Happy New Year

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New Year's Resolutions for Our Families

1. Husbands: Love wives just as Christ loved the church

2. Wives: Submit to your own husbands as to the Lord

3. Fathers: Bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord

4. Mothers: Love your children

5. Children: Obey your parents in the Lord

6. Husbands & Wives: Pray together

7. Fathers, Mothers & Children: Pray together

8. Husbands & Wives: Study God’s Word together

9. Fathers, Mothers & Children: Study God’s Word together

10. Fathers, Mothers & Children: Attend every service together

Jason

Repentance

The challenge of the gospel is the challenge of the human will. The challenge is not to get people to believe (John 2:23-24), confess (Luke 6:46), or be baptized (Matthew 3:6). The challenge of the gospel is the challenge of getting people to repent: to change what they need to change (Matthew 11:20-24). Sin has separated us from our God (Romans 3:23; 6:23). What are we to do with this guilt? This sin? Go to God and repent of it.

Repentance is not knowing we have done wrong. David knew he was wrong long before he repented (Psalm 32). Judas knew he was wrong and never repented (Matthew 27:3-5). Peter knew he was wrong before Paul called him out (Galatians 2:11-14).

Repentance is not feeling sorry about our sin. Judas felt bad about betraying Jesus. He was sure sorry he had done so. Yet he did not repent (Matthew 27:3-5).

Repentance is not regretting that your sin has caused pain to other people. Your sin affects everyone you know. Judas regretted the pain his sin caused Jesus. Yet, he did not repent (Matthew 27:1-5).

Repentance is not confessing your sin. To be sure, God would have us confess our sin (1 John 1:9). Saul confessed his wickedness and David’s righteousness (1 Samuel 24:17-19). Later, Saul confessed his sin to David (1 Samuel 26:21). Although Saul confessed, he did not repent.

Repentance is not a mere change of conduct. When Josiah set about to reform the southern kingdom of Judah the conduct of the people changed for a time (2 Chronicles 34:31-33; Jeremiah 3:6). A change of conduct does not necessarily reflect the repentance that God desires in the hearts of men.

Repentance is a change of the heart resulting in a change of behavior. Repentance is a change of behavior that results from a change in our feeling toward God. Repentance must begin in the heart because this is where sin begins (Matthew 15:15-20). You have to make up your mind to serve God. Only you can give Him your heart. And so, you must repent: “I am sick of sin and from this day forward I am finished with that. I am Yours!”

Jason

Maybe the Best of Things

"...hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.” (Andy Dufresne)

“Hope” defined. Hope is favorable and confident expectation. It has to do with the unseen and the future. As a verb, hope means “to trust” (Vine’s). Our Father in Heaven would have us “hope continually” (Psalm 71:14; NKJV)

“Hope” describes. Hope is the happy anticipation of good: “in hope of eternal life” (Titus 1:2). Christ is the ground upon which "hope" is based: "Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Christ is the object upon which the "hope" is fixed: “the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1).

“Hope” daily. God is spoken of as "the God of hope,” (Romans 15:13). He is the author, not the subject of hope. Hope is a factor in salvation: “For we were saved in this hope” (Romans 8:24; NKJV). Hope finds its expression in endurance under trial, which is the effect of waiting for the coming of Christ: “patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3; NKJV). Hope is "an anchor of the soul," staying it amidst the storms of this life (Hebrews 6:18-19). Hope is a purifying power: “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3; NKJV).

If hope is the best of things, perhaps hopelessness is the worst of things. Those without Christ are described as “having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12; NKJV). Christians do not mourn over the loss of a loved one “as others who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13; NKJV). Those who “have no hope” have not experienced the “one hope” of Ephesians 4:4. They have not experienced Jesus.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Peter 1:3; NKJV).

Jason

Live in the I AM

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14; NKJV)

The personal name of GOD is I AM, a Hebrew verb that means “to be.” GOD is. He is eternal. He is from everlasting to everlasting, the great I AM.

Allow the words of Helen Mallicoat encourage you…

I was regretting the past

and fearing the future.

Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

“My name is I AM…”

He paused.

I waited. He continued,

“When you live in the past

with its mistakes and regrets,

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I WAS.

When you live in the future,

with its problems and fears,

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not I WILL BE.

When you live in the monet,

it is not hard. I am here.

My name is I AM.”

Jason

Know Him, Follow Him, Share Him

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23; NKJV).

I've written these three points on the last page of my Bible. They help me stay focused. I hope they will help you.
Know Him. Paul sacrificed everything "for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:8; NKJV). To "know Him and the power of His resurrection" was the emphasis of the Apostle's life (Philippians 3:10; NKJV). My Father will reward me if I "diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6; NKJV). “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3; NKJV).
Follow Him. Christ has called me to deny myself, to take up my cross, and to follow Him on a daily basis (Luke 9:23). I am to follow His thinking, His speech, His behavior. I am to follow Him in everything - "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him" (Colossians 3:17; NKJV).
Share Him. When I come to Him He calls me to "go" for Him - "God therefore and make disciples of all the nations" (Matthew 28:19, NKJV). Go tell everyone who will listen who I am, what I did, what I am doing, and what I am going to do. Sharing Christ with others is the primary purpose of the disciple of Christ.
Father, let us come to know you more fully. Help us to follow your Son more closely. Bless us with the courage to share Him more boldly. Strengthen us by Your Spirit. In Him, Amen.

Jason