WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.480 Real Life presents the Jack Hibbs Podcast with intention and boldness to proclaim truth, 2 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:09.440 equip the saints and impact our culture. 3 00:00:09.440 --> 00:00:17.240 Hey you guys, it's the Christmas activity, host, game, wrap-up, so to speak, right? 4 00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:24.960 We are in our jammies, still maybe we are taking it easy, some of you maybe having to work, 5 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:30.160 but that be it as it is, we're going to talk about what is it we just went through, 6 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:36.160 what was Christmas about, did we have the right focus, and a couple of challenges at the end. 7 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:38.560 Let's dive into this and see what happens. 8 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:47.840 You can get the outlines of this podcast by going to jackhibbs.com slash podcast. 9 00:00:48.480 --> 00:00:54.320 Today, if this podcast lifts you up and encourages you to live a more fulfilled life in Christ, 10 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.600 then make sure you leave us one of those five star ratings. 11 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:03.600 To us, that's like saying, amen or yes, then that rating will encourage others to listen. 12 00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:07.680 Now open your hearts to what God's word has to say to you. 13 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.120 Here is Jack Hibbs. 14 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:14.240 We everybody, hope you had a great Christmas, this is coming to you obviously, 15 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:19.680 right after Christmas, and I know if you're anything like our family, 16 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:25.600 because we have such crazy schedules and several of us are involved in ministry, Southern California, 17 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:32.640 Northern California, our Christmas is never really on Christmas day, which makes it for us even 18 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:40.320 more fun, and you know, we've been in ministry for 35 plus years, and so nothing's really normal, 19 00:01:40.320 --> 00:01:47.840 or well, I should say our normal is different than your normal, meaning those of us in ministry 20 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:53.920 work the most on weekends, and then Mondays are day off, most often, right? Schedulings the same 21 00:01:53.920 --> 00:02:02.000 way, where the holidays is where we work hard in like double time, while the rest of the nation 22 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:09.520 may be taking family break, ours is skewed, and it's kind of cool, because when we go celebrate, 23 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:15.120 the crowds have gone back from wherever they were at, and we get to go in, and it works, 24 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:23.360 but for us, we're celebrating Christmas right now, and you just have, but what are we doing? 25 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:33.440 What did we do? Was it relegated to one day? Is that it? Not at all, obviously not at all. 26 00:02:33.440 --> 00:02:43.760 I want to run through a couple of things from somewhat of a skeptics view of what we just went 27 00:02:43.760 --> 00:02:49.280 through, or what we're going through, really in the spirit of why should I? Why should I celebrate 28 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:54.480 Christmas? What did I just do? You know, I just bought these gifts for people. Went to their house, 29 00:02:54.480 --> 00:03:01.200 there was a party, some people were drinking, some people were partying, some people were praying, 30 00:03:01.200 --> 00:03:07.760 some people were going to children's choir presentations, some, just a whole gambit of things, 31 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:17.120 what did you just do? Are you just now, in fact, you say, Jack, keep it down. I have a hangover, 32 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:22.640 don't talk so loud. Is that Christmas? Is that the Christmas? What in the world? 33 00:03:24.320 --> 00:03:30.640 Let's get down to the facts of it all, and by the way, I hope that this winds up being a blessing 34 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:35.920 to you. Some of this, for some of us who have been together for a while, or we cross paths during 35 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:43.920 the week or more frequently, in recent days or weeks, you may have heard me say this quite a few 36 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:50.080 times, but it's a go-to moment. It's a go-to passage. So let's just start with this regarding 37 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:56.560 Christmas. What did we just do? What's it? You know, what was it's drive? What was it's 38 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:06.560 purpose? It's the purpose of Christmas is to acknowledge, acknowledge. It should not be a 39 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:13.760 surprise to us. I'll use, I'll push it and say, acknowledgements. You and I live in a world 40 00:04:13.760 --> 00:04:19.040 where acknowledgements are big deal. Your kids in sports, they do this, that, the other, they get 41 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.960 acknowledged. Your kids academically, they achieve this, that, or the other, they get acknowledged. 42 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:32.160 Here in Southern California, it's kind of ridiculous because everybody, it's just wokeville. 43 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:41.440 Everybody's being acknowledged every week about something to the point so often now that it's 44 00:04:41.440 --> 00:04:48.320 actually meaningless. There used to be a time in Southern California where in Hollywood, for 45 00:04:48.320 --> 00:04:54.720 example, there were the Grammys or there were the Emmys or the Golden Globe Awards. That was about 46 00:04:54.720 --> 00:05:00.960 it. That was about it. Now every week and there seems to be this something, something awards 47 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:07.520 and so and so is acknowledged. Well, in that pathetic illustration of how the world does it, 48 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:12.240 always searching for something else to celebrate. Gosh, we got to think of something else. 49 00:05:12.640 --> 00:05:20.640 Well, God's not like that, nor does he need that, but we are called upon to acknowledge. Now, 50 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:28.880 check this out. I got to use glasses today for eye reasons. It's Micah chapter 5, verse 2. But you, 51 00:05:28.880 --> 00:05:34.800 this is the prophecy, Micah 5, 2, but you Bethlehem at Paphretha translation. You Bethlehem, 52 00:05:34.880 --> 00:05:43.840 in this particular county, at the time of Christ birth, there were two counties that happened to 53 00:05:43.840 --> 00:05:50.880 have the name House of Bread, which is Bethlehem. In Micah 5, 2, which was written 522 years before 54 00:05:50.880 --> 00:05:58.160 the birth of Jesus, I love the fact that the Bible points out that keep your eye on Bethlehem 55 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:04.880 in this particular county. It's the Bethlehem that's right near Jerusalem. It's the Bethlehem, 56 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:18.320 by the way, that would have a location known as the Tower of Migdal, or the Bethlehem that hosts 57 00:06:18.320 --> 00:06:26.160 the location of the Migdal Eder. The Migdal Eder was the Bethlehem that provided the temple 58 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:35.120 lambs. And a Paphretha is that Bethlehem. It's a different House of Bread town. It's in the county 59 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:45.760 nearest Jerusalem. And it's the one that would produce the lambs for the temple. And in that, 60 00:06:45.760 --> 00:06:53.440 Migdal Eder was where they would examine the lambs for their perfection or rejection, 61 00:06:54.080 --> 00:07:00.000 prior to going to the temple. If they were accepted by the priest at Migdal Eder, which is in 62 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:06.560 Bethlehem, the Paphretha, then they would go to the temple. So the Bible says 522 years before 63 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:11.920 Jesus is born, but you Bethlehem, the Paphretha, though you are little among the thousands of 64 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:20.240 Judah, there's tons of little villages. Yet out of you shall come forth to me. Capital Me is 65 00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:28.800 God, the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth, listen to this, are from of old, 66 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:37.040 from everlasting. That final portion of that verse from old to everlasting is someone's going to be 67 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:47.040 born in Bethlehem. Someone is going to be born in that location of Migdal Eder. And whoever's 68 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:52.720 going to be born in Bethlehem, he's going to be the ruler of Israel. And he's going to be 69 00:07:52.720 --> 00:07:58.720 eternally, he's going to be forever. So this is going to be a brief podcast, but I hope it's 70 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.840 dynamic. And I'm going to give you something. You guys, everybody's got access to this, by the way, 71 00:08:03.840 --> 00:08:11.120 this is my little cheat sheet. And it can be your cheat sheet also. You can simply go to jackkibs.com 72 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:20.480 and download the PDF. That's what this is. It's a PDF downloaded. Okay. And print it out and use it. 73 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:28.560 It's a cheat sheet regarding the deity of Jesus Christ. So for example, let's add to Micah 5.2. 74 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:36.000 The Bible says in Proverbs 30 verse 4, who has ascended into heaven or descended? Who has gathered 75 00:08:36.800 --> 00:08:41.760 the wind in his fist? And who has bound the waters in his garment? 76 00:08:42.640 --> 00:08:50.480 Who establishes all the ends of the earth? What is his name? And what is his son's name if you know? 77 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:59.040 So now you got Micah 5.2 in Proverbs 30 verse 4. Check this out. The Bible tells us that 78 00:08:59.760 --> 00:09:09.200 in Psalm chapter 2 verse 11, it says, serve the Lord with fear or with reverential awe is the 79 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:20.640 meaning of that. And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, S-O-N, less TB angry and you perish in 80 00:09:20.640 --> 00:09:28.080 the way. When his wrath is kindled, but a little, blessed are all those who put their trust in him. 81 00:09:28.800 --> 00:09:36.400 Notice in Psalm 2 11, it says that you're to put your trust in him, him who is the Son, 82 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:46.080 he's the one who you ought to be in awe of. And he is the one that you ought to be worshiping. 83 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:55.840 That's Christmas. Just streams line all of the tinsel in the red and the green and the lights. 84 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:02.960 It just streamlines straight to the fact and to the reality that all that stuff means nothing 85 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:10.240 compared to the actual reality of who Jesus Christ is. Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, you saw this, 86 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:17.680 you guys, so on so many of the Christmas cards that arrived at your house during this Christmas season. 87 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:25.120 Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin. Some cults will tell you, 88 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:37.680 a young maiden. Yeah, good luck. It's the Virgin. She'll conceive and bear a son, S-O-N capital S. 89 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:44.560 We're talking about deity here and that goes on to define who the Son is. And she'll call his name 90 00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:53.280 Emmanuel, which is translated God among us. This is the Jesus of Christmas. This is the Jesus 91 00:10:53.280 --> 00:11:00.000 of every day. This is the Jesus of eternity. Check this out. The Bible tells us that in Psalm, 92 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:10.080 excuse me, in Luke chapter 1 beginning at verse 30, it says, for the angel of the Lord said to her 93 00:11:10.160 --> 00:11:17.120 that is Mary, do not be afraid, Mary, for you will be found, or for you have found favor with God 94 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:25.840 and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, capital S-O-N, and she'll call 95 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:35.280 his name Jesus, which is awesome because we say Jesus, but the Jews would say Yehosh-Shawah, 96 00:11:35.280 --> 00:11:48.240 Yehosh-Shawah, or Yehosh-Shawah, is YAH saves YAH. Y-E-H is our savior. 97 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:57.840 Jesus, we say the name Jesus in Greek or in the English we would say. I think Greek it's 98 00:11:58.560 --> 00:12:10.640 Jesus, which is very similar to other. I'm thinking now Korean, Chinese, Jesus, Yehosh-Shawah, 99 00:12:11.280 --> 00:12:17.920 it's Jesus. The Jesus you know from the Scriptures. He will be great and we be called the son 100 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:26.880 of the highest. Awesome. That's Christmas. These are the Christmas facts that you and I can revel in. 101 00:12:28.160 --> 00:12:35.760 And so John chapter 8 verse 58 says, Jesus said to them, scribes and Pharisees he's speaking to, 102 00:12:35.760 --> 00:12:44.960 most assuredly I say to you before Abraham was, I am, and that's capital I, space, capital A, capital M, 103 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:53.360 I am. When Jesus said that, they picked up stones to kill him because they recognized that he 104 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:59.680 just declared himself to be God. That's in John chapter 8. Check it out later if you want to know more. 105 00:13:01.280 --> 00:13:07.600 John chapter 8 verse 24, therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for if you do not 106 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:14.800 believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. This is the Christmas Christ. This is the ever 107 00:13:14.800 --> 00:13:20.080 eternal Jesus Christ. This is the eternal son of God who came into this world. You know, 108 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:25.520 some people say, well, where did Jesus get his start? Well, he doesn't have a start. He's eternal. 109 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:32.640 If you're asking the question, when did God become flesh? Okay, now we can talk about that. 110 00:13:33.280 --> 00:13:41.840 That was in Bethlehem. That was 2000 years ago, which is birthing, of course, change the calendar 111 00:13:41.920 --> 00:13:54.000 today. The world is way older than 2025, you know, 2025 years, but his birthing into the world 112 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:02.320 changed the calendar. Why? Because that's when God veiled himself. You never think about God being 113 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:09.520 veiled, right? Luckily for you and happily for me, my flesh right now is predominantly veiled in 114 00:14:09.520 --> 00:14:19.520 clothing. That's very good news. It is an external item that is veiling. Can I put it this way? 115 00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:27.120 somewhat of the reality of me. Well, when Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, came into this world, 116 00:14:29.520 --> 00:14:35.760 he was veiled. He was draped in human skin. I want you to think about that for a moment. 117 00:14:36.560 --> 00:14:42.960 I want you to think about the psychological ramifications of that. I want you to think about the 118 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:48.560 spiritual ramifications of that. I want you to think about the redemptive ramifications of that. 119 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:52.800 I want you to think about the relational ramifications of that, 120 00:14:54.880 --> 00:15:03.120 that when God wanted to take his word, the Bible, and show it to us physically, 121 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:12.480 that happened when Jesus was born and when Jesus lived in the flesh and when Jesus was being 122 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:19.440 betrayed and spit upon and beaten and crucified and buried and resurrected from the dead, 123 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.840 that's what God was doing. None of that was an accident to God. You understand that? 124 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:30.800 Jesus didn't, you know, mald off and speak all these deep truths that man couldn't handle, 125 00:15:30.800 --> 00:15:36.080 and so got himself killed. You know, the Bible makes it very clear that this happened 126 00:15:36.800 --> 00:15:41.360 by the predetermined counsel and foreknowledge of God. In other words, it was written in advance 127 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:50.400 that Jesus would lay down his life and then raise it up again. That said, God communicated to you 128 00:15:50.400 --> 00:15:56.320 and I, we call it Christmas, which is fun, by the way, if you dissect it, Christ. I think you 129 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:09.360 guys know what Christ means, Messiah, that to gather is mass. We might use in the west to a mass. 130 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:20.560 Catholic's right will call it mass, but the meaning is to gather or to gather around or to gather 131 00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:33.360 together. Christmas, Christ, mass is us gathering around the Christ. And so in the beautiful simplistic 132 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:42.400 artisan way, we have an activity manger and there's a camel which we have no idea was there 133 00:16:42.400 --> 00:16:47.440 or not. It doesn't matter. There's a donkey. We have no idea if it was really there or not. 134 00:16:48.400 --> 00:16:53.120 They could have been. Probably there were certainly some farm animals of some type, no doubt, 135 00:16:53.120 --> 00:17:03.440 because of how the in and in Bethlehem, how that was set up, makes total sense if you study that. 136 00:17:03.440 --> 00:17:08.960 That's a fun study, by the way. Go figure out why and how they lived in those days. When the 137 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:15.840 Bible says there was no room for them in the inn, don't think of the holiday inn, don't think of the 138 00:17:15.840 --> 00:17:26.320 Hyatt, don't think that God had his son born at the Waldorf Astoria or at the Ritz Carlton 139 00:17:27.600 --> 00:17:33.920 or the Four Seasons. God didn't have, don't you? If you were writing this book, the Bible, 140 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:39.040 wouldn't you've had your son born at the Jerusalem, King David Hotel? 141 00:17:41.040 --> 00:17:46.480 Jesus was born in the hill country of Bethlehem just outside of Jerusalem 142 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:57.600 in a cave slash stable setting, a place of poverty, by the way. But some people lived in settings 143 00:17:57.600 --> 00:18:04.320 like that. We're a section of the houses where the family lived. It was like a one-room thing. You 144 00:18:04.320 --> 00:18:09.520 slept in the same room that you ate in and you cooked in the same room that you ate in. But 145 00:18:11.120 --> 00:18:18.720 what you would do because animals were valuable, you didn't want them stolen or killed by wild animals, 146 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:25.840 the animals would be brought in and then the family would bed down for the night 147 00:18:27.520 --> 00:18:33.280 and, isn't that wild to think in a Bethlehem cave-type dwelling? 148 00:18:35.280 --> 00:18:38.960 Because that's what we're talking about. I've been to Bethlehem. It's crazy. I've been 149 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:43.840 there numerous times. There's all kinds of so many caves. You can't even number them all. Jesus 150 00:18:43.840 --> 00:18:50.720 was probably housed in a little cave and it makes more sense because he was laid in a manger. 151 00:18:51.520 --> 00:18:57.920 A manger is a word for feeding trough and they were always made out of sandstone. They were 152 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:04.240 always hollowed out of stone. Jesus was not laid in a wooden manger. He was laid in a feeding trough 153 00:19:05.040 --> 00:19:12.480 called a manger and so they probably put straw or hay in it to protect it from against the 154 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:19.520 saliva stains of the animals, either drinking water or eating food. They would have lined it 155 00:19:19.520 --> 00:19:24.800 and no doubt the good parents protecting the kid from snot and stuff from cows and sheep and all that 156 00:19:24.800 --> 00:19:36.160 makes total sense. But this is how God comes into the world about His homeless and porous possible. 157 00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:44.000 Is that amazing? When you read the scriptures, the glorification of who Jesus Christ is, 158 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:50.400 we glance over it so much and so many of you atheists that are watching this right now. 159 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:56.240 Your guilty like we believers are. We read it so fast. We celebrate it so fast and we move on 160 00:19:56.240 --> 00:20:03.360 with the businesses of life that we forget that the manifestation of God to humanity came in 161 00:20:03.360 --> 00:20:10.400 extremely humble ways. If you were writing this book, you would have written in your son being 162 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:22.320 born in a palatial setting. I find it awesome that the God of all creation. None of that stuff 163 00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:28.000 impresses him. Right? He could snap his finger right now and turn Jupiter into a chunk of gold. 164 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:34.720 What does he care about that stuff? He did all that to communicate to us and to relate to us 165 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:41.440 who are poor. And oh, by the way, yes, are you a billionaire right now? You're poor without Jesus. 166 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:50.480 I know a billionaire who knows Jesus and that makes her super rich. 167 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:56.720 But there's billionaires in this world that we think are super rich and they don't know 168 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:05.440 Christ. Then that makes them super poor. One of them, their wealth will last forever and it's not 169 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:11.680 gold and it's not dollars. Think of it. You have two billionaires because you know, we think, 170 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:19.120 well, that's it. What do you need? You've arrived. You got a lot of stuff to worry about. That's for 171 00:21:19.120 --> 00:21:23.920 sure. You got a lot of stuff to manage. That's for sure. One person doesn't know Christ. The other 172 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:29.520 person does. Which one's richer? Let's say they're both worth 10 billion each. 173 00:21:31.760 --> 00:21:41.760 Which one's richer? It's easy. If you read your Bible, whichever one has the sun is the wealthiest. 174 00:21:41.840 --> 00:21:55.920 In fact, God's economy is not our economy. God doesn't move in dollars. He's not subject to gold. 175 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:05.600 He doesn't use euros. He uses none of the currency of this world to estimate wealth. There's only one 176 00:22:05.600 --> 00:22:18.080 thing that estimates your wealth from our value to reality. In fact, I don't even like the word 177 00:22:18.080 --> 00:22:27.440 estimate when it comes to Christ. You can be as poor as dirt right now and have the Lord Jesus 178 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:34.480 Christ living inside of your life by the person of the Holy Spirit. Read John chapter 14, 15 and 16. 179 00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:42.000 You'll see what that means. And be wealthier than any person on earth. 180 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:48.720 So the cool thing about what we're talking about is you can be middle class, you can be poor, 181 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:57.840 you can be upper class, you can be the 0.5% in the world, millionaire. If you don't have Jesus 182 00:22:57.840 --> 00:23:03.680 Christ for your eternal wealth, you're completely poor. And how you're living right now 183 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:10.400 is as close to heaven as you'll ever get. This is the best life you'll ever have. 184 00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.280 But for the billionaire or for the person who has no money at all, who has Jesus Christ, 185 00:23:18.800 --> 00:23:25.760 this is as close as the hell as you'll ever get. Because the economy that you really 186 00:23:25.840 --> 00:23:36.160 traffic in is the economy of God. And that's a great way to live. So I may be speaking to some of you 187 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:42.640 who you woke up this morning, the day after, Christmas, and you didn't get the Ferrari you wanted. 188 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:51.600 You got a Honda instead. Or you woke up this morning and your wife or your husband didn't 189 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:58.320 get you that thing that you were dropping a thousand hints to them about. So you're all kind of bummed 190 00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:07.440 out. Or you could wake up this morning saying, yeah, that makes sense what you're talking about. 191 00:24:08.240 --> 00:24:15.120 I got disappointed. I didn't get the dress or the tools or the scope or the, you know, 192 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:24.400 a knife or the map or the fill in the blank. I didn't get it. So I'm all bummed down. 193 00:24:26.320 --> 00:24:38.080 Or you could say, wow, I get it. Jesus Christ was the gift God gave. And we are to Christ 194 00:24:38.080 --> 00:24:45.360 mass around him. Because he's the one that was foreordained from the scriptures to come 195 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:54.720 and to wash away our sins at the cross. But the gift like any gift is only, only experienced 196 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:05.360 if I accept it. You've got to receive the gift. You have to take it. And so the question is, 197 00:25:05.360 --> 00:25:13.280 as I end right now, did you take it? Did you receive it? You dove under your Christmas tree, 198 00:25:13.280 --> 00:25:18.720 you unwrapped all these gifts. You know what you're doing? You were receiving gifts from family, 199 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:23.840 from friends, from coworkers or whatever the case might be. You were receiving gifts and you got 200 00:25:23.840 --> 00:25:32.480 them. Do you have salvation? I want to end right here. Let's pretend for a moment and say 201 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:42.320 that somebody got you your Jack Kibz podcast mug. And you opened it up. You unwrapped it. 202 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:47.040 And you're drinking coffee out of it right now. Right. 203 00:25:49.760 --> 00:25:56.160 Are you experiencing the gift? Yep. Are you in a sense of a relationship with the gift? You can 204 00:25:56.640 --> 00:26:05.040 sit and you can hold it and you can carry it. Yep. It's a gift. Did somebody pay for it? And yet 205 00:26:05.040 --> 00:26:13.600 you got it free. It's a gift. All gifts are free if they're truly a gift. But somebody had to pay. 206 00:26:15.280 --> 00:26:23.040 God paid the price for your sin and debt and he gave you Jesus. But you have to accept him. 207 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:31.040 I love it. The Psalmist says, I will lift up the cup of salvation. You have to accept the gift he 208 00:26:31.040 --> 00:26:36.640 gives. It's Jesus. And you have to hold him and he holds you and you have to walk with him. 209 00:26:38.560 --> 00:26:46.000 You have to follow him the rest of your life. So Merry Christmas. As we head into the new year to 210 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:53.920 come, may God watch over us. May God's will be done in and through us. May we live this year 211 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:00.240 that's ahead of us like never before. Listen for all of us. I'm speaking to you right now. We are 212 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:08.480 one year older and we're one year closer to eternity. So let's live it for Jesus all out. Full 213 00:27:08.560 --> 00:27:14.640 steam ahead. God bless you guys. We're going to have a trust in Christ that we're going to have an 214 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:24.480 awesome, awesome 20, 25. And it's already busy on the calendar, right? The calendar is already 215 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:33.120 filled up for 2025. Wow. Let's do it. Until then, it's time for us to live out. What we believe in, 216 00:27:33.120 --> 00:27:37.440 it's time for us to live out real life. God bless you guys. Until next time. 217 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:47.120 This Jack Hibbs podcast as well as all the broadcast outreach opportunities are listed or 218 00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:54.720 supported. Will you consider partnering with us through a special gift? Go to jackhibbs.com to learn 219 00:27:54.720 --> 00:27:57.360 more and stay connected.