A New Year! Really!.........................................Or……………….…………The Same Old Stuff?

 Wow, Awesome!  Wait, shut everything out of your mind.  Take three deep breaths.  Now read very slowly with your whole brain in gear “And I heard a loud vice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among the, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”  And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”  (Rev. 21:3-5, Jesus words through John that we can take to the bank)

Hey Gang:  I have been researching the word “new” this morning and have listed some of those verses that I found especially powerful that rang my bell.   I pray they will ring your bell. 

Keep in mind as you read this morning message that it is being written by an old codger that has greeted 83 New Year’s in his life time and has also seen a great deal of history.  I wish I could say, that with each period of man’s choosing to go his own way, we have become more wise and our world is a better place to live but NOTHING could be further from the truth.  

I would rather share with you the way I wish it was.   As I perused the verses on new and newness, there was no doubt that, if one followed God’s mandates, statures and commandments, we would experience newness of life every day.  I recall someone along the path saying, “Christianity is the land of new beginnings”.   

I believe that is one of the benefits that God designed into the cross experience, that if we do as He said and go to the cross daily, we carry none of the errors or our yesterdays into tomorrows.  I do believe that His design is,  ‘each new day is to be a new beginning with the Lord’. 

What a wonderful piece of news Paul gives us in Romans 6:4:  “Therefore having been buried with Him, through baptism into death, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we, too, might walk in newness of life.”  

If we allow Him, God makes all things new.  Paul also tells us to “rejoice always and again I say rejoice”.  I believe this is like a cleansing process.  Speaking from experience, I can attest to the fact that when I am singing to the Lord a new song, it is like a spiritual enema and cleans out the rust spots that have accumulated.  In Philippians, Paul gives us seven examples of the joys of joy. Nehemiah shared the good news that “…the Joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh. 8:10).

The Christian owes it to the world to be supernaturally joyful! In this day of universal apprehension, when men’s hearts are failing them for fear of those things that are coming upon the earth, we Christians are strategically placed to display a happiness and joy, that is not of this world, and to exhibit a tranquility that will be a little bit of heaven here below.  All this takes for granted that sin has been dealt with by sincere repentance.

How we need to praise God for newness of life.  In our recent trip to Israel, what joy there was in standing before the tomb that many believe is the place where Jesus body was laid that fateful day when man choose to kill God.  The joy did not come with the knowledge of the cruelty of men, but rather that His Father breathed life into Him and He overcame the grave.  John put it this way: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). 

Israel Balfour Declaration of 1917- this says Palestine - maps are also PC.This was declared Homeland for Israel

I close this epistle with a deep concern in my heart.  The recent events that have taken place in our nation, the turning our back on God and Israel - and that is what our president’s decision was when he abstained from vetoing the U.N. decree that Israel must return to its 1967 borders, hurts my heart for our country.  God made an irrevocable decree with Abraham -that those who bless Israel would be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed.  He also made in clear in Joel 3:2 that those nations that demand that covenant land be given to Israel’s enemies would be held accountable to God for it.

I believe our President has place our nation in great jeopardy.  We need to take this issue to God’s throne room continually.

Pray that God’s will be done as the 70 Nations (God’s symbol for all) meet in Paris on Jan 15 to declare a Palestine State to include Judea, Samaria and half of Jerusalem,

                            Israel Today

Blessings,

                      

Gramps  


Israel 1967