New Year's Resolutions

Philip asked us last week if we had made any new year resolutions, I must admit, I hadn't, I don't ever consider doing so. But Philip asked us to think about having a commitment to doing certain things this year. To resolve to do things that are set out for us in God’s Word, and he shared with us from Hebrews 10:19-25

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

Be bold, be confident in seeking and coming before God. There is nothing to stop us now, we don't have to shrink back, we are told we can come before God boldly, having confidence through Jesus that we will not be turned away.

Draw near, worship God with a true heart, this is a natural thing for a born-again person to do. We have assurance of our salvation through Jesus, who took the punishment for our sins, He is our High Priest, (we need no other priest), He is our Advocate before the Father, (we need no man as a go between).

Hold fast, to our hope, He who has saved us is faithful and just, we need not waver, we need not doubt, because it is all in Him, we are not saved by our own merit, we are not saved by what we have accomplished, we are not saved because we are worthy. We are saved because of what Jesus has accomplished because He alone was worthy to be a sacrifice for our sins.

Consider one another, resolve to put others first, don't think more highly of yourself but in humility and compassion, help one another, consider one another's needs, and do all the good you can, to all the brethren you can, whenever you can.

Assemble with other believers, there is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian, you cannot live the Christian life and neglect being with other Christian for prayer, worship, and the study of God's Word. A piece of coal that falls from the fire soon goes cold, but put it back on the fire and it soon begins to glow again. Some people can't meet with other Christians, such as those who are persecuted, some are extremely sick, but we who can, should not neglect this privilege, and we should remember in prayer those who can't.

So, this year Christian brother or sister, resolve to know God more, draw near to Him, be bold in coming before Him, hold fast in your hope, consider one another, and keep in fellowship with one another. Remember we don't know when the Lord is coming, but we do know for certain that He is.

He's Coming Soon

Fellowship Sweet

Philip our pastor and his wife Sheila are away at the moment so last week Trevor took the morning meeting and Alec the evening. This week Ken led the meeting and Gareth Philip and Sheila's son gave us a message. It was the first time he had done this, he has shared testimonies with us before how the Lord is working in his life but this was the first time he spoke on a scripture passage. It really was quite amazing how the songs and the testimonies people shared all fit in. Gareth had no idea what the songs were going to be, but the Holy Spirit did :) Gareth shared with us thoughts on "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul", it was thought provoking, uplifting and challenging. All the songs earlier had been about our dependency on God, He is all I need, He is more than enough and so on. We really must do some series heart searching to make sure that God is number one in our lives and that we are not trying to gain temporal things that in the end will do us no good whatsoever, they are fleeting and they are passing away. Gareth reminded us that in and of themselves there is nothing wrong with having nice thing it is when they take first place in our lives and put God second that the problems start. Money and material things are not the problem, the problem is our attitude towards them and if we are striving for more of these things instead of striving to know more of God and walking every day in worship and service to Him then we will grow more and more spiritually weak and our witness will be ineffectual.

Afterwards I went for a BBQ with my daughters and their hubbies at Hannah (my middle daughter) and Phil's home which you can read about here. Break out the barby

The evening service was uplifting also which was taken by Alec and Susan. We were reminded that Jesus is always with us no matter what we are going through, whatever our circumstance, whatever our situation, Jesus is with us and He will either help us through it or take us out of it, either way it will be His will. You can read Alec's message on the Elim website, Think on These things Troubles and Trials and I trust it will be of great encouragement to you, and uplift you and help you in whatever circumstance you find yourself in.