The Gift of the Manger

Since it’s Christmas Eve, the title of this morning’s Article is “The Gift of the Manger”! The epitome of the message of the manger is the complete essence of WHO God sent His only son, Jesus to Live and Die for! Most people don’t accurately imagine or know what the true manger experience was. The Marketing Agencies, Hallmark cards and beautifully decorated porcelain Nativity scenes have portrayed the manger as a pleasantly Warm and Inviting; strategically assembled barn-yard stall; with well-placed poised animals; who are clean and in Awe of their new small Gift; the 3 wise men and a straw-laden well-made Pristine wooden Bassinet prepared for our little-baby Jesus.

But let’s be honest, one of the reasons that people think that Christianity is so Un-Achievable is the mis-interpretation of the Gift birthed in the Manger. So let’s all be better messengers of the Truth of exactly what took place in the manger and the visitation of the various angels that visited that day. To shed some light, a manger was a barn-like stable, where the Dirty barn-yard animals stayed for shelter. This may have been where the animals ate scraps, feed or hay and also slept in and used the bathroom. This was not Joseph’s deliberate plan, but with there being no vacancies on the inside for him and the very pregnant Mary, his decision was made by God for him. He had no choice! Joseph would have a place to lay the baby Jesus, who was wrapped in scraps of cloth that he found laying around, to keep the Baby warm, and converted a gamey wooden feeding trough that would have normally held water, hay, or feed for livestock. But this day, it doubled as a Cradle for the baby Jesus. This was not a customary majestic delivery of a King of prominent Royalty. But God did not send His only Son just to be Unreachable Royalty figure for the people of this world to worship, but never get Intimately Close to.

If we compare this story of Biblical times, to now… God’s only Son was sent not for the Pretty People who have everything All-Together, and can do all things in their own might, but He sent His spirit, wrapped up in the Flesh for:

#1) The people of today who have lives that are plagued with Sin that Reek like an animal from the barn. Those of us who were as familiar with sin, like pigs in slop, that would put anything into their Body, or Spirit and had No Rules to Govern them. CHURCH, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT JESUS WAS SENT FOR!!

#2) Jesus was THEN, NOT wrapped in the Purple Royal Silk, laid in a Crib made of Mahogany, decorated with valuable jewels, to be presented to the people. The Holiness of God was sent in the form of a Human Baby, in which the only Garment that mattered was the Holiness that He was cloaked in, offering His Life, in All of His Rawness, Nakedness and Transparency, making it Possible that the Same Wardrobe could be Offered to me and to you and all the lost of the world. That NO Circumstance is too Filthy, nor Is He too Pretentious to step Directly into the Reality of WHERE WE ARE, WITH US!! To Cover us with a Garment of Righteousness for His Name Sake, that we might have a right to the Tree of Life.

#3) And I’m not sure About You, but if #1 and #2 don’t get you Excited!! The Fact that a young girl who was not of distinguished lineage like Mary was chosen to be used as a Vessel to carry the Savior of the World. Also that night, NOT PREISTs, or PASTORS, or PROPHETS, but ordinary Shepherds who were living out in a field, pulling the night shift watching their flock, was spoken to by an Angel of the Lord and chosen to be given the Prophetic confirmation of the Miracle to come, and Directed on how to verify that they had found the Truth! This means that without being the very elite of educated society or the higher-class person, God sent His son to Save and Use Any Willing Person!

But even with all these Miraculous Opportunities that we sometimes overlook, we still have no room in the Inn of our hearts for what Jesus came to offer, and we leave Him sitting in a Prepared Fancy Place for Him and go get Him down off the shelf, when we need Him, Like a Genie in a Bottle! Instead of taking Full Advantage of ALL of His Sacrifice, to break open the Gift of the Manger, to Access: the Fullness of Healing; True Deliverance of the filth that we’re use to; the Supernatural Power and Authority to actually Change for the Better and reach and walk in Un-Adulterated Freedom in God, the Fullness of True Love that is not just for show, but that leads to Health and Wholeness…

ALL of this is what we would receive if we welcomed Him into the Inn of our Hearts. All of this is what we’d accurately describe and share with our present world that so desperately needs ALL of the gifts of the manger that He’s still offering us today. Its fine for us to appear to be Christian and tell strangers to have a “Merry Christmas”! But what about offering to those that are hurting the gift of the Manger?!? He Died for our Filth, not to come to Him after we’ve CLEANED OURSELVES up, but to come to Him while yet Dirty!! He gave us the perfect example that He was not caring about our Outward Appearance but knows our inward Hearts! It’s only us who Judges by the outward appearance, right?!? And finally, He is just looking for a Willing vessel, willing: to Go; to Do; to Say; to Work; to Try; to Start; and Willing to Stop! This IS Everyday, not just Christmas, we should be offering people the Gifts of the Manager and All that goes along with it! So, in this Christmas I tell you that I’m Celebrating my Gift of the Manager, that because He came the way that He did, I could be pulled out of such a Broken Place!! I have stood at the very edge of what I was becoming, with no way to stop it... Had I taken one more step, fainted slightly in any way, I would have fallen. That He didn’t care about the Stench of my Unholy thoughts but wrestled with me and wouldn’t let me go but so far, until His Love sealed my Heart back together again. He holds deliverance and restoration in the bosom of you Believing in the Gift of the Manger!

Thank You Jesus!

Merry Christmas to you and yours 😊