Happy New Year! PTL for the promises and opportunities opened up for the year ahead as we walk with Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to the new things He has prepared for each of us and us together! Amen! May we come alive in '25!
Good Morning Fellow Travelers! Spend some time as we enter into a season of fasting and prayer to empty yourself and invite the Holy Spirit full access to you, your choices, and resolve to follow Jesus. He made you for such a time as this and has great plans for you to discover and step into. he also has great plans for our church as we unite as His Body and allow Him to lead us to His perfect plans for the year ahead. It's a year of promise and faithfulness of God for us to embrace and earnestly pursue. May we commit ourselves, our Church and our choices for the year to God today. May we invite Him to come be our Lord, Shepherd and be determined to follow Him well. Amen!
Many blessings to you and yours for 2025! maybe begin with some time in our devos below! God loves you and has plans to prosper you. Trust Him and invite Him to come have His way! Amen
What's God saying to you and what will you do about it! Let us commit to earnestly follow Him to His best! And may we all know the love, joy and peace we have and have to share! Amen
UR: A New Beginning
If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
I glanced out my front window, and the street was quiet. It was just another day. Last night, however, was much different. We heard the whistle and pop of exploding fireworks, the cheers of excited children, and the shouting of jubilant well-wishers ushering in the New Year.
For many, the start of a new year is a time for resolutions, marking a new beginning and starting with a clean slate. We might give up a bad habit, begin a new exercise regimen, eat healthier foods, mend a broken relationship, or improve some other aspect of our daily life. We do this in the hope of having a happier, better, and more fulfilled life.
Every New Year’s Eve reminds me of my own new beginning in 1967 as a young teen. My new beginning wasn’t a resolution to change one or two undesirable traits but complete repentance, and it transformed my life. The Lord Jesus Christ did all the work. I became a new creation. What joy there is in serving Jesus!
While salvation is wonderful, it doesn’t stop there. As Christians we must continue to grow in faith. We must be diligent in reading and following God’s word. Let us be examples to those around us and glorify God with our lives.
Today's Prayer
Dear Lord, help us to grow in relationship with you. May others see our good works and glorify your name. Amen.Sarah Young
TWFYT
ODB
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Most people have never heard of Kate Hankey, but she was a remarkable woman. A teacher, evangelist, school organizer, missionary, and poet, she faithfully served Jesus in 1800s England. In 1867, Kate contracted a serious illness. During her recovery, she penned a lengthy poem in two parts: “The Story Wanted” and “The Story Told.” The poem expresses in a very personal way her relationship with Jesus and the events of His life.
All Scripture points to Jesus and tells His story. John begins his epistle reminding readers how they had personally experienced Jesus: “That which . . . we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim” (1 John 1:1). Because of our experience of Him, the apostle writes, we’re telling the Jesus story: “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it” (v. 2). Later, John makes the fascinating comment, “The word of God lives in you” (2:14). In other words, the Jesus story is our story too. We’re called to tell the story of Christ in light of our own experience with Him.
This is what Kate Hankey did in her poem. Eventually, the two parts of her poem became these beloved hymns: “I Love to Tell the Story” and “Tell Me the Old, Old Story.” Perhaps we might, like Kate, find our own words and share our Jesus story with others—the unique way in which He loved us, came to us, and rescued us.
By Kenneth Petersen
REFLECT & PRAY
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What is your story with Jesus? How did He come to you and rescue you?
Dear Jesus, thank You for rescuing me and doing Your loving work in my life.
For further study, read Jesus Is in the Room.
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SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Many scholars believe that the apostle John, the author of the gospel of John, also wrote the three letters that bear his name. He wrote 1 John to refute false teachers who taught that Jesus is neither God nor human and points to His incarnation to show His humanity: “[Jesus] was with the Father and has appeared to us” (1:2). John had personally heard, seen, and touched the man Jesus (vv. 1-3), demonstrating that Christ is a real human person.
To prove that Jesus is the preexistent creator God, John begins his letter with the words “that which was from the beginning” (v. 1), echoing Genesis 1:1 (“in the beginning God”) and John 1:1 (“in the beginning was the Word”). Jesus is “the Word of life” (1 John 1:1), who “spoke” life into every living thing (Genesis 1; John 1:1-2). He’s “the eternal life, which was with the Father” and He’s “[God’s] Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:2-3), the promised Messiah.
K. T. Sim |
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