A NEW YEAR . . . A NEW BEGINNING

As we enter into a new year, it is a good time for us to reflect on the past year and then, direct our attention toward the new one. The New Year can be a new beginning in many ways for all of us.

It can be a time to abandon harmful habits and lifestyles. Relationships can be healed. Families can be drawn closer together. The New Year must also be a time of forgiveness toward others. If our walk with the Lord was less than it should have been, He is patiently waiting for us to restore our trust and dependence in Him. The list could go on and on.

Each of us should take the time to sit quietly with a note pad and write down all the ways we have been blessed by God. As the songwriter once wrote, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.” If we are honest and focus on them, the list will soon become very long. We all have been truly blessed beyond measure.

We must praise God and thank Him every day for His goodness, for abundantly providing for our needs, and for keeping us safe in the palm of His hand. Above all, we must humbly thank God for His matchless gift of salvation through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, freely offered to all who choose to reach out by faith alone to receive it.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah wrote these words as recorded in Lam. 3:22-23 NASB, “The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”

When we rise up each morning, a spirit of praise and thanksgiving should be in our hearts and on our lips. We need to say, “Thank you Lord for this day You have made. Thank You for allowing me to be a part of it. Help me to rejoice and be glad in it. Show me what You would have me do today that I might do it all for Your honor and glory.”

The psalmist penned these words in Ps. 34:1 NASB, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” In Eph. 5:18 the Apostle Paul tells us to thank God always for all things in the name of Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 103:1 instructs us to bless the holy Name of the Lord with all that is within us. This scripture simply means we are to be passionate in our thanksgiving, in our praise and in our desire to serve Him. Are we passionate in our desire to honor and serve Him?

Perhaps during the past year we did not allow God to be first in all things of our life. Maybe we have become complacent toward Him, or lack the desire for a personal relationship with Him as He requires of us. We must remember that God loves us and as Ps. 145:18 explains, He is near to all who call upon Him.

As we humbly seek His face in prayer, we must call out to Him as the psalmist wrote in Ps. 139:23-24 NASB, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Then in Ps. 51:10 NASB he writes this fervent prayer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

God’s requirements for His blessing on our lives include humility, prayer, devotion and repentance. When we become sincere and passionate in our desire to follow Him, then God will hear us, forgive our sins, answer our prayers and pour out His blessings on us. As promised in 2 Chron. 7:14-15 NKJV, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

I urge you to begin the New Year with a firm resolve to pray to the Lord and read His Word daily. As we do that, God will speak to us and reveal Himself to us in ways we can’t imagine. Talking with Him and studying scripture is not just a good idea. God commands us to do it. From 2 Tim. 2:15, we are to be diligent in our study of scripture to accurately know the word of truth. We are told in 1 Thess. 5:17 to pray without ceasing. Jesus said in Matt. 6:5 NASB, “When you pray...” Notice that He didn’t say “if” you pray. He said “when” you pray.

Clearly, it’s impossible for us to have a personal relationship with someone we don’t know or understand. If we don’t talk with God as we would talk to a close friend, or listen to what He has to say through the scriptures, then a relationship with Him simply cannot exist. However, those who truly know Him as their Savior and Lord have placed their complete dependence and trust in Him. They have comfort through prayer and His written Word. He is their friend, their guide, their Savior and Master, and their blessed hope for all eternity.

If you have never been born again (John 3:3) by deliberately inviting Jesus into your heart and life, you can do that today. When you have Him in your life, you will truly experience a new beginning because all things will change forever.

However, before you can do that you must understand that you are a sinner in the eyes of God and need the Savior in your life. You must be ready to humbly cry out, “Oh God help me! I am a lost sinner! I need You in my life! Oh God help me now!”

Then just open your heart to Him. Don’t worry about saying everything perfectly. As long as it comes from your heart, He will hear you. When you pray just say something like this, “Dear God, I realize that I am a lost sinner. You sent Your Son Jesus to shed His blood and die on the cross for me in my place. I believe what You did for me and want my sins forgiven and washed away. I confess them to You now and invite Jesus into my heart and life as my Savior and Lord. Help me to turn away from my old ways and lead a life that is pleasing to You. Thank You for saving me today in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Whether you just said a prayer to give your heart to the Lord, or perhaps you have simply re-dedicated your life to Him, nothing will ever be the same as you live for Him. He will put His strong arms around you and will lead you by the hand as you go through the trials of life.

Jer. 29:11-13 NASB, “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

When you begin the New Year with the Lord by your side, it will truly be a new beginning for you like none other, and it will be for all eternity. Praise God for His amazing grace!

Don

THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS

Isaiah 9:6 NKJV

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Matthew 1:22, 23 NKJV

So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

John 1:14 NKJV

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Our Lord came here the first time...exactly as the Scriptures promised that He would.  Our Lord is sure to return a second time...exactly as the Scriptures promise that He will.

When He came the first time as God manifest in human flesh, it was the most humble of beginnings.  People did not believe, nor did they understand, that Jesus was the promised and long awaited Messiah who had come to save His people from their sins.  Because of that, almost everyone missed the first coming of the One who was the eternal King and Savior of the world.

However, when Jesus returns to earth at His second coming, He will not be seen as a helpless baby lying in an animal feeding trough in a filthy stable as He was at His first coming.  Nor will Jesus appear as a young boy sitting on the lap of the one who physically gave birth to His humanity.  He will not return as a suffering Jesus, either - naked, beaten and bleeding while hanging on a cross and dying a most horrible death.   

When Jesus arrives here the second time, He will be a victorious Jesus who has conquered death and the grave.  At the second coming His fierce wrath will crush and defeat all evil, and He will be ready to declare His righteous judgment on an unbelieving world.  Nobody will miss His second coming!

Jesus will descend from heaven in great power and glory riding a milk white stallion - followed by the armies of heaven.  His eyes will be as blazing fire.  Written on His blood stained robe and thigh will be the Name: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 

Whether you are ready or not, the King is coming.  On that day all who have ignored Him, or have only offered lip service to Him, will witness His awesome majesty - and realize too late that He is God. 

The Bible promises that every eye will see His return...every knee will bow before Him...and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.  That event will strike indescribable fear in the hearts of the many who have cast Him aside.  But, for the few who truly know Him and are watching for Him...oh, what a glorious day that will be!

On that night in Bethlehem many years ago, no room could be found for Him in the inn.  Today, almost two thousand years later, there is no room in the hearts of men for the One who has control of their next breath and heartbeat, and who will rule and reign forever and ever.

Are you ready to meet Him?  One day soon we will all see Jesus face to face.  Is He your Savior, your Lord, and the Master of your life?  You must be very sure.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus…as You promised!


Don

Rejoice, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem)

Sometimes, nothing more than the Word of Adonai is needed to bolster our confidence that the day is coming when Israel will indeed rejoice. Much ado is being made over Jerusalem, and it has become a burdensome stone-Zechariah 12:3. Nations are in an uproar and seeking to divided God’s Holy City. But hear the Word of the Lord: Isaiah 62:6-12

 I have posted watchmen on your walls, Yerushalayim;
they will never fall silent, neither by day nor by night.
You who call on Adonai, give yourselves no rest;
and give him no rest till he restores Yerushalayim
and makes it a praise on earth.
Adonai has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain to your enemies as food;
nor will strangers drink your wine, for which you worked so hard;
but those who harvest the grain will eat it with praises to Adonai;
those who gathered the wine will drink it in the courtyards of my sanctuary.”
 Go on through, go on through the gates, clear the way for the people!
Build up a highway, build it up! Clear away the stones!
Raise a banner for the peoples!
Adonai has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
“Say to the daughter of Tziyon, ‘Here, your Salvation is coming!
Here, his reward is with him, and his recompense is before him.’”
They will call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of Adonai.
You will be called D’rushah [Sought-After],
‘Ir Lo Ne‘ezvah [City-No-Longer-Abandoned]. From the Complete Jewish Bible.

Yerushalayim will be divided by the Anti-Christ. He will make a 7 year peace treaty with Israel and break it 3 and a half years later. It’s at that time God will stand up for His people and destroy those nations that have come against Israel and divided her land. Zechariah 14. Our part is to pray now, and Trust the Lord with all our hearts. Be watching, be ready~the Lord will keep His Word…all of it!

Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Yerushalayim; may those who love you prosper. May shalom be within your ramparts, prosperity in your palaces.

 Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Prophecy Update Syria

Read the headlines, listen to the news on the Middle East. Read Isaiah 17 and Isaiah 19... it's all happening now!


Are you ready?!! 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

5 Minute Lesson on Israel/Arab conflict!

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

MANSIONS IN GLORY

I love many of the old gospel hymns, and often reflect on their music and lyrics.  Recently, one of them titled, "Mansion Over The Hilltop", has echoed through my mind repeatedly.  The words of the chorus within that song are as follows:

 I've got a mansion just over the hilltop,

In that bright land where we'll never grow old;
And someday yonder we will never more wander,
But walk the streets that are purest gold.

Jesus gave His promise of mansions in heaven for believers as written in John 14:1-3 NKJV.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Just imagine!  The Master Architect of the heavens and the earth is in heaven today preparing a special home for each one who belongs to Him.  The magnificence of His creation that we see here on earth is but a tiny preview of what heaven will be like.  We see majestic mountains and peaceful valleys, breath-taking sunsets, star-studded night skies and deep blue seas.  We also see lush meadows with delicate flowers, graceful birds of the air, green forests and fields of waving grain…just to mention some of our earthly beauty. 

Our minds simply cannot imagine the grandeur that awaits believers in heaven as the Apostle Paul recorded for us in 1 Cor. 2:9 NIV.

“However, as it is written:  ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has promised for those who love Him.’”

The day is coming soon when I will hear my name called from the hills of glory.  Jesus will be there, and will be the first to welcome me with outstretched arms.  When I see my Savior, I will know Him by His shining, smiling face and by the scars in the nail pierced hands of the One who suffered and died for me in my place.  We will sing together, and laugh and talk as we stroll hand in hand down the endless streets of pure gold.  All of that and so much more will be in store for those who have confessed Him as Lord. 

The dwelling place promised to me will be there, too, but will pale in comparison when I finally see the King of Kings and Lord of Lords face to face...for He is all that will matter.  It will make no difference whether the heavenly home prepared for me is a picturesque masterpiece on a hilltop, a simple one room cabin in the woods, or perhaps something else beyond our ability to comprehend.  The most important thing is that my Savior is in heaven...I will be there where He is...and it will be forever.

However, Jesus is preparing a place for only those who truly know Him.  If He is not the Lord of your life...if He is not your all-in-all...and if you cannot say with confidence that He is your Blessed Hope and Salvation by faith alone, then, you will not enter through heaven's gate.   

Do you know Him today?  Is Jesus preparing a place for you? 

You must be very sure!

Don