Go Boldly Into the New Year

Isaiah 52:12

For you shall not go out in haste, and you shall not go in flight, for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

Praise God.  He is so good.  He gives us what we do not deserve and what we could never earn.  He forgives our sins and makes payment through His Son for our past.  He sets our future firmly in His hand.  He frees us to live today in freedom, in peace and in service to His calling on our lives.  

We can move into the new year knowing that God will be with us.   Through His Son, His Holy Spirit has been sent to guide us.  Under submission to Our Savior, we can let loose of the things of this earth and grasp on to the things of God's kingdom.  We can shake ourselves from the dust of our doubts and our fears.  Our victory was settled on the Cross.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for settling the debt that we could never repay.  We bless the name of Jesus whose precious blood washed away our sin and established our righteousness forever.  We pray, Father, for the wisdom not to linger in our past which condemns us.  We ask, Lord, for the grace to move openly, boldly, safely and without fear into the victorious future that has been set aside for us.  May those around us be drawn to You through our living testimony to Your loving kindness and Your mercy.  

In the Flow

Psalm 87:7

Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.”

The sanctification process is not for the proud.  It is a most humbling experience as God reveals to us everything in our lives that is not suitable for His presence.  And it is generally not the "don't do" sins that are the most humbling for those who God has called to be His own.  The most humbling experiences come when we find ourselves in dry periods because what we are doing is falling short of what God has called us to do to please Him.

Jesus only did in His life what the Father called Him to do.  So it will be in our lives if we surrender to the one who indwells within us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for taking us through dry seasons when we are falling short in our efforts to please You.  We thank You that You use these seasons to draw us to the Living Water, Jesus Christ, so that we may bath in the springs of His joy, His peace and His comfort.  We pray that as we experience the fullness of His grace that we may become living founts of His perfect love for those around us.

To Be a Child Again

Matthew 18:3

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Small children run to their parents for everything.  Whether they need comfort, provision or direction, they immediately seek the arms of their parents.  They do not question the authority or the power of their parents.  They assume the parents have the power to provide whatever it is that they need or desire.  More than anything else, they do not see themselves as capable of doing more for themselves than their parents could do.

This is the type of reliance that God wants to see from all of us.  God wants us to rely on Him for everything without ever considering that we could provide for ourselves just as well.  

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 5:3

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blessings and the benefits that we receive as Your children.  We bless the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to inherit Your kingdom and all of its provision and protection for all eternity.  We pray, Father, that we be renewed in our minds so that we may become as simple, as humble and as teachable as small children.  May we discard forever all the self-seeking lifestyles, distrust and deceit that we learn from the world.  May we walk in the excellence of Our Savior.  

Christmas Break

Taking a Christmas holiday. My blessings to all of you.   Will have my blog going again by the end of this week. Merry Christmas to all.

The Matchless Love that Covers Our Sins

John 12:32

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

There is sin in every human's life.  Even the tiniest of which separates us from ever entering into the presence of God.  While feeling true sorrow for our transgressions and making earnest attempts at not failing again are good things, they are not enough to bridge the gap from God that is caused by our sin.

Only the Cross of Jesus Christ is sufficient to reconcile the separation.  This way was made possible because of His death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.  Only through Jesus Christ can we have a place prepared for us in heaven for all eternity.  Only by accepting the invitation that He issues when He draws us unto Himself can we receive what has been set aside for us.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your grace that prepares an inheritance for us that we did not earn.  We praise You for Your mercy that spares us from the destiny that we deserve.  We bless the name of Jesus who draws us unto Himself that we might overcome what the world has prepared for us and receive what Our Heavenly Father has prepared for us.  May our gratitude for Your matchless love be expressed in our living testimonies which draw others to the gift of salvation that is offered through Your Son.

Fierce Dependence on Almighty God

Romans 10:3

For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.

Our nation was born under a call for fierce independence from a government that wanted to control how individuals related to their Creator.  The early founders, while becoming fiercely independent of England, became fiercely dependent on Almighty God.

Over time Satan has done his evil work in our nation.  Many individuals in America have become arrogantly and selfishly independent.  They have built their lives around self-manipulated lifestyles that require no God and they have fashioned laws to fit their choices.

May we cling to the teachings of the psalmist in Psalm 119:33-40

Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;

and I will keep it to the end.

Give me understanding, that I may keep your law

and observe it with my whole heart.

Lead me in the path of your commandments,

for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies,

and not to selfish gain!

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

and give me life in your ways.

Confirm to your servant your promise,

that you may be feared.

Turn away the reproach that I dread,

for your rules are good.

Behold, I long for your precepts; 

in your righteousness give me life!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for placing Your laws on our hearts.  We praise the name of Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life.  We bless the name of the Holy Spirit who stands with us to incline our hearts toward the ways of Our Savior and not our own.  We pray, Father, that as You touch our hearts with Your laws that You will also touch the hearts of the leaders of this nation.  May we once again return to be a nation that has its trust in You.  May we once again be a nation whose laws are the same as Your laws.