HAVING CONFIDENCE IN OTHERS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

Philemon 20-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever had the experience of someone showing confidence in you?

I sure hope so because it has to be counted among some of the best feelings a person can have in life.

In my own life, I first experienced this through my parents as I faced different challenges growing up. If I had an important exam coming up, they would always provide positive reinforcement, sharing that they knew I would do well. And when I went through many iterations of competing for positions in the band (I was a trumpet player and pretty good at it), I could always count on them telling me I was a talented player and they knew I would be successful. This encouragement buoyed me up to where I was able to not only excel in my own high school band but earn selection to the all district one, a major accomplishment given the many schools and the number of trumpet players overall.

Once I joined the military, once again, my parents were my number one cheerleaders, always proud of what I was achieving and supportive of my career and the many advancement points I went through. Of course, with success also comes failure but my parents, as well as my wife who shared my final 20 years of service with me, would never let me stay down and be hard on myself. There was a constant urging to believe in myself and continue to aspire for the best I could be. I couldn’t have accomplished what I did without them and I pray you have your own testimonies about similar experiences in your own life.

So why do I get into all this today?

Because as we see in Paul’s letter to Philemon, the Apostle shares his confidence that his “dear friend and fellow worker” for the cause of the Gospel (v. 1) will respond to the return of his runaway slave, Onesimus, in a way that would be Christ-like, a response grounded in love, reconciliation, mercy, and ultimately, forgiveness. Look again at his words here:

I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. Philemon 20-21

As Paul prepared to send Onesimus back to Colossae, not so much as a slave to Philemon but to Jesus Christ, he does so without any hint of pessimism. He doesn’t say something like, “I am sending him back to you but I have my doubts that you will choose the ways of Christ over the ways of the world” or anything negative like that. Rather, Paul proclaims his confidence in Philemon’s obedience, feeling that his dear Colossian brother in Christ will do even more than he is asked to do, therefore refreshing Paul’s heart that was grounded in Jesus.

Now, we don’t know what happened when Onesimus reached Colossae and returned to Philemon but given this letter’s content and the truth that Philemon was a devout Christian who also hosted church services in his home, it would be utterly sinful if he betrayed Paul’s confidence and failed to extend the same level of grace and pardon that Jesus had provided to save him.

There are many questions I am saving up for Heaven when all things are made fully known to me and anyone else who has believed in Jesus and gained the assurance of eternal life. What happened to Onesimus will be one of them but until that time, I, and I pray you as well, will look for opportunities where we can support and encourage others, ever seeking to edify and build up our brothers and sisters in Christ by showing confidence in them.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

COVERING DEBT

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self.

Philemon 17-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

From a worldly, cultural perspective, Onesimus had done wrong, a slave having run away from his master. It was considered a crime worthy of the death penalty if he returned back to Colossae from Rome, the place he fled to, and so it would have been considered foolish for anyone to try and advise him to do so.

But as we look at Paul’s letter to Philemon, this is just what the Apostle Paul is up to, seeking to facilitate a reunion grounded in love, caring, and forgiveness as he appeals to his “dear friend and fellow worker” for the cause of the Gospel.

You see, Philemon wasn’t an ordinary slave master in that day. He was a Christian who hosted church gatherings in his home. Given his knowledge and belief in the Gospel, He would have fully been aware of the matter of redemption, mercy, and grace, all of which were found in the salvation Jesus provided by bearing the sins of the world on Calvary’s cross, therefore dying in the place of every single sinner. All one had to do to be pardoned was believe in Him as Savior, something Philemon had done.

So if you were a slave in Onesimus’ position, perhaps you wouldn’t have had a more favorable opportunity to return and go unharmed than the one he was in. Couple this with the fact that Onesimus, under the tutelage of Paul, had become a Christian himself and you have a good formula for reconciliation to happen. Paul certainly made that case as we saw in yesterday’s message.

Indeed, Paul did a great job of petitioning Philemon to accept Onesimus back, not as a slave but rather a brother in Christ, a fellow former slave to sin who had been set free to serve a divine, holy Master for all eternity. But as we see in today’s scripture passage, Paul added to his already compelling plea by using words that invoked the very substitutionary, self sacrificial love and care Jesus had for the sinners of the world. Look again at the words of the Apostle here:

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. Philemon 17-19

Here, Paul puts the cherry on the top of his blessed appeal as he intervenes for the case of Onesimus who he considered a son after spending so much time mentoring him while in prison in Rome. Knowing the state of his relationship with Philemon, even reminding his dear friend how his own salvation happened because of the Gospel teaching he gave Philemon in Ephesus, Paul boldly encourages the slave master to welcome his slave home as he would if it was the Apostle himself.

Further, if there was any debt that Onesimus owed, Paul obligated himself to pay it with the promise of repayment. We shouldn’t be so short sighted to believe this was all about money. For as mentioned, no one would be surprised if Philemon arranged for Onsesimus’ execution once he was back in Colossae. No matter the nature of the arrears, the Apostle vowed to cover it.

Friends, in Paul we are seeing the very nature of Jesus on full display. For as we consider how far Jesus was willing to go to cover the debt all sinners owed God but could never pay, we find a willingness to bear every bit of the Father’s wrath to spare others from having to.

On the cross, Jesus purchased our debt and paid it in full, providing anyone who believes in Him to have a clean slate - forgiven, justified, and washed white as snow while enjoying a peace with God that they could not establish on their own. Once destined for Hell, they were now guaranteed to inherit the very Kingdom of God as a co-heir with Christ.  

This is the place that Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus were in as the Apostle wrote this letter. Each of them had their sin debt covered and was on their way to a glorious eternal life in Heaven. And because of the reconciling work of Jesus, they, as Christians, were to forgive and pardon just as they had been forgiven and pardoned.

In this new year and in every year afterwards while we are blessed with life on this earth, let us, as Christians, remember how Jesus covered our debts to save us and be just as willing to forgive and pardon others likewise.  

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE LORD'S DESIRE FOR RECONCILIATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do would not seem forced but would be voluntary. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a fellow man and as a brother in the Lord.

Philemon 8-16

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Up to this point of his letter to Philemon, Paul was setting the stage for this moment, the moment when he would get right down to the heart of why he was writing.

The buildup was very complimentary in nature as the Apostle wrote to the man he called his “dear friend and fellow worker” for the cause of the Gospel, the man who was hosting a body of Christian believers for worship in his home. Paul applauded Philemon’s love for God’s “holy people”, a love that refreshed their hearts and brought the Apostle “great joy and encouragement”. He also commended Philemon for his “faith in the Lord Jesus”, a faith that leads to a person conducting themselves in a way that would model and bring honor to the Savior, a faith that would serve as the foundation to the continued partnership Paul hoped to have with his Colossian brother in Christ for the sake of the Gospel.

And with that, we come to today’s passage and Paul’s advocacy for one of Philemon’s slaves named Onesimus who had fled Colossae, going to Rome with the hope he would escape his captivity. What Onesimus didn’t know was that God was executing a plan for him to come to salvation for as we read in our verses for today, the slave ended up in the company of the Apostle Paul and became like a son to him.

Note here that Paul is asking Philemon to accept Onesimus back with grace and no sense of retribution or penalty for in biblical times, runaway slaves would often be killed for the act. Through his words, we see that Paul feeling he had the right to boldly tell Philemon what to do but not doing so because the slave owner may have accepted Onesimus back out of sheer compulsion and not out of the loving beauty found in forgiveness and reconciliation.

To further underscore his appeal for pardon and clemency, we find Paul making two strong points to Philemon regarding Onesimus and God’s role in all that had occurred.

First, Onesimus was a different man than when he ran away from Colossae. His time spent with Paul led to him believing in Jesus as Savior which made him a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Once “useless”, code for being an unbeliever and destined for Hell, Onesimus now was as much a Christian as Paul and Philemon. He was now more than a mere slave. He was a fellow brother in Jesus Christ and this made him dear to all other believers.

And so Paul planned to send “his son” Onesimus back to Colossae to reunite with Philemon, after a separation that could have well been orchestrated by God himself as we see through these words:

Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back forever—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.

In other words, Paul asserted that the main thing in the matter wasn’t that a slave to a master ran away and now must return. Rather, a slave to sin ran away, finding his true Master and Savior as well as the only freedom that really matters in the process.

My Christian brother and sisters, through this short passage we’re reminded of our own experience with divine reconciliation as we find ourselves justified (or made just as if we had never sinned) by Jesus, simply because we placed our belief and faith in Him. This amazing gift that brings us peace with the God who held the power to send us to Hell was one none of us deserved or earned. Rather, it was a gift granted solely by mercy, grace, and love.

As Christian believers, it’s our Lord’s desire that we reconcile ourselves to others, likewise through grace, mercy, and love. Maybe they have wronged us in some way that we feel is unforgivable but we need to remember that when we look to the cross, we are reminded of how even a criminal’s transgressions were reconciled and pardoned by Jesus with an assurance of paradise substituted for wrongdoing. We also can remember Jesus’ words to His Father God as He called for forgiveness over His assailants because they didn’t know what they were doing (Luke 23:34).

As we continue to ease our way into the new year, it’s my prayer that these words from Philemon will take root within us and we will find it in our hearts to release any resentment in our hearts for others, replacing it with reconciliation grounded in grace, mercy, and love, a reconciliation not only modeled but expected by our Lord.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE REFRESHING NATURE OF LOVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Philemon 7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Where would we be without the incredible, refreshing nature of love? It would be a life filled with nothing but darkness and despair, right?

I have lived almost 64 years now and I’ve never met a person yet who didn’t long to feel loved by someone else and if that love can be sustained, it’s an added blessing. I believe this goes all the way back to when we emerge from the womb, leaving the enclosed safety within to emerge into an environment that is completely alien to us, an environment where a baby encounters light and the immediate love and nurturing of others immediately. This includes being held and cared for from birth until that day we enter adulthood and maybe have children of our own to love but even then, we still experience the love of our parents until that day when either they or we come to the place where life in this world ends.

Thankfully, we have more sources of love than our parents when we grow older. Many are fortunate to marry and share life and love with a husband or wife. We also develop friendships either through work or social interactions, friendships where love becomes central to the relationship. And we also find love within our church families, especially in small group environments where Christian believers can connect on a very personal level, sharing joys and sorrows with one another.

As we turn to our scripture verse from Paul’s letter to Philemon, the Colossian slave owner who has a special relationship with the Apostle who referred to him as a “dear friend and fellow worker”. In the preceding verses, Paul had commended Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus for the love they had for all God’s “holy people” in Colossae (v. 5), a referral to the Christians there. We know further that Philemon was hosting church meetings in his home (v. 2). This dedication to loving fellow believers and actively promoting the cause of Christ and the Gospel had impressed Paul, leading to these words found in verse 7:

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Note here how Paul wasn’t praising Philemon for being a great leader in the church, citing metrics on how successful he was for growing the church and helping bring large numbers of Colossians to salvation. Rather, Paul centered his admiration on the matter of love and how Philemon expressed to the “Lord’s people”. This love, that brought Paul “great joy and encouragement”, had “refreshed the hearts” of the Colossian believers, fulfilling something that, as mentioned prior, every person craves.

Indeed, love refreshes Christians like the Colossians more than 2,000 years ago as well as us today because of its amazing nature and what it brings to all who receive it. Consider these verses from the scriptures that remind us of some of the benefits love brings to the one being loved:

1. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14

As soon as a person places their belief in Jesus and becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit is placed within them, the Spirit who serves to lead and guide the believer to be like Christ in the way they live. This changed behavior through the direction of the Holy Spirit produces fruit, referred to as the fruit of the Spirit, and that fruit includes qualities Paul calls for as he wrote to the Colossian believers.

Specifically, we find the Apostle encouraging his brothers and sisters in Christ to “clothe” themselves “with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness but note what he says about love. He testifies that it “binds” all the other virtues “together in perfect unity”. In other words, we can’t properly exercise the other fruits of the Spirit if love isn’t exercised above them.

Love needs to be active before we can show others gentleness, compassion, and kindness.

Love needs to be present so we can humble ourselves and place the needs of others before our own.

Love allows us to be tolerant and be patient with others.

and...

Love will always transcend hatred and resentment, allowing us to forgive others when the world says we shouldn’t.

With all this in hand, consider this about love and why we need never doubt its astounding power.

2. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8

God’s Word is truth and it’s full of absolute statements like this one. If our Lord tells us that love never fails than it doesn’t. Ever.

We may fail to exercise love but when love is extended and used as God intends, it will not fall short. This is good news for us when we consider how it binds all the other virtuous fruits of the Spirit together in perfect unity. For if love never fails, neither will the other Christian behaviors we’re called to exhibit.

3. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

The gist of these words from Peter are that love can lead us to forgive or “cover over” sins that may have been committed against us. To see how this happens, we need only look to the cross where Jesus willingly allowed Himself to be sacrificed to cover our “multitude of sins” and at the core of why He did so was love, His love for us and the love of God, His Father and ours, who made it all possible.

4. For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Look at the core of the Gospel and you find the matter of love, a love that led our Creator to not allow us to perish, rather saving us through His Son Jesus, the substitutionary sacrifice that brought pardon and atonement to anyone who would believe in Him. And this pardon and atonement brings with it a promise that all who are in Christ Jesus will “have eternal life” becoming co-heirs of the very Kingdom of God with Him (Romans 8:17).

With this, all Christians are victorious, their eternal hope secure, all because of the refreshing nature of love. This removes any need to worry or be afraid in life, even when death might loom, because the promise of everlasting life is sure.

And this leads to the final verse in today’s message:

5. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4:18

Because of the redeeming work of Jesus on Calvary’s cross, His perfect love that brings salvation to all who believes in Him “casts out fear” and dispels any concerns we might have in life. Our future, living in glory with Him and God forever is secure and no one can take it away. And no matter what life might bring our way, we can live with the bold confidence that the best is yet to come.

Friends, when we look at the center of Christian life, we will always find love at its core because love is what is at the heart of the One who made us and the One who saved us.

Be refreshed by that truth.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

PRAYING FOR WHAT IS AND WHAT IS TO COME

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your love for all His holy people and your faith in the Lord Jesus. I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

Philemon 4-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As far as we know in the scriptures, the Apostle Paul had never visited Colossae. This is what makes his letter to the Colossians so unique because when we read his other epistles, he is writing with first-hand experience of having been in the midst of the churches and their respective Christian believers. Conversely, he writes to the Colossians based on what he had heard about them and the work they were doing.

This is important to note as we continue to look at this short letter that Paul writes to Philemon, the shortest of all the epistles. For as we look at our passage today, we find Paul telling the Colossian slave owner as well as two others Christian believers and Gospel participants, Apphia and Archippus, how he has heard about the love they had for all God’s “holy people” and their “faith in the Lord Jesus”. Paul makes it clear that he is thankful for both as he remembered them in his prayers.

For us, this is the first takeaway for us from today’s message and these words from Philemon. For as we pray each and every day, we need to ensure we include an element of thanksgiving and praise for the good we see in others as they are presently serving the Lord in their lives.

In the case of Paul, he testifies he is praying with thanksgiving over his brothers in Christ, Philemon and Archippus, as well as his sister in Christ, Apphia, not because they have donated large sums of money to the church or did some amazing, miraculous act that would have been a headline in the Gospel work of the Colossian church. No, Paul’s expression of prayerful gratitude was based on two things that any Christian believer can commit themselves to display every day: love and faith. One doesn’t need to be wealthy by worldly means to be rich spiritually. That’s the point we gain from God’s word here.

Now, while this was Paul’s grateful prayer for the present state of affairs with his two Christian brothers and sister in Colossae, we also find him forward looking. For he further writes this regarding his prayers:

I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

The hope Paul expresses here is for the future, a future where the wonderful Gospel work of Philemon, Archippus, and Apphia would continue in the same love and faith they were presently showing. Note that this hope wasn’t for potential self glorification of all involved. Rather, Paul prayed that his partnership with them and the Colossian church might continue in faith so to establish a deepened “understanding of every good thing” they would collectively “share for the sake of Christ” aka the Gospel.

This is always the future hope for the church, right?

For the ongoing work of the Gospel is one of the primary things we should always be praying over until that day when Jesus returns. We should be praying not only for the work of the Christian church universal but also our personal engagement in that work as well as a constant quest to find new Christians to partner with for the sake of Christ Jesus.

When we read his letters, we learn that Paul was a man of prayer. He consistently lifted up all Christians he had worked with as well as those he had never met and as we see in today’s passage, he prayer with thanksgiving for what was being done for Christ and also for the future Great Commission work that would be accomplished in His name.

Let’s all use his prayer framework in the way that we lift up the church and its believers today and throughout this new 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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

SHARING PROPER GRACE, PEACE, AND LOVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother.

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon 1-3

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When the world would say a person has every right to condemn another, the Lord will always oppose such overtures.

Why?

Because it isn’t the right of anyone to judge for that exclusive right belongs to the Lord and Him alone.

No one has the latitude to trump the Lord when it comes to anything because only He is sovereign over all things. All are subordinate to Him and only He is perfectly righteous and just, able to administer proper and fair decisions flawlessly in regard to human behavior. This includes the matter of grace which He lavishes on us liberally, the end result being that we rarely get what we really deserve in regard to the transgressions we have committed, particularly when we show remorse and repentance for our actions.

Why go into this matter of judgment versus grace?

Because it is the central theme of this next series of messages as we look at Paul’s letter to a Colossian slave owner named Philemon, a letter he composed while imprisoned in Rome.

You see, a slave belonging to Philemon, Onesimus, had fled to Rome, no doubt to try and just blend in and escape the captivity he was under. We don’t know how he ended up with Paul but the important thing is that he did and while with the Apostle, Onesimus committed his life to Jesus.

With the intent of reuniting Philemon and Onesimus without a resulting punishment was Paul’s main reason for penning this letter and we’ll be getting into this in depth over the next week or so.

We open up this series with Paul’s greeting, a greeting that follows a standard format he liked to use.

First, we find him identifying himself to his reader.

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother.

Note here how Paul only describes himself as a “prisoner of Christ Jesus”, the indication that he was currently incarcerated at the time he wrote. It’s interesting to me that Paul doesn’t say a prisoner of the Romans here, rather making sure his readers knew that he was first held captive by Jesus, the King and Savior that he faithfully served. Any removal of freedom by the Romans was a direct result of Paul’s service for the cause of Christ and His Gospel. It was the sole reason he was in chains.

Next, we find Paul clearly delineating who he was writing to.

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that meets in your home.

Before I get to Philemon, the primary target of Paul’s letter as mentioned, let me tackle the other two parties mentioned.

We only find Apphia’s name in this letter to Philemon but she’s obviously a Christian believer as Paul refers to her as a “sister”. As for Archippus, he shows up in just one other place, predictably in the closing to Paul’s letter to the Colossians. In chapter 4, verse 17, Paul writes:

Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”

This affirms Paul calling Archippus his “fellow soldier” for the cause of the Gospel in Colossae.

Now to the relationship with Philemon. It’s believed Paul met him during his third missionary journey when he was in Ephesus, Philemon having traveled to Ephesus at that time. It was then that Philemon accepted Jesus as Savior, becoming a “dear friend” and “fellow worker” for the cause of the Gospel. We read where Philemon even hosted church meetings in his home. The close camaraderie between Paul and Philemon in Christ Jesus plays an important role in what’s to come later in this letter.

After the “To” and “From” sections of this letter, we find Paul extending a special wish for his readers. He writes:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

These words could easily just be glossed over but they shouldn’t be because they carry an important point of truth we need to constantly remember.

You see, none of us can grant grace or peace to someone on our own merit because none of us have the ability to properly, and even more so, perfectly impart either. In the end translation, true grace and peace only comes to us from “God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” and then we, in turn, get to be conduits of their grace and peace in our dealings with others.

And I would throw the matter of love in there with them.

Paul isn’t sending his grace and peace. Rather, he sends grace and peace from the only legitimate source of both and he does so out of the love he holds for them.

As we move through this new calendar year, let all learn from this opening greeting from Paul’s letter to Philemon and wish everyone we address - whether in person, on the phone, or in writing whether through email or handwritten correspondence – the amazing grace and peace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, doing so out of our their love that we also get to share.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

CELEBRATE THE LORD WHO MAKES THINGS NEW

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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Welcome to 2024! The past year, 2023, is in our rear view mirror and has entered into what is known as history. Things have happened globally, nationally, within the communities we live, and personally over the past 365 days but they are now behind us. No one or nothing can change what has been but that doesn’t mean that things can’t change in what is still to be.

I can say this with full confidence because we serve a Lord through which all things are possible, a Lord who can make the seemingly improbable probable, the Lord who makes things new and freely gives new mercies every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

As we enter this new year, unknowing of what lies ahead, we can do so with confidence, faith, and trust in understanding that the Lord is with us every step of the way. And in fact, He knows our futures before they even come to be. Such is the amazing power, wisdom, and character found in Him.

This truth should drive our attitudes today to a place of celebration, a celebration not grounded in worldly traditions based on a ball dropping or late night partying or shooting off fireworks to brilliantly illuminate the night sky but rather a genuine heartfelt admiration of the Lord we serve. And to remind is how He constantly makes things new in His creation, both now and in the future, we find wonderful passages within His Holy Word. Here’s one to ponder on this New Year’s Day:

This is what the Lord says—He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19

The Israelite people have endured a long, difficult, oppressive captivity in Egypt. They appeared to have no future beyond doing the will of the Pharaoh each and every day until they experienced the intervention of the God Most High who delivered them and made all things new.

As Moses led the people away from the pursuing army of the Egyptian leader, they came upon a sea that was impassable by mere human means. But then God, through His power, made a way through the mighty waters so the Israelites could pass through on dry land to safety. He then imposed His judgment on Pharaoh and his fighting men, releasing the suspended sea to crash down on the advancing chariots and horses, extinguishing the threat to the Israelite people as quickly as a wick is snuffed out.

With His people now safe, the Lord then made a way for the Israelites to journey across the wilderness as He led them to the Promised Land where He would make things new for them forever. Indeed, Israel still abides in the land God granted them well over 2,000 years ago.

What had happened to the Israelites in Egypt was in the past. All the difficulty and adversity they experienced was behind them, just as 2023 is behind us now along with any hardship or troubles we may have endured.

So let us receive the words of our Lord within the same context that they were delivered to the Israelites. Let us open our eyes to the possibilities that abound in our Lord doing new things in our world, in our nation, within our communities, and within our own lives.

For He will lead us through the wilderness of 2024. All we need to do is trust Him.

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 TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.