Revolution

It’s that time when we make New Year resolutions. Not just the one, but a few, or even several. We need to change and we know it. We could do better, and we know it. We should be a nicer person, and we know it. A simple question: If we already know where we need to change for the better, why wait until now?

New Year is the time of new beginnings we tell ourselves, and we believe that when we make these life improving gestures now, they will mean more. In fact, we might even complete some of them? But for how long??

It doesn’t have the new year ring about it, but why don’t we do something about our shortcomings when we see them during the year, and not wait until there are a few at the end? Do we think they won’t be as meaningful? Hmm.. I’m not sure about that logic. After all, how often have you heard the words, “I’m making a few resolutions, but I know I won’t keep them”. We need something more than a wish to do things better.

Since God is the source of all creation, that must include us! So, next time you need some resolution wisdom, don’t look in the Christmas cracker, or the Chinese fortune cookie. Check out God’s Word and what He says about doing and being better, because it all begins with His wisdom, and it’s there for the asking. That, my friend, is a revolution and not just a resolution! How about this for a New Year starter then?

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James1:5NIV

Out With The Old

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Isaiah43:18NIV

Putting the past behind us is easier said than done. We have a tendency to beat ourselves up over some of the daft things we did during the past year and so we become our own worst enemy. I have found that our true friends have already excused and forgiven us, but in the meantime we sulk in our own self pity. Do you recognise this characteristic? I think we all share it to some degree.

I like the thought that God is already doing a new thing in our lives. That’s a good reason to let go of the past. When God is at work on our behalf, He doesn’t do anything in half measures. He is complete, and thorough. I fully know and understand that we can’t always forget, but we don’t have to rake it up and sift through the rubble, do we? Being a God of Love, He will replace all the negative things in our heart with good, positive improvements.

You have heard the old phrase, “Let go and let God”, well here it is, all clean, shiney and sparkling for the new year. Why not take God at His Word, accept and apply this promise, and I include myself in this resolution too. Paul says it in Romans in a slightly different way. All those difficulties and hard times of the past year(s) will work together to complete His purpose and plan for your life (and mine too). You see, that is a promise for the faithful believers, and that’s us. Let’s go into 2019 with these verses in our hearts and minds!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans8:28NIV

Reach The Goal

Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven. Philippians 3:13,14

The New Year is now on us, so may we take these verses seriously. Paul brings his life’s work down to one thing as he tries as hard as he can to forget the past, which is not easy, and reach the goal of eternal life in heaven, because this prize is ours and worth all the trouble this world can throw at us. So, let’s keep these words in our hearts and minds as we enter, and work through the coming year 2017.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR CHURCH FAMILY AND FRIENDS, AND MAY OUR GRACIOUS GOD BLESS YOU RICHLY, AND KEEP YOU IN HIS CARE.

Made It!

Here we are, into 2014. We made it in spite of the pitfalls of the past year. For many, 2013 will be remembered for bad health, bad news, bad decisions, and the list could go on, but here we are at the start of a new year. It’s like having a blank piece of paper and starting to write your own story. Last year, this year, they are just the same except time has moved on, right? Oh so wrong!

Looking back we can see the whole year as it was. We have the benefit of hindsight, but no one has the gift of foresight to see what we will write on our blank sheet of paper in 2014. So we must take it slowly and patiently. No use in wondering or worrying what we will be doing in September, when we don’t know what tomorrow holds. When I was (a lot) younger, I went to camp and loved the fun and games, especially at night. We didn’t have a torch as we looked for hedgehogs in the nearby woods, but we did have a hurricane lamp that hung on the centre pole of the bell tent. You know one of those useless lights that you held above your head to see as much as you could while stumbling in the darkness, trying to find the path (and the hedgehogs)?

It is no surprise then that we have this advice in Psalm 119:105, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” There is good reason that we cannot see too far ahead of our lives. Who would really want to know what awaits us in the coming year? I don’t. Looking back gives me good reason to be thankful I didn’t always know what the next step was. So back to the verse. I am sure that God knows what is best for us, and only allows the light to shine on our feet, and that next step we take. Useless for finding hedgehogs, but great for living our life. What is this light? It is His Word. The Bible. So where better to set your year in motion than by reading the timeless light He has given. His Word. It is eternal, and can be trusted to get us through this day, and indeed every year we are given!

Another Chance

We stand at the door of another new year, and 2014 beckons encouragingly. Remember last year, when we did the same, and we decided to make resolutions to be a better person? Treat others patiently and with respect, go to church, read the bible and pray more, eat less or maybe more wisely, be an encourager, and give to good causes? These are all good resolutions, but I wonder how many we kept?

I am glad we have a God of the second chance, and how we need it. We mess up so easily and so often, it seems we never can get it right from one year to the next. So does it do any good to try? Of course it does, and we should never stop, as long as we realise that there are some things we cannot do on our own. Many of the things we resolve to do, come from the heart, and there is only one place we can make progress. That’s when we trust it with God, and don’t go back to do it by ourselves. Remember the failures from last year? Well how about trying a new approach this year by including Jesus in our plans for the coming year?

My guess is that if we are spared to stand at the gateway of 2015, we will be able to look back with a sense that we did the right thing by involving the great Creator in our plans. I think he would approve, so starting now, determine to have a Happy New Year 2015!!

Comin' or Goin'

There are times when our head spins and we don’t know if we are coming or going. That happens a lot, and to many people, so if you experience this birling sensation, you are not alone. Don’t worry, there is no cure, so don’t stress yourself by looking for one. The disease of ‘coming or going’ is incurable, at least for now.

We are in this state during the year, but never so much as at New Year time, and it’s the same every year. You know exactly what I mean, right? It seems that everything we decide to do has two sides. the good or bad, the better or best, the ‘what ifs’ of life hit us when we don’t go looking for them. It’s that time again. It’s getting closer to Hogmanay, and here we are doing it again, as if we didn’t learn from last year.

All those chances we had to do something better, or right, or just different than we muddled through last year, are here to haunt us again it seems. We go into another year with the same questions. Will we make a better fist of it this time? Can we succeed where we failed, or achieve that reconciliation that has eluded for so long, or maybe find that special prince(ss) among the low life that seem to live in the pond we inhabit? These are no small things, and we are right to want them put right, but are we willing to put in the time and effort to get the healing process started?

So, as we stand on the threshold of 2014, not knowing if we are comin’ or goin’, don’t just make a resolution in your head to make things better, have a change of heart instead, and without looking over your shoulder at what has happened last year, determine to make that wrong right, make the call of reconciliation, and find that Godly friend who might also be looking for you. Who knows where that might lead? Then we will know where we are going in 2014! Happy New Year!!

Your Choice

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11 The Message

It is here! A new year is on us all, and it will contain lots of shocks and surprises through until December. Some we will be able to cope with easily, and some we will struggle badly with. The good news is that the verse confirms that God has only good plans for us, not just for the year, but always. It’s not God’s fault if our year doesn’t work out the way we wanted.

We are not so good with our own plans or intentions, are we? When we think about it, many of the problems in our lives are self inflicted, and a direct cause of our own decisions, both bad and good. So instead of thinking about resolutions at the start of this year, how about thinking ahead to next New Year, DV, and looking back at the things we wanted to achieve, and those we could have done better? Maybe then with God’s help, we will be better people, and have made a difference. I like the way the Old Testament prophet says it: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18,19 NIV

Happy New Year, and may it be filled with God’s Love and Blessings!

Looking Back

And now we look back on all this and thank God, an artesian well of thanks! When you got the Message of God we preached, you didn’t pass it off as just one more human opinion, but you took it to heart as God’s true word to you, which it is, God himself at work in you believers! 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Msg

Looking back is not always good, and can be dangerous. Take Lot’s wife as a good example of that, she looked back and turned into a pile of salt! But then she did disobey the express command of God. She did not ‘trust and obey’ as the hymn says. Looking back can be contrary to God’s will, but it can also be hurtful as we remember those times we have been a disappointment to others or to ourselves. We could have done things differently, and we know it without somebody else telling us so. No one knows our failings better than ourselves, and reminders are not necessary!

A new year filled with fresh opportunities beckons, and we can either learn from the mistakes and disappointments of our past, or be condemned to repeat them in the coming year. As the old saying goes, “The one thing we learn from history, is that we don’t learn from history”. For my part, it is more than turning over a new leaf, or trying to make a fresh start. It’s that I must put any time ahead in God’s hands, and be content to do His will, without second guessing it in impatience because things don’t happen how or when I think they should.

We have been blessed with the gift of another year to let God use us, lead us and direct our hearts, so let’s resolve to give God the time to work out our future, whatever it is, and for however long He allows. So, Happy New Year!  

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13b, 14 NIV

Moving Forward

It’s now time to get down to some serious resolution thinking for the coming year, but before we do that we need to have a glance over our shoulders to see where we came from, and what has happened to affect our lives. Everyone, without exception, can see the past. It can be pleasant, and a great memory maker which will be relived time and again in the future. Or it can be a year which we wish we could forget, and perhaps forever be painful. The common characteristic for both bad and good things which happen to us, is that they will never be fully forgotten, no matter how hard we try.

However, the past can also be used as a measure of what we could and should do in the future. The coming year doesn’t have to be a repeat of the past one. Even good years can be made better, with God’s help. Making our next year better than the last, needs God’s help even more to guide and help us make our best decisions. So, as we stand on the threshold of this coming year, we can make it better than where we stand now.

Making resolutions can be a repetitive thing, re-making last years’ hopes all over again, so why not be different this year and include God in your thinking? Ask for His help in deciding which changes are realistic, and can be achieved, and not just pipe dreams. Maybe some resolutions can be seen as a ‘wish list’ instead of those things we are prepared to work at to make happen. That’s where our faith, and the reality of our relationship with God comes in.

For me it comes down to a heart felt and sincere prayer for help to make the next year different and better than before, but only made possible with God as my helper. That sincere prayer will stop me from making silly resolutions I can’t possibly keep, and allow me to be a better person as I lean on my Saviour, who is after all, an all powerful source of help.

Happy New Year as you move forward into 2012!

Happy New Year 2010

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:

"Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!"

And he replied:

"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."

It seems to me that these old words are wise words. Like all New Years, they are just that, 'New' and therefore unknown. Little did we know as we stepped into last year, what lay ahead. We were each met with joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, but we made it to this time. Now we look ahead into 2010, unsure of ourselves, or our future, so what better way, or Guide, to lead us through the shadowy year which is in front of us all.


Resolutions are good, but not always dependable. We can be strong when we make them, but weak when it comes time to 'do' them. So, how about the simple solution and decide just to 'put your hand into the hand of God' as the poem advises, and let Him lead the way. After all, He already knows the path, and better still He knows our weaknesses.


...so to my readers, and all those we love and care about:
Here's to a brand new dawn. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010! 

Christmas is Past!

So Christmas is over for another year! All the preparations, all the shopping, all the big dinners, eating too much, and all the family times together playing games with the children. Sometimes I wonder who the kids really are? Great as all these things are, they are soon over, and we are left with the cleaning up, and discarded wrapping paper to get to the recycling bin.


For many, Christ wasn't a part of their Christmas, and it would have been replaced with an 'Xmas' or another seasonal name. That is fine, and is a personal choice, but we are faced with another of those reminders now, of what we do with our lives in the coming year. New Year 2010 is a time to look back on the last year, and look ahead to the next. What will we make of that? A believer, or not, we usually find the better part inside us, and want to make the new year different, and hopefully our 'resolutions' will be kept! For our sakes, and for others.   
We are faced with another of those life's choices at a time like this. Do we try to be better people or just leave it all as it was last year? When we look back, we see things which we could have done differently, with the benefit of hindsight. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we don't get it until it is too late!

This year, let's take the opportunities when they come our way, learn from the past year, and don't make the same mistakes again. Sounds easy, but fraught with danger. Take care as you step into the new year, and if you have a faith, then hold tight. It might be quite a journey!