New Year’s Day

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!  Amen.”  (Jude 1:24-25, NIV)

Jude’s benediction — his letter’s final words — are a fitting beginning to the new year.

There are things we’ve done in year’s past that we wish we hadn’t done; there are opportunities we’ve left unexplored, but we need not despair: It is Jesus alone Who is able to present us to the ultimate Judge “without fault and with great joy.”

None of us knows what this new year holds, but we need not despair: Through it all, and at the end of all; He is able to keep us from stumbling, both now and forevermore!  – Luther

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“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25, NLT)

This is a win-win for all of us: Prosper through our own generosity, and assure our own refreshment by helping others!

Now, all that is left for us to do is to get out there and do it — and be it!  Yea!!!  – Luther

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“God saw that human evil was out of control.  People thought evil, imagined evil — evil, evil, evil from morning to night.  God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart.”  (Genesis 6:5-6, The Message) 

God had made humans in His own image and after His likeness.  The potential for immense good was resident within every creature, and it broke God’s heart to see divine inspiration squandered, and human potential corrupted.  Yet, it was this apparent disregard of goodness, justice, and mercy by the very people that God had created, that He regretted having created us.  Moreover, God was about to hit the “reset” button on the world that He had called “good” at the dawn of Creation.

Yet, even in the midnight of divine reckoning, God does not extinguish the flickering hope of reconciliation.  In the case of today’s scripture, God’s immutable righteousness required the “reset”; as His unfathomable mercy allowed a “restart” through the faithful obedience of Noah and his family members.

God continues to seek us — even in our rebellion.  God continues to loves us — even with a broken heart.  How can we resist such love?  – Luther

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