No, it's a process. It's kinda like hopping in spiritual diapers. And you know, the word is like the, the milk, right? And you just start feeding yourself some milk and you start growing in your walk with the Lord. But, but the whole time you're doing this, you're able to experience and you're able to tap into the gifts that God has wrapped up in his son. And that's hope and that's grace. Imagine grace just having this grace flooding your life that you didn't deserve, but God gives it to you. You've got the ability to, to find rest. You've got the ability to , um, be able to pray and cast your cares on God because he cares for you. And so Jesus just came and he was born and he lived and he died so that we, you know, he became really sin on the cross when he died. So that w we can now be forgiven of our sins and we can have a life with, with the Father in heaven after we pass away from this earth. But most importantly, we can have Jesus in our life and active with us right now. So if you are searching for an anchor, if you're searching for peace, if God's been drawing you near and you , you didn't know it until now, just know that you do not have to go through some religious experience. You don't have to go to a church and get all dressed up and showered up. You can do it right where you are. You can just simply accept Christ, believe that he came to die for your sins and just receive him in your heart. That's all you have to do. And, you know , uh, maybe you'll get relieved of some things like I did too. Maybe not. But I will tell you this, you will have the power of God with you to help you find rest, peace, joy, comfort , um, and, and answers and truth. And to have an anchor to hold onto , have a hand to hold onto , have somebody to carry you and you can't walk. And that's what it's all about. So if you want to really open up a gift this Christmas that will keep paying dividends for years to come, for the rest of your life here and for your life ever after , I just invite you to receive Jesus. And , uh, we just pray that you will. And so I I leave you today with a great song. We always do this at the end of each episode. I just, I I I love this song. It's Stephen Curtis Chapman. It's from Speechless. It's 1999 and it's called, I Do Believe There's Cool Drum work in it, cool vocals. And he's sitting in a traffic jam at 11:52 AM and he's , uh, outside Cincinnati, Ohio. And , um, he just starts writing this song and it says it all, I do believe. So we thank you and we hope you have a great Christmas, and we hope you will someday experience the true Christmas gift. Thank you. And we will see you in 168 hours. Merry Christmas.