The Perfect Gift

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading, titled The Perfect Gift, was written by Nancy Gavalanes. While I was on an outreach during a short-term mission trip to Peru, a young man asked me for money. For security reasons, my team had been instructed not to give out money, so how could I help him? Then I recalled the response of the apostles Peter and John to the lame man in Acts 3. I explained to him that I couldn't give him money, but I could share the good news of God's love with him. When he said that he was an orphan, I told him that God wants to be his Father.

That brought him to tears. I connected him with a member of our host church for follow-up. Sometimes our words can feel so insufficient, but the Holy Spirit can empower us as we share Jesus with others. When Peter and John came across the man by the temple courts, they knew that sharing Christ was the greatest gift ever. Then Peter said, The man received salvation and healing that day. God continues to use us to draw the loss to him.

As we search for the perfect gifts to give this Christmas, let's remember that the true gift is knowing Jesus and the gift of eternal salvation he offers. Let's continue to seek to be used by God to lead people to the Savior. Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Acts chapter 3 verses 1 through 10. One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, A man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping and praising God.

When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the gift of Jesus. During this Christmas season, open our eyes to the physical and spiritual needs of those around us. May we boldly share the gift of Christ's love and salvation, recognizing that this is the greatest gift we can offer to a world in need. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening today. My name is Brenna Holzkla, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.