New Beginnings

 Greetings to  you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

     It’s always exciting to get something new.  Here at the assisted living facility, there are many new things.  In fact, the company that owned the place yesterday, is no longer the owner as it was purchased by “Spring Oak” which will be our name in less than 24 hours.  All of the staff will be the same for the most part, except for one position where a possible change might take place.  It will be interesting to see what changes take place with a new owner.  We also got a shopping bag each filled with goodies such as a deodorant that is about 10 inches long.  That should last most of the new year. 

     One of the greatest things is the “new life” of the believer.  The above passage is one that speaks about the new life and how all things become new.  The “new creature” finds that there are now new things in his or her life. There might be new people in  your circle of friends as you discover new practices such as attendance at a church on Sundays and possibly Wednesday night prayer meetings.  You may find that  your do not depend upon the winning of a lottery to provide your needs, but nwo it is God Who works to meet the needs that crop up in your life.  You will also find that you now have new desires.  God gives you these new desires as a part of your new creation.   You are now able to see the differences between heaven and hell and knowing what lies ahead for the nonbeliever, prompts us to pray for the lost that will not experience eternal separation from God.  You now realize that a family member who does not know Christ  as you do, will spend eternity separated  from God and facing judgment.  You will find that your new life will be one of prayer now only for salvation of the lost, but those that have needs both friends and family.  Your new life will be filled with blessings that you didn’t know existed before.  You will be urged to begin a reading plan through the Scriptures even though the Bible on tape can be read in less than 100 hours.  While  you read t through the Bible, you soon discover a new relationship growing between  you and God.  As one catechism exhorts, “To know God and to enjoy His presence forever.”  The Bible is God’s letter to us that introduces us to His plan of salvation and not that of a denomination.  There is only one condition for all of this to take place and it is the little word, “if” that appears in the above passage.  If a person be in Christ, he is a new creature.  It is sad to note that much of the world does not fit into this category.  They are not in Christ but ae looking for other means in which to arrive at heaven.  Some think that just being a morally good person will make us acceptable but the first three chapters of Romans gives no hope to the morally good person because all have sinned.  The only acceptable sacrifice is to be “in Christ.”  Praise God today for His grace and mercy and for the new year.  May we live for Him today and all of our tomorrows.

Decisions

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

       Sometimes, making a decision is difficult.  It is difficult especially if it involves something big like having an operation, undergoing some treatment, going to college, getting married and so on.  Decisions are often difficult but once you make the decision, you are usually ready to begin.  Paul was a man who had made a decision.  It changed the direction of his life.  In the first chapter of the Book of Romans, Paul makes three statements all of them beginning with the words, "I am..."  Romans 1:14-17 says, "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.  So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith."  As you can see, Paul said "I am debtor...I am ready...I am not ashamed."  Those are good words for us today.  Paul felt that he was a debtor to those who were without Christ.  Since he had received the good news, he felt obligated to tell it to others.  Then, he said that he was ready.  He was ready to preach the gospel to those who were in Rome.  The decision had been made and now he was ready to begin.  Then, finally, he says, that he was not ashamed.  Paul was not ashamed of the gospel message.  In fact, it was the best news ever to be spread abroad.  When you have the task of announcing that which is the best, you don't want to hold back.  You want to tell it to others.  The same thing is just as true today as it was in the days of Paul.  We are not in an exclusive organization but rather we need, in fact, we also are debtors, to tell others about Christ.  Then, once we have come to grips with that truth, we need to finally say that we are ready to begin.  As we end out this year and head for another one, let us be reminded that we should not be ashamed of the gospel message but go boldly forth telling others the good news.  Someone told you about Christ in one way or another.  So, pass it on.

The Common Temptations

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     First Corinthian 10:13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it”. 

     Every had those days when one thing after another happens?  After the stay in the hospital duirng the first of November, came home to find the computer dead and h ad to replace it.  After this most recent stay in the hospital, came back and now the phone won’t  charge so probably will have to be replaced.  Things just don’t last very long adn h ave to be replaced by something else.  James reminds us that we are plagued with manifold temptations, that is, more than one at a time. As we receive the temptations, or as we might sometimes refer to them as “trials” in our Christian life, God is still faithful in the midst of all things.

     We are also reminded in the last verse of Second Peter, that we are to grow in God’s grace.  This is something that is going on day by day, hour by hour, and is necessary in the life of every believer.  It is like we are being under construction and there are orange barrels around us signifying that we are in the process of growing day by day.  It is called,”sanctification.”  Each day finds us being more separated  unto God than the day before.  We might think, “I just can’t take any more.”  The passage above however, exhorts us that God knows our limits and He is not going to pille more on us than we can handle.  We may think that we just can’t take any more but then realize that we got through yesterday and we will undoubtedly get through today also.  I recall how things often would begin on a certain day with a broken shoe lace, then a dead battery and then a traffic jam.  In the midst of all of these occurrences, God is working to perfect certain qualities or characteristics as described in Galatians as the “fruit of the Spirit.”  One of the most difficult of those characteristics is that of longsuffering or “patience.”  We no  longer ask God for patience as we are also exhorted that “tribulation” worketh patience.  When  you pray for patience, God gives you tribulation as the result of the tribulation will be an increase in your patience.  As always, God supplies the “avenue” of escape or the say out, or provides the answer to our problems.  It is a learning experience where we learn that God is always there no matter what re the issues that are going on in our lives. So, how will we get through today’s problems?  We trust God for the avenue of release.  As always, it come back to our being faithful to Him as He is faithful to us.  Our period of growth just went up an inch or two.  Praise God today for His faithfulness in all of our problems.

Training

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     I could usually tell when my mother was at the end of her rope.  That is, I knew when the last call had been issued.  I could tell by the tone of her voice.  When it became short and crisp with the pronunciation of my name, I knew that it was the "last call" and that it had to be heeded or suffer the consequences.  Sometimes parents use other methods such as pronouncing the full and formal name of the child.  When the middle name is included, you had better take heed.  God had a different way of making an emphasis.  Sometimes words were repeated to give a certain emphasis.  in Isaiah 6, we see the words, "Holy, Holy, Holy" which denotes the highest holiness that there is.  In the following verse, we have an example of a double emphasis.  Isaiah 26:3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."  The verse actually says, "Peace, peace" which does denote a "perfect" peace.  In the Hebrew, the word for perfect does not occur here.  It is just a repetition of the word for peace.  When God emphasizes a word, you should take note of it and see just why that is.  In this case, God is emphasizing that there is a perfect peace that can be acquired in this world.  It has a simple prescription and that is a person is to keep their minds focused, or stayed, upon the LORD.  Peace is not something you can find at every turn in your life.  The affairs of this world are continually chipping away at your own personal peace.  You may even find that you are having fewer peaceful days than you intended to have.  The old avenues of temptation, the world, the flesh and the devil are always trying to remove the peace that you have and to get you caught up in despair.  God was telling us in this particular verse of Scripture that if we are to have peace, then we need to have our lives focused upon Him in everything.  We just don't look to God and say how marvelous He is when the sun is shining and all is at rest.  We also look to God when trouble enters our lives.  So, if you are not finding that today or yesterday was a peaceful day, take a look at the LORD and focus your thoughts on Him in all things.  Trust in Him and you will find that you are in "Perfect Peace."

Who Says So?

 Greetings to  you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Hebrews 9:27-28 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

     There are those thing in life where everyone has their own opinion.  Such is the case of death.  What happens when one breathes their last breath and is ushered into eternity?  If you scan the television, you soon find that there is an increasing amount of shows that depict what the writers idea is of what happens after death.  I notice that there are an increasing amount of productions that have scenes from the afterlife depicting ghosts, romance, comedy and just a good old time of fun going on in the afterlife with the convenience of popping in and out  of real life at will.  Nothing could be further from the truth that man’s idea of what takes place after death.

     Mankind in general does not get a second chance to get it right.  There is one chance and you are living in that time fram right now.  If you don’t get it right, then you will find yourself facing judgment.  In fact, everyone will be judged and those that have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation, will receive the blessing of eternal life with Him.  Those who have rejected the preaching of the cross will be judged also, only it will be based on their own worlds from the “books” and they will be found wanting, or insufficient to pay for their own salvation.  Man does not get a second chance and God does not make a mistake by taking someone in for three h urs and th en letting them go back to tell the world what happened to them.  Notice what the passage above states.  “...once to die, butg after this the judgment…”  Who would you think would be the only authority on death?  The answer is God Himself.  Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”  There is no revolving door at heaven’s gate.  You don’t read about having a conversation with God and Him saying,”Hey its not your time yet.  Go back and tell them what you saw.”  That thought is n ot in the scriptures at all.  The Apostle Paul wrote that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord and that coincides with the teaching of the Old Testament as well.  You may get a lot of samples of things in this life but there is no “sample” of heaven to encourage you this or that way.  The scriptures are your instruction and have made the declaration to be born again now and not to wait for a glimpse of heaven and then to make the decision.  Now is t he day of salvation.  Whom will you choose?  Praise God today for His clear Word.

Endings and Beginnings

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Titus 2:11-14 says, “ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,   Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” 

     Our  lives are full of endings and beginnings.  One thing ends and then another almost like it begins.  Pir ca;emdars indicate tjat tjos weel will be the last week of the yea, but a new year will begin on Saturday night at midnight.  I began grade school and then went  into middle school and then to high  school and then to college and the list goes on and on..  My life has been filled with a series of large events t hat suddenly find and end such as education.  While you never st op learning new things, t he process of accomplishing  a certain requirement stops at some point.  

     The elaborate sacrificial system  of the Jewish faith ended  on the day that  John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God which cometh to take away the sin of the world…”   The final sacrifice would be made for sin and as the above passage reminds us, it appeared to all men.  Life as wse know it will end adn t here will be a new beginning  as we await the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ which will be in one of two ways, either through death, or by the rapture, whichever comes first in our lives.  It will be God’s final call.  In a twinkling of an eye after that final call, God will use in the glorious appearing of his Son, the Second Person of th e Trinity Who will appear and whose feet will touch the Mount of Olives.  An earthquake will then take place causing a split in the earth from the Mediterranean Sea to the DeadSea causing  freshwater will finally have a route to the Dead Sea.  This glorious appearing of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, will place the believers in His presence.  It  will be another beginning that will last a thousand years, as referred to as the Millennium.  After it, another pause and another ending and another beginning that will find us in eternity with God.  There will be an absence of some things that will be quite a bit different such as the absence of sin, and the absence of pain and suffering and the absence of tears.  As our year ends and a new one comes about, perhaps we can say, “Perhaps this year in Jerusalem.” or “perhaps today, in Jerusalem.”  Praise God today as His plan rolls steadily toward its completion.

The Largest Footprint

 Greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,

     Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

     Footprints are what is left when a person walks around.  I walked in some dirt and some tar and some grass and a lot of sno in my younger days.  I left footprints but they didn’t last very long.  The only lasted until the next day or when someone else walked over the same spot.  A foot print can also refer to the space t hat something takes on  your desk, such as your desktop computer.  I also finished my autobiography for the sixth time should anyone want to see some of the personal footprints that have been left.

     This year for many is 2022 .  Much of the world would refer to that as being the date.  It  used to be referred to as A.D., which stood for Anno Domini, or the year of our Lord.  That  referral became to religious for some so it is not said to be CE, or Common Era   The AD reference is of course referring to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ some 2022 years ago. The date is not exact but is still referred to the event which we now have named, Christmas.  The events that left such a mark upon life in this world  have been noticeably few in number.  We might remember the Alamo and the Pearl Harbor Day or the day that such and such a president was shot at or assisinated, but they pale in comparison to the effect that the incarnation of
God took place on that day in a stable in the town of Bethlehem.  Many governments and financial institutions will use the AD date for the next year and for the printing of many calendars which have already been mailed out to millions of people.  Computers will automatically turn over to 2023 on one minute after twelve on New Year’s Eve.  If you are either Chinese or Jewish, your calendar will be the same as the rest of the world adn although they refer to it as CE, it is still, the year of our Lord and before He became flesh, it is still referred to as BC, Before Christ.  Yes, God made a footprint that has not been denied all these years and will remain so as the countdown continues for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.  How big is God?  Just look at the date and ou will see how awesome He is that  this one event changed the world forever.  Praise God today for the fact of how AWESOME He is.