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New Year
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| It’s here! Ready or not it came. New Year’s Day reminds me of playing hide and seek when I was a child. I bet you played the game too. “It” closes their eyes and counts to 100 while everyone hides. “Coming ready or not!” shouts “It.” Then the hunt is on to tag the “hiders” and beat them back to base. Did you make a list of resolutions to live by? A start to accomplish what you failed to do in “06” gets us on track for awhile. Maybe if we posted our list where it would constantly remind us we would do better, but lets face it. We soon forget that sorry list and get on with life. St Paul had a good resolution. He wrote, “...I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me….forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14) Lets ask the Lord what His goals are for our lives. He has a plan and purpose for everyone of us. And He is good! We can trust Him. So ask and it will be given. That’s His promise. | ||
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A Resolutionn to Keep
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| You are not your own. “Oh, yeah? Who said so? I am my own boss. No one is going to tell me what to do.” This attitude is basic human nature and the source of “I Did It My Way.” God created us with the freedom to choose. To their own hurt most people choose their “own way.” If thoughts of the coming judgment comes to mind they are dismissed as far in the future. They don’t affect the way you live. Recently two young Beauty Queens found out they couldn’t do as they pleased. One lost her crown and the other was given a second chance. There is no second chance when this life is over. God has assigned a place for people who ignore Him. It is not a pleasant place to spend a second, much less eternity. If we ignore the Lord we will “Pay the Piper.” Saint Paul wrote, “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). God does not command us to do this. He asks us. It is our only reasonable act of worship. What would happen if you surrendered your life to God? Before I did it I thought it would be bondage. The amazing truth is that it brought freedom from the down drag of trying to exercise “self control.” We are domed to failure if we depend upon our self to live pleasing to God. All our New Years resolutions are soon forgotten and we live as we always have. Have you made your New Years resolutions to do better and be better? I was not a writer when I was young, so one of my resolutions was to write a letter my mother every week. She told me later that she and Dad laughed for they knew I wouldn’t follow-up on that resolution. “I urge you, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) This resolution has benefits here and now and for eternity! | ||
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New Year Prayers
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| Lord, cause all I have believed in the Bible be activated by faith. Men recorded what you said and I can depend upon it. I ask that it be taken out of stored knowledge and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I desire that my life will please you. Please teach me what I need to know. I know that “believe” describes an action. And faith describes what I have believed. All the action you require is believing what you had men record in the Bible. I kow the Holy Spirit is the power in me who activates the Word I have believed. I ask that Scripture govern my behavior, and that power of the Holy Spirit will take what I believe and fulfill the promises in and through me. I have experienced the power of believing to some degree, but now request that the Holy Spirit will supply the power to make it real in my life. Heaven’s resources are mine because I am a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He supplies all my needs. The proof that this is true is Jesus own words, “Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name He will give it to you.” I praise God that He watches over the Word to see that it is done. Therefore I depend on what is recorded in the Bible. Father, I ask that all my stored knowledge of what my Lord Jesus taught be activated. I depend upon the Spirit who lives and “breathes” in me. (Using the word “breathes” makes me understand better the Presence in me) I make my prayer in Jesus name. Amen | ||
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Clean inside
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| There must not be closed doors in our life if we desire access to God’s presence and resources. By “closed doors” I mean secret sins we hope no one knows. People may think we are great Christians but we don’t want stand before God and have Him expose us. How can we be cleansed from sins? Confess them to the Lord. He will not be shocked. Since He knows even what we are thinking why even try to hide anything from Him! One thing we can absolutly depend upon is that Jesus blood cleanses from all sin. When we confess our sins to Him, He promises to forgive us and remember them no more. Then we can live in the light of His presence! When those forgiven sins come back into our mind and make us feel guilty just pray: “Father, Jesus died for that and you have forgiven me. Thank you for reminding me to praise Jesus for this great blessing. He is a wonderful Savior and I love Him with all my heart.” It is the enemy of our soul who brings forgiven sins back to mind. He is the accuser and tries discourage us by reminding us of past forgiven sins. Say to him, “Thank you, Satan, for reminding me of that so I can praise the Lord for the blood of Jesus that cleanses me from all sins!” If you keep doing this Satan will stop harassing you. He can’t stand hearing Jesus praised. Our Father has given us the “power of attorney” to use Jesus name to access the resources of heaven. Whatever we need is stored and waiting for our use. Ask in Jesus name for all your needs. | ||
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Be Make New
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| The way we thought and acted before we became a Christian is like “grave clothes” that we want to put off. Our attitude toward our old way of life will change as we read and study the Bible. In it we get to know the Lord and recognize sin in our life. That is a good thing because we confess our sins to Him and are forgiven. There is nothing greater than to be cleansed from our sims. “Blessed is the one whose transgressions is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is not deceit.” ( The rest of Psalm 32 describes more of sweet relief when we confess our sins. Read it and be blessed) The old feelings of separation from God may creep back into our life. We know our weakness and failure to be a “good” Christian. The harder we try to change ourself the more we fail. We are changed by faith. That is by believing God’s word recorded in the Bible. Believing helps makes us strong in faith. This is why we need serious time reading the Bible. It is “soul food” that nourishes and makes strengthens us so we can put off the old sins that trip us up. Decide today that you will start reading the Bible. The New Testament is the best place to start. Then read Psalms and Proverbs. When you go through these sections of the Bible you will want to know more about the first books in the Bible. | ||
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Thought Life
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| Do you ever wonder why the Lord allowed the temple in Jerusalem to be destroyed? And why it was never rebuilt? In the New Testament Jesus gives the reason. In fact He predicted that the temple would be destroyed. The first permanent temple where the presence of the Lord dwelt was built by King Solomon in Jerusalem. People went there to worship God. That temple was destroyed and rebuilt only to be destroyed again in Israel’s wars. It was permanently destroyed by the Romans 70 years after Jesus died. This was done so men would never again seek God in a physical place. During His life on earth Jesus identified His body as the Temple. (John 2:19) Also He taught that when a person becomes a Christian He would come and live in them thus making their body His temple. Paul wrote about this: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (I Cor. 3:16) We should be careful what we allow to enter our body whether it comes in through our eyes, ears or mouth. Mental images that are not pure can corrupt our thoughts just like bad food or drink can make our bodies sick. Keep your thought life clean by reading wholesome literature and watching decent movies and TV. Ask the Lord to protect you when sinful thoughts come into you mind. There is an old saying that we can’t keep birds from flying over our head but we can keep them from building a nest in our hair. That is a truism for sinful thoughts. | ||
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Forgiveness of Sins
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| The closest physical picture of our union with the Lord is Siamese twins. Maybe that is why God allows their unusual birth! We need familiar examples to help us understand invisible reality. Doctors now have the knowledge to sperate most of these twins. Aren’t you glad that those who are joined to the Lord will never be separated form Him! We are two persons in one body. We don’t become Him and He doesn’t become us. The Lord Jesus lives in your body with you if you have believed He died for your sin and have asked Him to forgive you and come into your heart. We never become sinless so we must confess our sins to our Lord when we are aware we have done wrong. He doesn’t ever say, “You knew better than that.” Or condemn us. He forgives us and washes the sin away with His precious blood. The reason He had to die for our sins is that there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. A life must be forfeited to pay the penalty of sin. “The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” So give thanks that Jesus died for all your sins - the ones you have done already and the ones you will do. No one can live a perfect life so confession must happen daily. Pray something like this, “Father, thank you for sending Jesus to die for my sins. I (admit what you have done). Thank you for forgiving me and cleansing me from all bad actions.” Then you will experience the abiding presence of the Lord. | ||
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Christ in you
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| Years ago a dear old missionary came to visit us. This gave me a chance to ask him questions about my Christian life. “Is it really true that Jesus lives in me since I asked Him to come into my heart?” “Absolutely! And He will never leave you. That is His promise to all who receive Him as Savior and Lord,” he said. This was great news. I began to recognize the presence of the Lord and rejoice that He was not just with me but in my heart. Ever since I learned this glorious truth I renew my relationship with Him every day. “Good morning, Lord Jesus. I’m glad to greet you this morning as I awake in the new day that you have made. I yield my life to your control and depend upon your guidance. Warn me of the pot-holds that may trip me up and give grace to not succumbed to temptation...” In the Old Testament there is a warning: “He has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord“ (Numbers 19:20). Since Christ came and died for our sin, we Christians are the Lord’s temple. We keep His temple, our body, clean daily (and sometimes every hour) by confessing our sin and turning from them. Our character may become polluted by un-confessed sin. Don’t allow the little sins of others against us to stay in our heart. Many temptations to moral impurity assails us from every angle and source. Therefore we must keep a guard on our eyes. That is, be careful what we watch on TV, movies or print media. Temporary satisfaction has consequences: “that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal” (Hebrews 12:15). Verse to Memorize: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). Prayer: Lord, I need help. All around me there are temptations that lure me into sinful practices. Help me recognize what is happening before I fail. And give grace that I will turn to you for help for you are always with me. In fact you and I live in the same body, so you are always ready to help me. | ||
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