A very blessed and fruitful New
Year to you all. Praise the Lord for His great faithfulness during the year
that is past. He blessed us with an amazing Christmas worship, celebration,
giving, and receiving. Thank you for your cards, Christmas greetings, and
gifts. We are blessed, so blessed indeed. I did get to conduct a service of
death and resurrection for a wonderful saint and servant of Jesus. She was 94
years old. She lived a full and faithful life loving and serving Jesus. John
Wesley said, "Our people die well". Indeed those who love Jesus and serve Him
die well to go on to live for eternity.
All our children and grandchildren
"came home" for Christmas. It was a great gathering indeed. My daughters
provoke me to love Jesus and they encourage me to serve Him well. We praise
the Lord for our daughters. They have grown to be servants of Jesus. We are
blessed with grandchildren who are full of life and joy. Praise the Lord for
this life in Christ which is indeed blessed with grace upon grace. There is so
much in this life we do not fully understand. There are things in this life do
not make sense, yet we see and receive life as a gift from the Lord. We live
with grace and gratitude. Praise the Lord for the days when it is sunny and
sweet. Praise the Lord for the days of bliss and beauty. Praise the Lord for
the days of victory and triumph. Praise the Lord when we see clearly how the
Lord has answered our prayers and has met all our needs. Praise the Lord for
the days when we can triumphantly declare, "My cup runneth over". We can also
make an audacious claim that "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of my enemies".
They are forecasting some heavy
snow for next two days. It has been very cold the last few days. It is sunny
and the mid 80s in Phubani , where I was born brought up. My friends and family
members are posting their pictures of outdoor picnics for New Year's day.
Shortly the mango tress will be blossoming in Orissa India ... The sweet smell
of the blossoms will fill the air. Praise the Lord for this brand new
year. Helen Keller wrote: "No
pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars or sailed to an uncharted
land or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."
This New Year, I am more
confident than ever about the future of the Church of our Lord Jesus, and I am
optimistic about your life and mine in the kingdom of God no matter what we
might be facing. I am optimistic because in 2,000 years of human frailty,
Satanic opposition, and worldly attack, the promise of our Lord that He would
build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it is as
certain today as ever.
We see this clearly
realized in the early church. With an apostle in jail, apparently failing to
evangelize and reach the Gentiles, the church's future seemed to be in
jeopardy. The truth is that while Paul was in prison, he wrote a letter of
thanksgiving to the Church at Philippi about how God was using his situation to
advance the kingdom. Paul thanked God upon every
remembrance of them. Their ministry had produced some great things in the past;
they had helped other churches and had been a blessing to the body of Christ.
Paul thanked God for them and for the fellowship they enjoyed in the
past.
Philippians 1: 6 is one of
the greatest verses in the Bible. Paul begins by speaking of "Being confident
of this…" God had done some great things in the past, but there were great
things to come. The Christian life is dynamic, alive, and moving through
history to reach each and every new generation that comes along. Likewise, He is
calling us into a future with Him. The reign of the Lord Jesus guarantees He
will see us through.
"Yet, my brothers, I do not consider myself to
have “arrived”, spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I
keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped
me. My brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now.
But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands
outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal—my reward the
honor of being called by God in Christ." Philippians 3:13-14
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
In
Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/BQiAWWDO_aY
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