There is nothing like a New Beginning! After the divine, and joyful aspect of Christmas , the New Year Celebration is boring to me ( is it my age ? 60 plus ) I want a New Beginning, again! But the” alcohol and drug industry “- which history shows is my “olde enemy “ of Gods’ presence- is ringing in The New Year at this time , robbing and deceiving the public . It is not a New Beginning but just more of the same.
I hasten to add that Jesus does allow us to “eat and drink if we want to “. 1 Cor 10: 31-2 ” as long as God is glorified and this is not a stumbling block to another person. ” .Else where He says do all things in moderation and never lose control of your- self. But for many of us this is in the past.
Jesus is not a joy or party – killer at all but the opposite! If his ministry was prohibition , He would not have turned the water into more wine for the guests at the wedding party. This was His first miracle.
To make a moral statement,He could have refused the urges of His mother to do this act, or turned the wine into water.
But He did make a moral statement- in the opposite direction. Jesus the ex- carpenter , likes people to have ” happy relation- ships “ with each other ( as a ” corrupted ” template of things to come in heaven ?) In the proper circumstances He would join us . He made us as social creatures .The opposite is loneliness and bitterness, which is destructive to the Spirit, and un-Godly.
The media willfully exaggerate or ” play” on the expected , dis approving reaction of strict religious figures to “parties” . They again falsify the love of God for ordinary humanity. The media on purpose give a distortion of a ” strict” God – a lie to the “Truth “- to the un-saved. (for should they say anything “un-cultural” people will stop buying the paper or mag,-advertising revenue will shrink!) But we Christians belong to God’s Kingdom and are citizens of Heaven! Right!?
So is this a new year ? only in the calender. A new beginning ? you bet !
My God has convinced me – ” Every day ” is a new day ” in Christ ” . His blessings are re newed every morning ! I am a new creation in Christ ! The olde has gone . The new has come ! I am sure you know these verses!
I am reminded of ” rid your – self of all offense you have committed and get your – self a new heart and a new spirit . Why will you die ? I take no pleasure in the death of any – one . Repent and live ! “. ( Ez.18: 31) This perfectly sums up the salvation message , written in 600 BC.
There is Ez. 11:18 , ” I will give them an un- divided heart and a new spirit in them. I will remove from them their heart of stone and put a heart of flesh. Then they – I -will follow Him and they -I- will be careful to keep His decrees “.
In about 700 BC , in Isaiah Ch. 61 , The Lord said to him ” to bestow on us , a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning , and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair .” He was prophesying across the ages ( which of course He owns ) to , and ” of ” , you and I now. He is the beginning and the end ! ( said in the present tense ) In Him all things are holding together.Col1:17 We were chosen in Him before the creation of the world ! Eph. 1:4Believe it!
“The Spirit of Christmas “ spoken and sung by word (logos) as “joy to the world “,” holy night”,”peace on earth” , is a new thing every year. Where – as the turning of a calender page to another year (closer to the Lord’s return) is…”same world-different day!”
But He who has over-come the world by His resurrection is living in me! and where the Spirit of the Lord is , there is (redemptive) freedom!
And bringing with Him is “the Fruit of the spirit ,including love,Joy,peace,patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness and self-control.We have crucified our sinful nature.Since we live by our spirit we will keep in step with the Spirit.Gal5:22-5.
This is New, abundant living! Praise the lord!