Saturday, January 14, 2012

Change in the New Year

This came in my email last week.  I was thinking of doing a prediction post, but I like this one better. ~PL

THE BOTTOM LINE
Mark LaCour

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“My days are like a lengthened shadow, and I wither away like grass. But You, O Lord, abide forever, and Your name to all generations. (Psa. 102:11-12).
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Change -- it’s the slogan of politicians, the promise of unfaithful partners, the quest of scientists, the dream of inventors. Change is inevitable. While I type this my body will have changed microscopically so that I’m not the same person I was when I started -- having succumbed to the second law of thermodynamics.

But there are some things that will never change in 2012. Here are a few immutable things you can expect to happen this year: First, contrary to our relativistic culture, truth will not change in 2012. Truth by nature is immutable and eternal. If hypothetically all truth was capable of change, then the single truth that all truth changes would be immutable -- incapable of change (Psa. 117:2). Hence, proving the point.

Second, God’s nature, will, and glory will not change this year. Since God can’t increase or decrease, His plans can’t be frustrated, neither His glory diminished by any action or inaction of His creation. ". . . the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind." (1 Sam. 15:29).

Third, Jesus Christ as our high priest cannot and will not change. “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “you are a priest forever” (Psa. 110:4). And if a priest, then effectual in being heard by the Father (Heb. 7:25) and sympathetic toward His people (Heb. 4:15).

Fourth, the inability of sinners to please God will be inexorable. Just as leopards can’t change their spots (Jer. 13:23) sinners can’t please God -- never have, never will. All the cajoling of religious authorities, all the charity of benevolent philanthropists won’t change a sinner’s status before God (Rom. 3:10-18) in calendar year 2012.

Fifth, the hatred of your spiritual enemies won’t change in 2012. Expect the accuser to accuse, the world to seduce, and the flesh to oppose. It’s what they do and the forecast is for more of the same.

Sixth, God’s grace won’t change in its sufficiency in 2012. Whether faced with the opportunity to bless (2 Cor. 9:8), or struggling with trials (1 Cor. 10:13), everything you receive will be a mercy from God.

But lastly, there are some things in 2012 that must change: God’s people must change. They must be born again (Jn. 3:7) because they must see the kingdom of God. They must repent of their sins because they can’t perish (Lk. 13:3), and they must believe and treasure Christ (Heb. 11:6), because their pre-ordained inheritance demands their trust and obedience. All these “must” changes never change in how God deals with His children. They’re as immutable as God Himself -- which is far greater than any resolution you can make for yourself in 2012.

HT: Mark LaCour

Sunday, January 1, 2012

1-1-12

A new year. The name January comes from the Roman God Janus, who had two faces facing opposite directions. So we look ahead and hope for good things- or strength for the bad. And we look back and remember the good things- and hopefully learn from the bad. Let’s not boast of our achievements, instead, let us keep growing in the grace of the Lord.

I was thinking of wise, profound words to post, but I’ll instead give you the words of one wiser than I. My brother in Christ and former pastor Bob Jennings had this to say on his blog:
New year? The new year is a reminder of a great day coming when the Lord Jesus will return and make all things new.
Revelation 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
Sin, sorrow, and sickness will be gone.
Revelation 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
These words are “faithful and true” but only for those who have had a new birth, John 3.3 – an invasion of the living God into the heart, causing a person to begin to be radically different than he was and different from the surrounding world. He is a “new creation”, 2Corinthians 5.17, and as such, the Christian is a partaker already of the coming universal new creation – all things new. All the more, I’m not sorry I began to follow the Lord Jesus 40 years ago. I’m not sorry I came to Him as a sinner, trusting His sin-payment on Calvary. He is all I have. He is all anyone can have. Everything else gets stripped away.