TAKING INVENTORY

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  (Colossians 3:1-4 NRSV)

As we stand here at the beginning of a New Year it is a good time to reflect on the year that is ending and look forward into the year that is soon to begin. It is also a good time for God’s people to take inventory of their walk with the Lord. We should take a very close look at where we are in our relationship with Him. We need to examine ourselves and see where we have been, where we are and where the Lord wants us to be. This passage gives us the opportunity and the challenge to do just that.

-- Yohan Perera in a sermon entitled “New Year Sermon: An Old Challenge for a New Year"


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UTILIZING THE GIFT

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”  (Ephesians 2:8 NRSV)

A young couple decided that the wedding gift they received from the groom’s great- grandmother should become a priceless heirloom, so they kept it folded in its original package and stored it in a drawer. On the 25^th anniversary of their marriage, the bride decided to set a beautiful table for dinner using that heirloom, a special lace tablecloth. To her dismay, it fell apart as she took it out of the package. During the years of neglect it had rotted, been partly eaten by moths, and become useless and ruined.

In a similar manner, unless we exercise our gift of faith and are constant in worship and constant in contact with God’s Word, our faith will become dull, static, and stale.

-- adapted from Howard Kramin in “Hebrews: The Fulfillment of Faith”


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THE WISE MEN BROUGHT GIFTS

“When [the wise men] saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  (Matthew 2:10-11 NKJV)

Out of their travel bags they pulled treasures that they had brought. The Scriptures had predicted that kings from very far away would bring gifts. Baby Jesus must have been fascinated by the sparkling treasures and reached out to touch them eagerly. Little did He know that they symbolized and foretold that He would be a king, a priest… and a sacrifice.

-- Source Unknown

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THE WISE MEN WORSHIPED HIM

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’… And behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”  (Excerpts from Matthew 2 NKJV)

In the presence of the King of kings and Lord of lords we can do nothing less than stand in awe and praise at His majesty and bow before Him in worship.  The glory of the Lord cannot be compared.  It cannot be fathomed.  It is higher, more awesome, more wonderful, more majestic than anything we can comprehend with our finite mind and limited senses.  The glory of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.

-- From “God Will Make a Way… Stories of Hope”


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ROOM FOR CHRIST

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room and heaven and nature sing.”

One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. The innkeeper was not hostile; he was not opposed to them, but his inn was crowded; his hands were full; his mind was preoccupied. This is the answer that millions are giving today. Like a Bethlehem innkeeper, they cannot find room for Christ. All the accommodations in their hearts are already taken up by other crowding interests. Their response is not atheism. It is not defiance. It is preoccupation and the feeling of being able to get on reasonably well without [Christ in their lives].

-- Billy Graham

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