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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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It’s day number 365 of 2016, the last day of the year and soon
we’ll be into 2017. We’re leaving a lot in our rear view mirror but possibly we’re
carrying some things over the threshold and into the year ahead. Nonetheless,
the new year always offers us a chance for fresh starts and opportunities, a
chance to be as new as the year is.
With that idea in mind, I want to share with you five things
from the word of God that point to ways we can become new, ways we can prepare
our hearts for as we get set for 2017.
1. Anticipate a new song or songs.
He put a new song in
my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Psalm 40:3a
I love Christian music. All of it.
I love classic hymns and I love the new contemporary
Christian music. I can’t get enough of hearing songs that worship and glorify
the Lord.
With this, there will be a lot of new songs come out this
year as there always is. Many of them will be ones I will find myself singing
in my car, in the shower, in church, anywhere I am, songs that bring praise to
the Lord God Almighty.
I don’t know what Christian music is coming in 2017 but I
can’t wait for it to bless my heart. I pray you are anxiously awaiting it as
well.
And if you have never listened to Christian music, I invite
you to give it a try. Pandora has a great Contemporary Christian music channel
or you could tune into KLove either in your area or online. Either way, Christian
music could bring you new songs to listen to in the new year, songs that will
touch your soul and bless your heart.
2. Anticipate a new announcement.
See, the former
things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into
being I announce them to you. Isaiah 42:9
Every time I read the word of God (and I do it every day
without fail), the Lord teaches me something new. In fact, I am launching a new
effort through this ministry called “Five Things I Learned from the Word of God
Today” in 2017, sharing with others what the Lord is revealing to me through
the scriptures.
For no matter how many times you read the Bible, the Lord
will speak to you in new ways, always making fresh announcements that bring
meaning and substance to life. Anyone who does it regularly will testify to
that.
The prophets were always receiving words from God about what
was to come, declaring new things to them. He’s doing the same to us today through
His word and Spirit. Seek Him and He will announce truths to you in the year
ahead.
You can trust in that.
3. Anticipate having a new heart and spirit.
Rid yourselves of all
the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Ezekiel
18:31a
Maybe coming into the new year is the perfect time for you
to get right with the Lord. Perhaps you are carrying around the guilt of sins
you may have committed in the past, guilt that hangs around your neck and
weighs you down every day.
In 2017, why not just confess your sins to the Lord and ask
Him to give you a new heart and spirit?
Why not give yourself fully to the cause of living as Jesus
did, the One who gave up everything, including His life, to save you?
The Lord is standing by and ready to make you new in every
way, to make you a new creation if you are coming to Him for the first time (2
Corinthians 5:17) or to refresh you and wash you clean if you were in Him but
strayed away.
Don’t let one day go by in 2017 before getting yourself
right with the Lord. It’s the only way to get the year started in the right
way.
4. Anticipate new mercies.
It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are
new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV)
It’s perhaps the greatest nature of the Lord that we take
for granted the most.
I’m talking about His mercy and compassion.
We often go through each day and never thank Him for the
simple gift of life itself. Maybe it’s because we forget that we don’t deserve
it because of the sinners we all are.
Indeed, the Bible reminds us of that part of ourselves we
seem to conveniently ignore:
“All have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
No one deserves His favor. All deserve His destruction. And
yet, here we are. I am writing today and you will read it when the Lord guides
you to these words. We’re not here because the Lord has somehow overlooked our
transgressions. He never loses sight of the wrongs we have committed.
But we are here because God is merciful and compassionate,
loving His children so much that He didn’t wish for them to perish but rather
be saved from their sins. And so He gave up His only Son to be crucified as a
sin sacrifice to bear the punishment everyone else had earned.
Now everyone who believes in Jesus as Savior will have
salvation. Indeed, it was of the Lord’s mercy that we weren’t consumed and
those mercies are new every morning we awake.
In 2017, let’s start every day with thanks for the
compassion that allows us life, not just today but forever more through Christ.
5. Anticipate/celebrate new life.
We were therefore
buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life. Romans 6:4
As we acknowledge that the Lord’s mercies and compassions are
indeed new every day, when we recognize that the Lord will speak fresh to us
through His word, when we seek to hear new songs that bring us to a place of
praise, and when we ensure our hearts and spirits are right with Him, then we
can enter the new year with a renewed sense of life, either gaining salvation
for the first time or rekindling the joy we should have if we’ve already been
saved.
For through Christ Jesus, who conquered death and the grave
to rise into new life, we too will have victory over death through Him for we
are more than conquerors when we receive and accept Him as Savior.
Friends, that alone is reason to enter the new year with
celebration and anticipation. I pray it will be that way for you and yours.
See you next year!
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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