Happy New Year!!! Let’s live this year for Jesus!!!
Quotes of the month
Only one life, ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Charles Thomas Studd
Don't use your energy to worry. Use your energy to believe, create, trust, grow, glow, manifest, and heal. (See Psalm 34:1-3)
Alistair Begg
If I could just live the day, quietly, obedient to the order of the day, then my mind would be more vacant for God and freer for the simple things of every moment.
Henri Nouwen
(contributed by Anne Marie Drew)
Though I created you without your help, I will not save you without it.
Catherine of Siena
(Editor’s note: Catherine of Siena wrote a book in 1370 now best known by the title “Dialogue with the Saviour,” which is an excellent read for those who wish to dig deeper into Jesus’ words and meanings. Originally titled “The Dialogue of the Seraphic Virgin)
Brain cells die, skin cells die, even hair cells die, but fat cells must have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior because they seem to have eternal life.
Laughing Christian Website
A Call to Purposeful Work
by Alistair Begg
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24
Work is part of God’s creative design and therefore part of our purpose in life. Work existed before the fall: God gave Adam and Eve the garden “to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). We were not fashioned to sit around and do nothing. Rather, we were made in the image of a God who loves to work and create.
The New Testament writers expect believers to work – not only to imitate our Creator, but also to “help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14). This call to “work heartily” is not beyond our grasp; it is not an exhortation to be superhuman. Instead, it is an invitation to live quietly, mind our own affairs, and work with our hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11), so that we may provide not only for ourselves, but also for those who are in particular need. Life’s routine activities are divine providences for us to “work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
In all our everyday responsibilities and commitments – whether they involve investing millions or changing diapers, working on a factory assembly line or plowing a field or sitting in a boardroom – we can view them as the very instruments God will use for His purposes and to glorify His name.
Working hard within the bounds God has ordained for us eliminates worry concerning the work of the person next to us. After all, we’re not the ones keeping the score, and neither are they. God, who is pleased when we work diligently on the tasks He has appointed us for, is the one who will give the rewards on the day we stand before Him. It is His approval of our work and how we think about it and conduct ourselves in it that matters, not primarily that of our boss, our colleagues, or ourselves.
In Paul’s instruction we find no loophole. It is a straightforward exhortation to work, and to work hard. Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul encourages Timothy also to command fellow believers to provide for their relatives, especially for members of their own houses, “so that they may be without reproach” (1 Timothy 5:7). The implication is clear: when grace is at work in our lives, we will be committed to meeting the needs of our dependents and those who are in need.
You were made in the image of God and created for good works. No matter what your station in or stage of life, you have work to do today in God’s creation. Be sure to do it heartily, to the best of your ability. Be sure to do it with godliness, caring for God’s good opinion more than anyone else’s. And be sure to do it joyfully, however mundane, repetitive, or challenging it may be, for, in doing so, you are serving Christ and bringing glory to His name. That is enough to transform any task into something glorious!
Angels: The Good Guys
by Pastor James Merritt
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
Hebrews 12:22-23
Have you ever wondered about angels? When I was in the first grade, our class was chosen to put on a Christmas play for the school. I was hoping to be an angel. I’ve always wanted to fly and was hoping to wear the costume wings. Though I didn’t get the part, I’ve always respected angels as important beings in God’s created order.
Max Lucado describes the study of angels as biblical whale watching. “Angels surface just long enough to grant a glimpse and raise a question, but then disappear before we have a full view.” Although angels may seem mysterious, God’s Word explains who they are and what they do.
Angels are messengers. The most common terms for angel in the Bible means “messenger.” When God’s son was born in a manger in Luke 2, it was angels who heralded the news to the nearby shepherds. Angels send messages at God’s command.
Angels stand in God’s presence. When God had a conversation with a man in the Bible named Job, God said that when He created the heavens and the earth, the angels were singing and shouting for joy (Job 38:4-7). And in Revelation 7:11-12, it says that angels are around the throne, ever praising God for His wisdom.
Angels worship with us. In today’s verse, we are told that as we worship God in joyful assembly, angels join us. “You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.” In other words, when you worship, you join the chorus of heaven and heaven joins you.
Angels war for victory. When Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus before He was crucified, some of His disciples wanted to use swords to fight back. But Jesus corrected them and said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). A legion is equal to six thousand soldiers. When you are in God’s will, His protection is available to you.
Angels battle on your behalf. And Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them.” Not even the most powerful and wealthy people in this world enjoy the protection that you have as God’s servant.
Angels serve for the sake of salvation. Hebrews 1:14 says angels are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” You can pray that God would send angels to bless and minister to those who are yet to follow Jesus.
The Word of God promises an angelic army available to support God’s purposes and God’s people. As Billy Graham said, “I am convinced that these heavenly beings exist, and they provide unseen aid on our behalf. I do not believe in angels because someone has told me about a dramatic visitation. I believe in angels because the Bible says there are angels, and I believe the Bible to be the true Word of God.”
Thoughts for the New Year
It is not considered wise to assume you will be around tomorrow or the next day, but realize that “If the Lord will,” then you will see another day. Putting your faith in God that His work is not completed in you yet and thanking Him for the opportunity to worship Him another day.
James 4:15; Acts 18-21
When you do wrong to someone, their moans have entered into the ears of the Lord, just as the blood of Abel cried out to the Lord from the ground after Cain killed him.
Leviticus 19:13
Prayers for the New Year
Almighty God, we give Thee thanks for the mighty yearning of the human heart for the coming of a Saviour, and the constant promise of Thy Word that He was to come. In our own souls we repeat the humble sighs and panting aspirations of ancient men and ages, and own that our souls are in darkness and infirmity without faith in Him who comes to bring God to man and man to God. We bless Thee for the tribute that we can pay to Him from our very sense of need and dependence, and that our own hearts can so answer from the wilderness, the cry, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” In us the rough places are to be made smooth, the crooked straight, the mountains of pride brought low, and the valleys of despondency lifted up. O God, prepare Thou the way in us now, and may we welcome anew Thy Holy Child. Hosanna! Blessed be He who cometh in the name of the Lord. Amen.
Reverend Samuel Osgood, 1862
O Lord, who hast breathed into me the breath of life, and endued me with an immortal spirit, which looks up unto Thee, and remembers it is made after Thine own image, behold with grace and favor the ardent desires which are in mine heart, to recover a perfect likeness of Thee.
Endue me with more contentedness in what is present, and less solicitude about what is future; and with a patient mind to submit to any loss of what I have, or to any disappointment of what I expect.
Fill me, O Lord, with the knowledge of Thy will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Fill me with goodness, and the fruits of righteousness.
And fill me with all joy and peace in believing that Thou wilt never leave me nor forsake me, but make me perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle me, and be my God for ever and ever; my Guide even unto death. Amen.
Simon Patrick, 1691
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