January 4th 2015
Will This Year Offer Anything Really New?
1 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Have you made any resolutions for this coming year? Did you already break any of these resolutions? Well give it some more time, and you will possibly break these resolves to change in this still New Year! This isn’t meant to be downer to making resolutions, it is more of attempt to have us look at what kind of changes we should most emphasize. If you are overweight it is a good idea to resolve to change your diet so you will lose some of those extra pounds you have added, but be sure to consider that you did not put the weight on in a short timeframe, and thus, make sure you allow a fairly long timeframe to reducing your weight too. Losing the weight too fast can be a health risk too!
There are likely other familiar ideas you have heard for making improvements in your lifestyle that will result in a healthier you. Many people have developed a dependency on some form of drugs that they need to curtail, and they have resolved to do it. You may even need to look at some relationship issues, and believe you need to make changes that will improve your philosophy on how to live your life, which will improve your general attitude about life. Make sure it is the other person or people who need to change, and not you who should change. You are usually the only person that you can actually change.
The most important change we should all consider, and then, resolve to improve is our relationship with Jesus. Do you spend enough time with Jesus? Is your time too important for you to allow more time to include Jesus in your everyday lifestyle? This is meant to be a difficult task for all of us to really put at the top of our list of changes we resolve to make in this coming year. Do you allow time to read some Scripture every day, and do you already have a prayer time every day? If your answer to these questions is, well I’m just too busy to allow time every day for such things! Could you find time if you knew you would die sometime soon?
Yes, I know that is a terrible question to ask ourselves, but you must know that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. If you are still a relatively young person, then such a question is difficult to really take seriously, but it is a fact that whatever age you are there are people around that age that are dying every day. Spending your time reading the Holy Scripture and finding time to shutout worldly worries and concerns, and concentrating on the development of your relationship with Jesus is not only helpful to you now, but it has eternal consequences too!
Have you ever read the Bible cover-to-cover? If your answer is NO, then you should make a resolution to do it this year! Even if your answer is YES, then why not do it again in this coming year? If you plan to do it, you need to start ASAP, as of today you are three days behind in the reading plan. Especially if you answered NO above, then please consider doing it this year. If you started to do it in the past, but failed to complete the task, then it is even more important you do it this year. Do not let your past failure stop you from trying again this year! The only way to know the story of God is to read His Word. His truth is the only absolute truth to be found in this world!
I will tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God! With your right hand of the Bible swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. The only way you can get God’s help is by knowing what His truth actually says, and teaches. Such truths are only found in His Word, please believe that, and live! Jesus promised to leave the Holy Spirit behind on this earth, when Jesus went back to heaven to be with His and our Father. This Holy Spirit will help you understand what you read in the Holy Scriptures, no matter which translation you choose to read, if you are tuned into this Spirit. Do use a translation not a paraphrase version, so you are reading God’s Word not the understanding of some human being about God’s Word!
I am reading through the Bible again this year, and thus, have started. I just state this so you may know my resolve, and that it is not just some suggestion being made for you. I prefer a Chronological order Bible, as this puts the daily readings in an order closely related to when the events actually occurred. Such Bibles are available in many of the current translation formats; and are available in paperback, so they are not very expensive.
Trust me when I tell you, reading the Bible cover to cover will change your life. You will see things you never thought were in the Bible. You will see God's warnings and promises to help you through tough times. Most of all, you will start to understand how God thinks. How can you please God if you don't understand how He thinks? He knows you are not a mind reader. That is one reason He gave you the Bible so you could begin to understand what God expects from your life.
It seems our world is becoming more and more violent, as our news reports are constantly filled with violent stories. Please try to find time to read God’s Word and spend some quite time with Jesus, and God’s promises may come true in your country. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14, NLT) Can you turn from your sinful ways? The harsh answer is NO, unless you find time to try to better understand God, and what His Son did when He came to this earth to save us from our sinful ways.
We just again celebrated Jesus coming into this world to save us not to condemn us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17) Read all about it! These great stories are contained in one book, which we call the Bible; please plan to read it this year, either for the first time, or again. These stories never get old! Here is a sample from the Old Testament. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23:6)
Are you ready to, “dwell in the house of the LORD for ever?”
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
1 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV)
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Have you made any resolutions for this coming year? Did you already break any of these resolutions? Well give it some more time, and you will possibly break these resolves to change in this still New Year! This isn’t meant to be downer to making resolutions, it is more of attempt to have us look at what kind of changes we should most emphasize. If you are overweight it is a good idea to resolve to change your diet so you will lose some of those extra pounds you have added, but be sure to consider that you did not put the weight on in a short timeframe, and thus, make sure you allow a fairly long timeframe to reducing your weight too. Losing the weight too fast can be a health risk too!
There are likely other familiar ideas you have heard for making improvements in your lifestyle that will result in a healthier you. Many people have developed a dependency on some form of drugs that they need to curtail, and they have resolved to do it. You may even need to look at some relationship issues, and believe you need to make changes that will improve your philosophy on how to live your life, which will improve your general attitude about life. Make sure it is the other person or people who need to change, and not you who should change. You are usually the only person that you can actually change.
The most important change we should all consider, and then, resolve to improve is our relationship with Jesus. Do you spend enough time with Jesus? Is your time too important for you to allow more time to include Jesus in your everyday lifestyle? This is meant to be a difficult task for all of us to really put at the top of our list of changes we resolve to make in this coming year. Do you allow time to read some Scripture every day, and do you already have a prayer time every day? If your answer to these questions is, well I’m just too busy to allow time every day for such things! Could you find time if you knew you would die sometime soon?
Yes, I know that is a terrible question to ask ourselves, but you must know that tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. If you are still a relatively young person, then such a question is difficult to really take seriously, but it is a fact that whatever age you are there are people around that age that are dying every day. Spending your time reading the Holy Scripture and finding time to shutout worldly worries and concerns, and concentrating on the development of your relationship with Jesus is not only helpful to you now, but it has eternal consequences too!
Have you ever read the Bible cover-to-cover? If your answer is NO, then you should make a resolution to do it this year! Even if your answer is YES, then why not do it again in this coming year? If you plan to do it, you need to start ASAP, as of today you are three days behind in the reading plan. Especially if you answered NO above, then please consider doing it this year. If you started to do it in the past, but failed to complete the task, then it is even more important you do it this year. Do not let your past failure stop you from trying again this year! The only way to know the story of God is to read His Word. His truth is the only absolute truth to be found in this world!
I will tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God! With your right hand of the Bible swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. The only way you can get God’s help is by knowing what His truth actually says, and teaches. Such truths are only found in His Word, please believe that, and live! Jesus promised to leave the Holy Spirit behind on this earth, when Jesus went back to heaven to be with His and our Father. This Holy Spirit will help you understand what you read in the Holy Scriptures, no matter which translation you choose to read, if you are tuned into this Spirit. Do use a translation not a paraphrase version, so you are reading God’s Word not the understanding of some human being about God’s Word!
I am reading through the Bible again this year, and thus, have started. I just state this so you may know my resolve, and that it is not just some suggestion being made for you. I prefer a Chronological order Bible, as this puts the daily readings in an order closely related to when the events actually occurred. Such Bibles are available in many of the current translation formats; and are available in paperback, so they are not very expensive.
Trust me when I tell you, reading the Bible cover to cover will change your life. You will see things you never thought were in the Bible. You will see God's warnings and promises to help you through tough times. Most of all, you will start to understand how God thinks. How can you please God if you don't understand how He thinks? He knows you are not a mind reader. That is one reason He gave you the Bible so you could begin to understand what God expects from your life.
It seems our world is becoming more and more violent, as our news reports are constantly filled with violent stories. Please try to find time to read God’s Word and spend some quite time with Jesus, and God’s promises may come true in your country. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14, NLT) Can you turn from your sinful ways? The harsh answer is NO, unless you find time to try to better understand God, and what His Son did when He came to this earth to save us from our sinful ways.
We just again celebrated Jesus coming into this world to save us not to condemn us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17) Read all about it! These great stories are contained in one book, which we call the Bible; please plan to read it this year, either for the first time, or again. These stories never get old! Here is a sample from the Old Testament. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23:6)
Are you ready to, “dwell in the house of the LORD for ever?”
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
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