A Blessed New Year to All!
We are certainly living in interesting times. The angst over the recent presidential election has many people worried about their future. Maybe this isn’t the time of the last judgment and Christ’s return, but many feel that it’s the end of our culture. It’s not like there haven’t been challenging times in our country before. The apostle Peter had some advice for believers who thought they were living in perilous times.
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 4:7-11
Have you made some New Year’s resolutions? Why not make a resolution to look to Jesus and not to men for your answers to life’s hard questions? There are many ways to grown in the grace of God and live a life of peace and tranquility. We don’t have to fear circumstances. God is in control. He has given us direction in His word. We can grow closer to Him and lean on Him. We can strive to be more like Christ.
Make a resolution to grow closer to God this year. Thanks to Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection we are able to grow spiritually. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We should strive to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Take time to study the Word of God to find your answers and to be able to “present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Read about the life of Christ. He suffered and died for us. We can mature when we meet challenges head on and face the hard times with Jesus at our side.
Make a resolution to trust God more this year. One way to avoid discouragement is to get busy serving others. Pay less attention to yourself and you will cheer up. We have everything necessary to work in His kingdom and the need is great. All Christians are given the gifts of the Spirit “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). We “have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Another sure way to decrease anxiety is to show gratitude to God. “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Get your focus off of what you don’t have that you think you need and be grateful for all of the blessings you do have.
The apostle Paul tells us that we should be, “a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15). Will I be a fragrance to others this year?
Don’t’ be discouraged. Make resolutions. Seek God’s help to fulfill your plans.
I hope that by the end of 2025 I have become more like Christ than at the end of 2024. And my prayer is that when the end of 2025 gets here I can look back and say that my New Year’s resolution – my resolution to be more like Christ – will have been accomplished.
To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen!
Happy New Year – 2025
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
A Blessed New Year to All!
We are certainly living in interesting times. The angst over the recent presidential election has many people worried about their future. Maybe this isn’t the time of the last judgment and Christ’s return, but many feel that it’s the end of our culture. It’s not like there haven’t been challenging times in our country before. The apostle Peter had some advice for believers who thought they were living in perilous times.
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. I Peter 4:7-11
Have you made some New Year’s resolutions? Why not make a resolution to look to Jesus and not to men for your answers to life’s hard questions? There are many ways to grown in the grace of God and live a life of peace and tranquility. We don’t have to fear circumstances. God is in control. He has given us direction in His word. We can grow closer to Him and lean on Him. We can strive to be more like Christ.
Make a resolution to grow closer to God this year. Thanks to Christ’s incarnation, death, and resurrection we are able to grow spiritually. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We should strive to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Take time to study the Word of God to find your answers and to be able to “present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Read about the life of Christ. He suffered and died for us. We can mature when we meet challenges head on and face the hard times with Jesus at our side.
Make a resolution to trust God more this year. One way to avoid discouragement is to get busy serving others. Pay less attention to yourself and you will cheer up. We have everything necessary to work in His kingdom and the need is great. All Christians are given the gifts of the Spirit “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:12). We “have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
Another sure way to decrease anxiety is to show gratitude to God. “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Get your focus off of what you don’t have that you think you need and be grateful for all of the blessings you do have.
The apostle Paul tells us that we should be, “a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15). Will I be a fragrance to others this year?
Don’t’ be discouraged. Make resolutions. Seek God’s help to fulfill your plans.
I hope that by the end of 2025 I have become more like Christ than at the end of 2024. And my prayer is that when the end of 2025 gets here I can look back and say that my New Year’s resolution – my resolution to be more like Christ – will have been accomplished.
To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen!
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