HOW TO HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hold fast (Heb 10:23; 1 Thes 5:21).
Assemble (Heb 10:25).
Press on (Phil 3:13-14).
Pray (1 Tim 2:1-2; 1 Thes 5:17).
Yield not to temptation (Jas 1:12-13; Rom 6:16).

Neglect not (Heb 2:3).
Examine yourself (2 Cor 13:5).
Walk worthy (Eph 4:1; 1 Thes 2:1-2).

Yield yourself to God (Rom 6:13).
Envy not (Gal 5:21, 26; Prov 14:30).
Abstain from all appearance of evil and fleshly lusts (1 Thes 5:22; 1 Pet 2:11).
Reject not God's Word (John 12:48; 2 Thes 1:7-9). - LP

Another Year
Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be, 
In working or in waiting, Another year with thee. 
Another year of progress, Another year of praise, 
Another year of proving, Thy presence all the days, 
Another year of mercies, Of faithfulness and grace, 
Another year of gladness, The glory of thy face. 
Another year of leaning Upon thy loving breast, 
Another year of trusting, Of quiet, happy rest. 
Another year of service, Of witness for thy love, 
Another year of training, For holier work above. 
Another year is dawning, Dear Father, let it be, 
On earth, or else in heaven Another year for thee!
Frances Ridley Havergal


It is so easy some times to push the work of God aside for our own desires and pleasures. It’s not a deliberate thing, it just happens. 

We must honestly look at our lives and ask if we are guilty of doing this in our own lives. What are the things that keep me from doing those things which I know God wants? Are those things really what’s important in life? 

One good test is to ask yourself, “How is this going to sound on Judgment Day?” Will this be a good excuse for not doing what God said to do? We do have emergencies which keep us from doing God’s will. Our children get ill. Water pipes burst. Automobiles break down. Family problems happen. But in spite of these emergencies we should return to doing the will of God.

How important are these thing compared to eternity? 

Matthew 16:24-27 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. [25] For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. [26] For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? [27] For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. 

As we begin this new year may we commit ourselves to serving God more than we did last year. Putting God first in our lives should always be the priority in our lives. - LP

BARBARISM - A BARBAROUS OR UNCIVILIZED STATE OR CONDITION
We live in a civilized land and of course, consider ourselves to be civilized. Oddly enough though, we often do things that the barbarian would never do. Let’s be realistic the heathen of the South American or African jungle would never even think of doing some of the things we do in this civilized country. When was the last time you heard of a barbarian killing his wife and their children and then fighting off others for hours before finally taking his own life. It happens several times a year in this country. Even though the barbarians as we call them will fight viciously against an enemy tribe, they do not make a habit of fighting among themselves like we do. Even those battles between tribes with spears and bows and knives over such petty things as tribal boundaries can't compare with our civilized wars with guns, tanks, bombers and missiles.

Spiritually we find some of those same human weaknesses in us as Christians. While the barbarian would shout a warning or possibly even physically intervene to stop a companion from going over the edge of a cliff, we are too civilized to do that. Everyday somewhere around 8 - 10 million people die in this world and the vast majority of them do it outside of Christ. Right near us the local papers are filled with obituaries of people who have stepped off the cliff into the great eternal abyss, and what are we doing about it? Nothing. How barbaric. We haven’t seen the worst yet. There are often Christians who begin drifting away from Christ in one way or another, and do we help hold onto them to bring them back? Do we even shout a warning to them? The fact is that in many cases we help push them off the edge. It happens with the new Christian who doesn’t say or do something just right and instead of exhorting them to continue to grow and encouraging their willingness to try, we jump on them and condemn them for not knowing everything we know. Or we see someone do something and immediately tell everyone in the congregation how wrong they were for what they did instead of going to them. In neither of these cases do we ever think that it has taken us a number of years to grow beyond the stage this individual is. In neither of these cases do we stop to first examine our own life, attitude, and motives.

I wish I could say I never faltered in this area. I know as well as you do how difficult it is to have the courage to say or do something, and how much more difficult it is to be sure to say or do the RIGHT thing. We don’t have the ability to see others’ hearts and minds to know just what will get through to them the way Jesus could, but we do each have the ability to look at our own lives and attitudes and to control the way we react. If we will go as we should the blood of those going over the cliff will not be on our hands, but if we fail to warn them we will be to some degree responsible. (Ezek 33:7-9) “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. {8} When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. {9} Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

Are you your brother’s keeper? If not you should be.

We have discussed the fact that nothing is as needed as time spent with Jesus listening to him and his teaching. So let’s listen, really listen to his teaching in Matthew chapter 19. In the first part of this chapter Jesus teaches on one of the greatest plagues in our society, that of divorce. Let’s leave that for next time. Beginning in verse 16 he has a conversation with a rich young man. The young man wants to know how to gain eternal life, but as we will see the price Jesus asks is too high. And unlike other things salvation never goes on sale. The price has been the same for 2000 years.

Their heart to heart begins with the man asking what he can do and Jesus responds that he should keep the commandments. Remember that until Jesus died the Law of Moses was the spiritual law that was in effect. The young man replied that he had done that and then asked the crucial question that each of us should ask each and every day of our lives. In verse 20 he says, “...what lack I yet?” You see, following God and Christ is not like many other things in life, which can be completed. Being a Christian is a life-long pursuit that is not finished until death. When we have learned our ABC’s, for example, we are done; we know them, and unless there is an accident or some severe illness that affects our mind and memory, we never have to learn them again. Many skills are that way and some of Christianity falls into that category as well, but unlike finishing school in the secular world we can’t graduate from Christianity.

The young man in our text probably thought things were going well when he asked this question. He was, apparently, a faithful Jew who thought he had kept the ten commandments and probably the whole law. Millions of people today think the same kind of way. We all want to believe that we have a good relationship with God whether we really do or not. Many have convinced themselves that because they joined one church or another, or their parents baptized them when they were little, or they live a good moral life, or any number of other similar reasonings there is nothing else necessary for them to please God and gain eternal life.

Christianity, however, is a race and not everyone who enters finishes. What’s more you can’t just go out and run down the street to be part of a race, you have to enter. Of course, races have rules and courses that must be followed without shortcuts. The Christian life is no different, and it is only concluded at death. We must always be working to correct sins, add virtues, increase knowledge and faith, and ask the tough questions. When we ask those tough questions we must be prepared for tough answers and have the courage and fortitude to respond. The young man in our story wasn’t prepared, and he lost the chance of heaven because of it.

 What lack I yet? Jesus answer to this young man was that he needed to go sell his goods and give the money to the poor. He couldn’t respond. He asked the tough question, but when he got the tough answer he wasn’t prepared to do it. When we ask the question ‘what lack I yet’ and listen to Jesus’ teaching, we must make the change. The answer to that question will be different for us at different times and under different circumstances, and our feelings will never be a sufficient guide. We must look to the teaching that Jesus left for us in the Bible. What are you lacking, that is keeping you from having the best relationship possible with God?

I hope that you are enjoying these articles, and learning from them. If you have a Bible question you would like answered with a Bible answer, or if there is a Bible topic you would like to see covered, please write me at the address below.