A Good Word--For the New Year

You shall not go out with haste...for the Lord will
go before you, and the God of Israel will be your
rear guard--Isaiah 52:12

Security from Yesterday
"...God requires that which is past." (Ecl 3:15) 
At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all 
that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to 
arise from remembering the yesterdays. Our present 
enjoyment of God's grace is apt to be checked by yes-
terday's sins and blunders. But God is the God of our 
yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them in or-
der to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth 
for the future. God reminds us of the past to protect 
us from a shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow
"The Lord will go before you." 
This is a gracious revelation, that God will send his 
forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep 
watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the 
same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were 
not our "rear guard." And God's hand reaches back to 
the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today
"For you shall not go out in haste..." 
As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the 
haste of impetuous, forgetful delight nor with the quick-
ness of the impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out 
with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel 
will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable 
things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities 
which will never return, but God can transform this de-
structive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness of 
the future. Let the past sleep, but let is sleep on the bo-
som of Christ. Leave the broken Irreversible Past in His 
hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future IN HIM. 
Oswald Chambers

Reader, this was passed to me by a dear Russian friend.
It comes from My Utmost For His Highest on Dec 31.
Chambers has balanced our failures, our sorrows, with
our gracious God "who can and does transform de-
structive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness of
the future.' Open the scripture and spend time with Him
in this New Year, long enough to hear Him speak a per-
sonal word to you. Don't forget to write it down...

Lord of All!

God also highly exalted him.   Philippians 2:9

Child in the manger,
Infant of Mary;
Outcast and stranger,
   Lord of all!
Child who inherits
   All our transgressions,
All our demerits
   On Him fall.

Once the most holy
   Child of salvation
Gently and lowly
   Lived below;
Now as our glorious
   Mighty Redeemer,
See Him victorious
   O'er each foe.

Prophets foretold Him,
   Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him
   On His throne;
Worthy our Savior
   Of all their praises;
Happy forever
   Are His own.
Mary MacDonald 1817-1890
Tr Lachlan MacBean 1853-1931

Reader, take the time this season to ponder His
birth and His death together. Then go to the
first chapter of Genesis where this Baby spoke
the worlds into existence.

He is Going On

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestined according to the purpose of him who 
works all things, after the counsel of his own will.
Ephesians 1:11

We need to recover an assurance and confidence and con-
viction that, however things may seem--through all things, 
over all things, behind all things, God is pursuing His 
counsels--He is going on.

Ceaseless action, undeviating in course, with tremendous 
energy, He is working all things after the counsel of HIs 
own will.

Sometimes, as we look out, we wonder if God is doing 
anything, and in our prayer times we try to get God to do 
something. What we need is to realize that God is doing, 
and we need to get into line with His doings...

For He is going, and He is going in our day; it can be seen--
more or less--in the world. But, seen or not seen, the fact 
remains--or our Bible is not right, and Paul was mistaken! 
And I am glad always to recognize this: that when Paul 
stopped traveling about the world and had all his tremen-
dous activities among the nations curtailed, it was then that 
he saw the goings of God from eternity, it was then that he 
wrote this letter to the Ephesians, containing the eternal 
counsels of God.

It is a wonderful thing, is it not? When we are taken out 
of our work, when we cannot run about and do all sorts of 
things, when we are perhaps physically unable to do any-
thing, God is going on.

Sometimes we think that, when we stop, God has to stop,
and if we do not go, well, God will not be able to go! Oh
no, He is going on--He is going on! May we be helped to
understand His goings, and to get into His goings.
T Austin-Sparks 1888-?  God dealt with a deep prejudice
and brought this man into a deeper ministry where Christ
was always first. I have read some of his books and I love
what this man has written.

Reader, when you watch the news, see what is going on be-
hind the news, wondering what tomorrow will bring, does
not your heart sometimes sink? The author hits the nail on
the head, that no matter what we see, think, or feel, God is
going on. His will is a certainty, regardless of the things
we are experiencing. AND, old age is nothing to Him and
His purposes!

What a Savior!

For there is one God and one mediator between God
and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as 
a ransom for all men...1 Timothy 2:5, 6

What a Savior is Jesus! How fully worthy is He of our
fullest praise! He stooped to us that He might put His
hand upon us, degraded though we were, and He has
done it tenderly and graciously, so that we are not afraid.

There is no terror for us in His hand, we do not shrink
from Him. He has touched us with the touch of a man,
and bound us with the cords of love. Yet was never less
than God, and God has touched us in Him. He has put 
one hand upon us and the other is placed upon the throne 
of God, and He is the one mediator. With the one hand He
has offered the fullest satisfaction to the righteous claims
of God, and with the other He has bestowed fullness of
grace upon us. He brings us to God and gives us a place
in His presence without fear, and in everlasting peace, a
peace established upon the infallible and immoveable
foundation of divine righteousness, secured for us by a
divine person for the eternal glory of God.

Thus we are justified before God, and all our fear is re-
moved and we are free to behold the hand that has been
placed upon us, and to mark the fact it is a wounded hand:
a hand that was nail-pierced for us when He identified
Himself with us, as we stood subject to the judgement of
God, that He might save us. We know the power of this
hand too: it has smitten death for us and will not relinquish 
its hold upon us forever. He will never surrender that 
true humanity which He has taken up, and as He is, so are 
they also who are His. The purpose of God is that we 
should be conformed to His own image. And so we shall 
be, and yet never shall we forget that He is "over all, God, 
blessed forever. JT Mawson 1873-1943
Such a sweet biography:
http://www.stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/mawson.html

Reader, I have been pondering the conception and birth of
our Savior. His beginning made the cross and our salvation
possible. "The purpose of God is that we should be con-
formed to His own image. And so we shall be..."
May your heart soar this season, and give thanks, for such
an awesome salvation that keeps on giving!

It's All in the Timing

My words...will come true at their proper time.
Luke 1:20
What the Lord has said...will be accomplished!
Luke 1:45

Matthew Henry said, We can depend on God to fulfill
His promise, even when all roads leading to it are closed.
'For no matter how many promises God has made, 
they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the 
"Amen" (so be it) is spoken by us to the glory of God.'  
(2 Corinthians 1:20)

Reader, I love these verses. My soul sings at the trust-
worthiness of God to His children. It does not depend
on what I do, but on what He does. Hallelujah! So be it!

Weariness

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men
stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they
will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:30-31

The spiritual life is not passive. Too often it may look that 
way when we speak of ceasing from ourselves and  our own 
efforts. The point is that we need to learn to live and serve 
by the power God has provided, not self-effort. A true spiri-
tual life is even more active, enlarged and vital because the 
limitless power of God energizes us. Normally the spiritual 
Christian will occupy himself with effective service for his 
Lord. We should be yielded and ready to do whatever He
may choose. Spirit-filled Christians are quite likely to feel
physical exhaustion at the close of the day the same as other
people. They are weary in the work, but not weary of the 
work.  Lewis Sperry Chafer--1871-1952

Reader, when I am being energized by the Holy Spirit rather
than my own fleshly efforts, the task seems too easy. I come
away from a day of nudges by my Lord, with a deep sense
of satisfaction. As I get older, I have to be careful to do only
what I am given by the Lord--I wear out fast, so there are
gaps in my day that He fills with His requests. Works out
very well!

Something to Ponder

Have I been so long with you, and yet have you not known 
me? John 14:9

So immensely are our lives below the mark as nominal
Christians that we have next to no idea of the distance
at which we walk from God, and when the soul is turned
to seek Him only, we discover we have been leaning on
the love and approval of others and not upon the Father's
love alone. 
George Wigram of the nineteenth century.
The following is a very powerful biography of a man that
I knew nothing about.
http://sueyounghistories.com/archives/2009/07/09/george-vicesimus-wigram-1805-–-1879/

Reader, I continue to be confronted with the church of
a previous century when there were so many men and
women who had a grip on scripture and lived out what
they taught. How is it that a man of that century felt that
the Christians were living below the mark of a nominal
Christian? With all of our toys and conveniences, how
can we really know the Father's love for us? As I talk to
others this, feeling unloved by God, comes up frequently.

Mary brought forth her first born and called Him Jesus--
Emanuel, God with us.

Settled Peace

He that believes has the witness in himself.   1John 5:10

It is absolutely essential to the enjoyment of settled peace that
the heart should rest solely on the authority of Holy Scripture.
Nothing else will stand. Inward evidence, spiritual experiences,
comfortable frames, happy feelings, are all very good, very
valuable, and very desirable; indeed we cannot prize them too
highly in the right place. But, most assuredly, their right place
is not at the foundation of the Christian position. If we look to
such things as the ground of our peace, we shall very soon be-
come clouded, uncertain and miserable.

All this is essential to Christianity, but it must, in no wise, be
confounded with the witness of the Holy Ghost, as given to
us in Holy Scripture. The Spirit of God never leads any one
to build upon His work as the ground of peace, but only on
the finished work of Christ, and the unchangeable Word of
God; and we may rest assured that the more simply we rest
on these the more settled our peace will be, and the clearer
our evidences, the richer our experience.

In short, the more we look away from self and all its belong-
ings, and rest in christ, on the clear authority of Scripture, the
more spiritually minded we shall be; and the inspired apostle
tells us that "To be spiritually minded (or, the minding of the
Spirit) is life and peace." The best evidence of a spiritual mind
in childlike repose in Christ and His Word. The clearest proof
of an unspiritual mind is self-occupation. It is a poor affair to
be trafficking in our evidences, or our anything.

It looks like piety, but it leads away from Christ--away from
Scripture--away from God; and this is not piety, or faith, or
Christianity.   CH Mackintosh

Reader, in our day, we Christians take our spiritual temperature
several times a day to see if we are doing well. However, ac-
cording to Mackintosh, this leads us away from Christ and into
idolatry. It also undermines the peace and then rest we so greatly
desire. Perhaps between Christmas and New Years there will be
time to "enter into His rest." John 15:1-11 is a wonderful passage
to linger in as a foundation for the New Year. 

Pavement of Sapphire

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abiju, and
seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they
saw the God of Israel. There was under their feet 
as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the
very heaven for clearness. Exodus 24:9, 10

Amid the pressures of daily life, trust the Holy Spirit,
who is emphatically the Divine Remembrancer to bring 
all things to your remembrance, and to recall you to the 
consciousness of God. There is no duty in life, however 
trivial and commonplace, that may not be dignified by 
being rendered to God, as our service. This is indeed the 
secret of lifting all life to a noble and happy elevation. 
To do all for the Lord Jesus; to see Him standing behind 
every human relationship; to do the meanest and most 
irksome things because He takes them as service ren-
dered to Him. for which He will give reward--this is the 
Christian life, this makes the presence of God real, this 
dignifies the sweeping of a room...

Equally in our hours of recreation we may set the Lord,
always before us. Remember that it is said of the elders
of Israel that they saw Jehovah, and there was under his 
feet as it were the paved work of sapphire stone; they be-
held God, and did eat and drink... Happiest are they who 
are so at rest in Him that they do not hesitate to perform 
the natural functions of life with perfect ease, though all 
the while they recognize that He is nearer than hands or 
feet, nearer than breathing! The sense of God's presence 
would check immodesty, levity, self-indulgence, excess 
in eating or drinking, whilst it would give a new zest to 
all that was natural and innocent.  FB Meyer

Reader, there is a place of rest in service and in fun. The
Holy Spirit is able to keep God before you as you go
about your daily tasks. What an awesome God we have!
He does not want us to live independently from Him.

Great Encouragement

Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the 
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised 
imperishable, and we shall be changed.
I Corinthians 15:51,52

When scripture speaks of a mystery, it means that
God has kept it hidden in previous ages, but now
is made known. Paul outdoes himself in revealing
the mystery in this chapter:

If in this life only we have hope in christ, we are all 
men most miserable...
For as in Adam all die, 
even so in Christ all shall be made alive...
As we have been born the image of the man of dust, 
we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man...
The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the 
law. But thanks be to God, who gives us  the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Reader, we have victory in Christ in this life, and eternal
victory through Christ and what He has done for us. The
very next event on the prophetic clock is the "Catching
away of the Saints," also called "The Rapture." Last even-
ing Glen and I watched a You Tube video which gave us
much joy and great expectation of the nearness of our
Lord's coming. If you are watching the news and have be-
come anxious about outcomes, take a few minutes and
watch the interview of this old saint, David Reagan, and
be greatly encouraged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1KXiV73K3E

For the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, 
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet 
of God. And the dead will rise first then we who are 
alive and remain shall be caught up together with them 
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we
shall always be with the Lord.
Therefore, comfort one another with these words!!!
(Share this post...)  1 Thessalonians 4

No Condemnation

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

If God announces the gift of righteousness apart from 
works, why do you keep mourning over your bad works 
your failures? Do you not see that it is because you still
have hopes in these works of yours that you are depressed
and discouraged by their failure? If you truly saw and be-
lived that God is reckoning righteous the ungodly who 
believe on Him, you would fairly hate your struggles to
be "better;" for you would see that your dreams of good
works have not at all commended you to God, and that
your bad works do not at all hinder you from believing
on Him--that He justifies the ungodly. 

Therefore, on seeing your failures, you should say, I am
nothing but a failure; but God is dealing with me on 
another principle altogether than my works, good or bad--
a principle not involving my works, but based only on the
work of Christ for me. I am anxious, indeed, to be pleasing
to God and to be filled with His Spirit; but I am not at all
justified, or accounted righteous, by these things. God, in
justifying me, acted wholly and only on Christ's blood-
shedding on my behalf. 

I had justification from God as a sinner, not as a saint! 
My saintliness does not increase it, nor, praise God, do 
my failures decrease it! William R Newell

Reader, it is almost impossible for us to move from a works
based religion to a faith based justification by the work of
Christ on the cross. Every world religion is based on merit
through works, but not Christianity. If we are IN Christ
there is nothing more to be done to be good in God's eyes.
Oh, that we would be free from legalism that binds!

The Wonder of Christmas

God also hath highly exalted him...
Philippians 2:9

Child in the manger,
Infant of Mary;
Outcast and stranger,
   Lord of all!
Child who inherits
All our transgressions,
All our demerits
   On him fall.

 Once the most holy
child of salvation
Gently and lowly
   Lived below;
Now as our glorious
Mighty Redeemer,
See Him victorious
   O'er each foe.

Prophets foretold Him,
Infant of wonder;
Angels behold Him
   On His throne;
Worthy our Savior
Of all their praises;
Happy forever
   Are His own.
Mary MacDonald 1817-1890

Reader, I am having a hard time viewing the
babe this year. Lots of lights and decorations,
but where is the purpose for the celebration?

Transferred and Victorious

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and
scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the ene-
my; nothing will harm you. Luke 10:19

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as twin
events, certain definite issues in the conflict between God
and Satan were met and eternally settled. The victory over
Satan was fully and finally won which robbed him of the
last vestige of claim to sovereignty over the earth or the
race. He is henceforth a usurper and a thief. Jesus Christ
gained back all that had been lost and now the earth and
all that is therein are His not only by the right of creation
but by right of conquest.

To the believer in Jesus Christ it means that the sovereignty
of Satan over his life is ended and the sovereignty of God
begins; that he leaves the sphere of sin and death, darkness
and disorder, and enters the sphere of righteousness, life,
light and liberty; that he ceases to be a subject in the king-
dom of Satan and becomes a subject in the Kingdom of God,
and avows his allegiance as a member of Christ's Body the
Church, to Christ Himself who is its Head.

It means, in other words, that the old creation with all that
pertains to it ends at the cross and is buried in the tomb and
that a new creation comes forth in the resurrection.

It means that the old relationship with sin, self and Satan is
altogether annulled and a new union with God in Christ Jesus
is made, and that in this new relationship Christ becomes not
only the believer's Savior  but his Lord and his Life.
Ruth Paxson--died in October, 1949

Reader, it is so easy to forget that we have been transferred from
"The kingdom of darkness, to the Kingdom of God's dear Son,"
the Kingdom of Light. We look the same; we feel the same, but
we are not the same. The resurrected Lord now indwells us, and
that is why we can now live a victorious Christian life!

For Those Who Wait

Blessed are those who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18

We often hear about waiting on God, which actually 
means that he is waiting until we are ready. There is
another side, however. When we wait for God, we 
are waiting until He is ready.

Some people say, and many more believe, that as soon 
as we meet all His conditions, God will answer our 
prayer. They teach that He lives in an eternal now, that
with Him there is no past or future, and that if we can
fulfill all He requires to be obedient to His will, imme-
diatly our needs will me met, our desires satisfied,
and our prayers answered.

While there is much truth in this belief, it expresses only
one side of the truth. God does live in an eternal now,
yet He works out His purposes over time. A petition pre-
sented to God is like a seed dropped in the ground. 
Forces above and beyond our control must work on it 
until the actual accomplishment of the answer.
From, The Still Small Voice

Reader, there are many of you, including myself, who
have been waiting on God for something tangible for
many years. Truly, "there are forces above and beyond
our control" that are in the mix as to time and place. I
encourage you to be faithful in trusting the God who
has spoken to you about the matter.