The Hope of New Beginnings
Good Morning Friends,
The party is nearly over for 2014. We wait for 2015. The dawn of a new year is coming. It has been an exhausting year that might well have gotten us so absorbed and engaged that we became oblivious to God. Thankfully, despite the distractions and obligations of life we have found love in abundance. God is more relevant in our life now than a year ago. We have been good citizens but are becoming better Christians. We are awakening to God in the celebration of the season. As part of the celebration during the year our stories intertwined with others stories about giving back and salsa and basketball and dreams. We played handbell music in Oregon and Washington and in Jeju Island, South Korea and at church and the Cambier Park Band shell with the Community Concert Band and at the Naples Botanical Garden. We have learned to mark time by where we play and the parts we play in history. So today, when the dawn is about to break we are going to awakening to God and go worship and sing but for the time the bell ringing is done. We cannot afford to waste any time. We have to get up, get dressed. We do not have time to linger. Every minute counts. Today, we have to dress ourselves in Christ and be about His business. We are singing hymns for it is Sunday and the last Sunday of the year. The Christmas celebration and the parties are rushing us to a new year. Our work has been blessed and yet as the year is ending there is an urgent appeal to wake up with The Hope of New Beginnings.
Scripture: 11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Romans 13:11-14 (NRSV)
Moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (NRSV)
12As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord* has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ* dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.*
17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12-17 (NRSV)
Message: Ecclesiastes teaches us that the seasons to life are to be beautiful. Colossians teaches us that love binds everything together throughout our lives in the Peace of Christ. Together they paint an interesting picture of us living out our daily lives in a morally tainted environment, oscillating between putting off sin, even as we put on Christ God’s will to live in our lives. The spills, the thrills, the bills, the ills, the pills and the wills of life seem to be designed to bring Christ’s love into our lives and help us to learn that whatever God does in us endures… that now can always be a time of salvation, of forgiveness, of God’s will living in and through us. Indeed God has placed eternity in our hearts just as He has placed seasons in our life. The paradox of progress is that enduring pleasure is found only in our Peace with Christ not our prosperity or profit. We are transformed and justified yet not completed in our sanctification. We live in a paradox that Christ is all and is in all, that we cannot seek God unless we possess Him…that we cannot express God unless He first possess us. Thankfully we are favored with the joy of Christian living. He chooses to walk with us in the valleys and shout with us from the mountain tops and dance with us in the streets. Friends, we are to make the most of life, our work, our play… we are to enjoy this gift from God, and we are to share His gift of love…with the hope of a new creation and a New Year. We are to Taste it. So make your life count. Leave behind evil. Love strongly. Dress for living by wearing the presence of Christ in your life. Live simply. Love and wait on the Lord with the hope of new beginnings.
Pray as we face the New Year, that we place our trust and confidence in God so we can successfully inherit the blessings of the Christian life. Pray we conquer the enemies of the soul, with strength and courage, by believing in His promises. Pray we be content with what we have as we overcome our weaknesses and fears. Pray we pursue holiness and obedience treasuring scripture each day. Pray we practice the Word of God and that it lead us to an experience of God’s promises. Pray we be used by God. Pray we be changed. Pray that with honesty, thanks and praise we realize 2014 is not ours but the Lord’s. Pray that by this time next year we will be more compassionate, kinder, more humble, gentler, and more patient. Pray that His forgiveness turns us into forgivers. Pray that His love turns us into lovers that love regardless of whether we are loved. Pray that we realize that the world is not ours but only ours to enjoy. Pray we realize that God specializes in fresh starts to carry out His purpose. Pray we stop making excuses, take an inventory of your life, act in faith, refocus your thoughts, and trust in God. Pray we awake to a new vision in the things of God. Pray we have a safe New Year’s Eve. Pray we make the most of 2015. Pray we spend time with God. Pray we have a Hopeful New Year!
Blessings,
John Lawson
P.S. Amy and I will be off on a camping adventure for a few days so this devotional will not be going out for a time, but hopefully when we return I will start again writing… perhaps with a new theme. Any ideas?
Daily Devotionals 