Happy New Year!

This time of year many people are preparing resolutions for their lives in the new year.

Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:5-7 about the characteristics we could include in our resolutions. He writes: “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.” NLT

So in the new year wouldn’t it be great if we could all set our foundation for resolutions on:
Faith – That we are saved, and that God is there to support and encourage us.
Moral Excellence – the RSV Bible uses the word Virtue, some other versions use Goodness. In my words, “striving to do the right thing.”
Knowledge – Proverbs says, the “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge” so put our trust in God’s word before man’s words.
Self Control – All personal achievement begins with self control. When we feel we cannot keep ourselves on the right track, let us remember to ask God for help.
Patient Endurance – Also known as Persistence, which is essential for accomplishing our objectives.
Godliness – A demeanor that keeps us focused on God.
Brotherly Affection – The close caring for our Christian family.
Love for Everyone – I like the expression of looking at others with the “eyes of love.” Rather than seeing everyone’s faults. Seeing them as God’s children in need of our support to be what God wants them to be, as well.

Dear Lord, as we begin a New Calendar Year, thank you for your guidance, promises, and support. Help us establish our foundation on You so that we may set and achieve goals that glorify You. Give us your peace this year. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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You may have heard it said, that “We are God’s hands here on earth.”

1 John 4:12 says it like this. “But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”

When we love God, and love others, we become a path God can use to show his love to others, through us.

Verse 15 goes on to say, “All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.”

Dear Lord, As believers we know that you live in us, Help us let your love work through us and touch all those we encounter. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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We recently visited a, well known, secular University to which my son is applying. The school was founded over one hundred years ago by a very wealthy couple who had lost their son as a teenager. On the campus there is an incredibly beautiful chapel that was built at the direction of the wife after her husband died, and my attention was caught by the inscription on the dedication plaque in the chapel wall. It says “To the glory of God and in loving memory of her husband.” I suppose this is not a surprising statement on a chapel dedication, but the simplicity of dedicating the amazing facility that was painstakingly constructed at a tremendous cost, “to the glory of God,” made me think about the things we all work on in our lives.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10::31, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

We should all take a moment when we are starting or finishing a project, goal, or objective, and dedicate these things “to the glory of God,” which is why we are here.

Dear Lord, as you tell us in Isaiah 43:7, we were made for your glory. Help us remember to bring glory to you in all that we do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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The account that follows is about the twins born to Rebekah and Isaac, their names were Esau and Jacob. Esau was the first to be born, and by tradition at the time should have been the child to inherit the family “business,” and get the special blessing. But as the text describes, God had a different plan.

Romans 9:11-12, “Before the children had been born or had done anything good or bad, Rebekah was told that the older child would serve the younger one. This was said to Rebekah so that God’s plan would remain a matter of his choice, a choice based on God’s call and not on anything people do.”

Genesis 25-27 tells the entire account of these two sons of Isaac, but the point is that God has a plan, and he calls people based on his plan. He doesn’t wait around to see if we are good or bad, We are each a part of the plan God is executing.

Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose.”

The twists and turns in our lives are not a surprise to God. He is using all of us and our experiences for his “holy purpose.”

Dear Lord, we cannot understand how we can have our own free will, and also be a pre-determined participant in your plan, but this is what we know from your word, and we will just accept it. Help us,, as a result, get power to act boldly for you and have peace, knowing and trusting your plan for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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I read a good quote today that went, “I asked God for strength, and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.”

James 1:2-4 tell us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

It would be nice if the right way was the easy way, but usually it is not. It is the challenges in life that allow us to build up our ability to choose what is right, when it is the difficult choice.

Dear Lord, help us always to choose the right way, and when it is the difficult choice, give us the strength and discipline we need to persevere. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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