“New Year – New Beginnings”
January 7, 2007
"If you fully obey all of these commandments of the Lord your God, the laws I am declaring to you today, God will transform you into the greatest nation in the world. These are the blessings that will come upon you: Blessings in the city, Blessings in the field; Many children, Ample crops, Large flocks and herds; Blessings of fruit and bread; Blessings when you come in, Blessings when you go out. "The Lord will defeat your enemies before you; they will march out together against you but scatter before you in seven directions! The Lord will bless you with good crops and healthy cattle, and prosper everything you do when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you. He will change you into a holy people dedicated to himself; this he has promised to do if you will only obey him and walk in his ways.” Deut 28:1-9 (Living)
As we begin this New Year I want us to enter it knowing that God wants to bless us. As I read this Scripture I can see a wonderful, loving Father longing to bless His children. He longs to prosper them. He longs to make them great. He wants to bless everything they do. He wants to bless their homes; their work; their relationships. He wants to bless physically, materially, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. He wants to bless in every way. He doesn’t want to withhold any good thing.
And what was true for God’s people in Moses day is true for God’s people today. God loves you. He wants to wrap His arms of love around you and bless you. He wants to prosper everything you set your mind on doing – as He did Joseph. Remember Him? The Bible says everything he did succeeded. (Gen 39:2) God wants to do that for you. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God loves you so much that He wants to heap His love and blessings on You?
I have to admit that it’s pretty hard to believe – but believe it. Imagine God whispering to you this year, “I want to transform your life. I want to prosper you and make you rich in material things. I want you to be confident and unafraid. I want you to know that I will fight your enemies and defeat them all. I will give you good health and answer your every prayer. I will bless your family. I will bless your work. I will prosper you wherever you go.”
Can you believe God is telling you that today as He told His people that same thing hundreds of years ago? He is. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn’t change. What He desired for them yesterday – He desires for them today.
So why don’t we experience those blessings? Certainly, we are blessed above all the people on earth with our nice homes and secure lives; with our rich food and warm clothing. We live in abundance. God has blessed us. But He wants to bless us more. Why isn’t He? The reason is the same reason that He couldn’t bless His people in Moses’ day. They didn’t have the kind of relationship with God that enabled Him to bless them as He desired to bless them. They were poor when they could have prospered. The problem wasn’t with God and His desire – but with them and their relationship with God. God said He had a wonderful land prepared for them. He said,
“It is a land ’flowing with milk and honey’; but I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn, unruly people, and I would be tempted to destroy you along the way." Ex 33:3 (Living)
Do you see that God loved them and longed to bless them. But He couldn’t. He couldn’t even get to near them. Why? Because of their relationship with Him. They were stubborn and rebellious. And God said,
“Listen now! The Lord isn’t too weak to save you. And he isn’t getting deaf! He can hear you when you call! But the trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you and will not listen anymore.” Isaiah 59:1-2 (Living)
Do you see the principle of sin here? Sin separates us from God. God doesn’t separate from us. Sin is rebellion and when we sin we drift away from God and His blessings. He wants to bless, just as any loving father wants to bless their child, but when that Child is rebellious, it ties the father’s hand. He disciplines instead of blesses. That hand is used to inflict pain – not pleasure.
I believe our sin separates us from God’s blessings. You may be thinking, “I don’t have any sin! I’m saved and sanctified.” Well, one of the results of sin is self-justification. God says the sinner doesn’t listen. We harden our hearts. We rationalize and compromise and harden our hearts. When God sends someone to us to correct us we won’t listen. We plug our ears. When He speaks to us through His Word, we won’t listen. That’s why in the last book of the Bible God keeps saying,
“Let everyone who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches...” Rev 2:11 (Living)
Do you see what a problem we have? We walk away from God and as He is calling us to return – we won’t listen. We justify ourselves. We excuse our actions. We refuse to hear. And His Word says,
“If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth.” 1 John 1:8 (Living)
“If we claim we have not sinned, we are lying and calling God a liar, for he says we have sinned.” 1 John 1:10 (Living)
I believe our greatest need this year is to realize, admit and confess our sin. Even if you are a Christian; even if you are a Nazarene; there is a need in your life for confession. When we first repent as new Christians - that is just the gateway back to God. It gets us on the road to fellowship with God. It is then He can begin to deal with us about our self-centeredness and our alienation from Him.
We need to understand that God doesn’t want service and activity from us or even the finding of great inner spiritual experiences. All service and spiritual experiences fall short of the goal God has for us. In fact, service and activity for God sometimes thwarts our achieving the most important goal. And that is finding and experiencing God, Himself. The greatest thing we can do is to submit our wills and desires to Him.
How do we do that? By the acknowledgement of our need and the confession of our sin. That is always the first step in seeing Jesus. You and I may give the impression of being earnest, godly Christians, but when we stand naked before the cross we have to admit that we are not really that sort of person at all. Standing before the one who sees into our inner being and knows us better than we know ourselves, we are challenged to drop the pose and posturing and admit the truth. No matter how long we have been Christians; no matter how mature we think we have become; Jesus has something fresh to show us today about ourselves and our sins and our relationship with Him.
What God asks, first of all, is truth. That is, plain, truthful repentance and honest and frank confession of the sin that we have committed. Simple honesty about our sins will put us right with God through the blood of Jesus. Doing all the good in the world will not put us right with God. His greatest desire for us is relationship – not service.
Job is a great example of a righteous man. God, Himself, proclaimed him righteous. But God allowed him to be broken and come to a place of confession before he could be at peace with God again. And that’s what God desires of you this year. Relationship. He want and intimate, loving, friendship with you. But it starts with confession. John said,
“But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.” 1 John 1:9 (Living)
David, who was known as a friend of God, said,
Come and hear, all of you who reverence the Lord, and I will tell you what he did for me: For I cried to him for help with praises ready on my tongue. He would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins. But he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!” Psalms 66:16-19 (Living)
Our relationship with God starts with confession. Sometimes we have to admit that it was not Jesus we really wanted – but His gifts. We wanted His blessings and not Him. Sometimes we repent and seek to get right with God as a means to the end – and end other than Jesus Himself. This year, let’s seek for Jesus; to get to know Him; to love Him just for Himself. Confess to Him that we wanted His blessings – and not really Him.
The second great need we have this year is to restore broken or bruised relationships. The Greatest command is to love God with all our hearts. The second greatest command is to love others as much as we love ourselves. Do you? Do you care about others as much as you care about yourself? Do you have any injured to hurt relationships in your wake? If you do- why? Isn’t it because of sin against those individuals? We put ourselves first and our desires and wills come first. And our sins (or rebellion) separate us from others.
So what are we to do? How can we restore these relationship? The Bible tells us.
“Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16 (Living)
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” James 5:16 (KJV)
Ouch! That kind of hurts, doesn’t it? Our egos are too fragile for this> Our self esteem is to delicate to humble ourselves like this. But if we want our relationships healed – we need to admit our faults. We need to confess them. It doesn’t say we are to confess before the town or even the church. But we are to go to one another (one on one) and confess. Then what are we to do? We are to pray for each other. Try it. You may like it. You will see relationships healed.
Confession is so hard for us, isn’t it? We are so vulnerable when we confess. But the fact that confession is hard proves that we are in control. It means we need to repent. It means we NEED to confess.
What is there in YOUR life that you need to confess? What is there in your life you need to become aware of so that you can confess it? Healing with God and with man begins with confession. The way to victory is always by repentance. An attempt to trust Him more completely and to rest in Him without an acknowledgement of the sin there is, never brings victory. He is the vine to me only as I repent of my trying to be the vine myself. It is only as I confess my unlove that I have His love. It is only as I confess my worry and lack of peace that I have His peace. It is only as I confess my resentment that I have His meekness. And so on with all the fruits of the Spirit. All fruit begins with a confession of a lack of that fruit.
I want to encourage you to begin this year on your knees. Some of us started it by taking communion. We began the first few minutes of the New Year by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. That’s a great beginning. That’s a good start. Now let’s continue by humbling ourselves before Him and confessing our sins and faults and failing – and seeking Him. Not selfishly for gifts or pleasures or rewards or blessings. I believe they come as we experience Him. He is that kind of God. But don’t seek the gift. Seek the Giver. Don’t seek the blessing. Seek the Blessor.
Dear Jesus,
As we begin this New Year, I confess my need of You. I am selfish and self-centered. Please forgive me. Help me this year to know you better. Help me to enjoy friendship with you. Help me with my relationship with others. Give me the courage to see and admit my faults to others and pray with them about our relationship. Teach me how to love. Keep me from spiritual pride and all sin. I give my self to You. Use me as You will.
In Jesus’ Name,
