Out With The Old And In With The New

Out With the Old and In With the New

Sunday, January 1, 2012

By Rev. James May

Is there anyone here who has made a New Year’s Resolution to do anything that you haven’t done before or to change some things that should be better in your life? I made only one Resolution – “To not make any Resolutions”. The way I look at it is this: The Holy Spirit is always dealing with us concerning the things that we need to give some attention to in our lives, and then God gave each of us enough of the ability to think and reason for ourselves and to figure out that some things are good for us and some are not. That resolution to change whatever the Lord is dealing with us about should be made at the moment that He speaks, and not just at the beginning of a New Year.

If there was to be a resolution for this day, it should be to take on the heart of Jabez and ask God to increase our borders so that our church and our lives individually could influence more people to accept Jesus. If there was a resolution for one change in our lives, that change could be wrapped up in one single thing; that we may know and draw closer to the very heart of God.

One thing is for certain! The coming year of 2012 is going to be an exciting time to be alive. Not only do we get to see whether the Mayan Calendar had the end of time all figured out; but we also get to see what God is going to do through his church as we draw ever closer to his second coming.

With there be wars and rumors of wars? Of course there will, for we can already see the saber rattling going on between Iran and the rest of the Middle East and the Western nations. They’ve threatened to close off the flow of oil to the world and everybody else is daring them to try. If I know the American public, $5.00 for a gallon of gasoline will make them mad enough to want to teach Iran a lesson they’ll never forget. I hope it doesn’t come to that. We don’t need another Middle Eastern war, but we may as well prepare ourselves for such an event because that area of the world is going to be hotly contested until the very end of time and we will always be right in the thick of the battle. My main hope in it all is that our government continues to support Israel!

I’m ready for the start of this New Year. The old one has been absolutely worn out. I’m looking forward to what God is going to do. I’m praying that this is the year of revival in our community; that this is the year that we will see more of the miracle working power of God in our midst than ever before; that this is the year that God fills our church with new babes in Christ; and that many of our children will be born again and begin to serve the Lord.

Isaiah 66:8, "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."

The fulfillment of our prayer is already promised, but there must be some travailing going on first. No child is born into this world without pain and suffering to some degree. If we really want to see a great revival, and see our loved ones, friends and neighbors come to Jesus, it’s going to take more than wishing; it’s going to take some travailing before God in intercessory prayer on their behalf. When God’s people get serious enough to cry out to God on a consistent basis, then we will see the mighty move of God that we all want.

1 Peter 5:6-7, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

At the beginning of the New Year we often look back and reflect upon the things that transpired during the past year. There were good times, and there were some not so good times. The cares of life that result from events of past year are weighing heavily upon some of us right now. But as the Word says, we can either continue to bear that heavy load, or we cast it upon the shoulders of Jesus and let him bear it for us. The price of victory over those troubles has already been paid. We cannot go back and change the past, but we have the power through Christ to change the future by learning to fully rely upon God.