{"id":39625,"date":"2026-03-17T22:00:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=39625"},"modified":"2026-03-16T21:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T04:22:43","slug":"26-0318","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/26-0318\/","title":{"rendered":"Unwrap the Gifts of Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Max Lucado<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Much has been said about Jesus\u2019 \u201cgift of the Cross.\u201d But what of the other gifts? What of the nails, the crown of thorns? The garments taken by the soldiers? Have you taken time to open these gifts? \u00a0He didn\u2019t have to give us these gifts, you know. The only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet He did much more. So much more.<\/p>\n

Search the scene of the Cross and what do you find? A wine-soaked sponge. Two crosses beside Christ. Divine gifts intended to stir that moment, that split second when your face will brighten, your eyes will widen, and God will hear you whisper, \u201cYou did this for ME?\u201d \u00a0Let\u2019s unwrap these gifts of grace\u2026as if for the first time. \u00a0Pause and listen. Perchance you will hear Him whisper, \u201cI did it just for you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Read more\u00a0He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much has been said about Jesus\u2019 \u201cgift of the Cross.\u201d But what of the other gifts? What of the nails, the crown of thorns? The garments taken by the soldiers? Have you taken time to open these gifts? He didn\u2019t have to give us these gifts, you know. The only required act for our salvation was the shedding of blood, yet He did much more. So much more.<\/p>\n

Search the scene of the Cross and what do you find? A wine-soaked sponge. Two crosses beside Christ. Divine gifts intended to stir that moment, that split second when your face will brighten, your eyes will widen, and God will hear you whisper, \u201cYou did this for ME?\u201d Let\u2019s unwrap these gifts of grace\u2026as if for the first time. Pause and listen. Perchance you will hear Him whisper, \u201cI did it just for you!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-upwords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39625"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39628,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39625\/revisions\/39628"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}