Sun Rises

We are saying goodbye to 2018 in just a couple of hours. Some of us will sleep through the midnight hour; some will quietly pray it in; some will party it in.

Truth is when midnight comes and tomorrow dawns it will be just another day. There is nothing magical or particularly spiritual about the moving of the calendar from year 2018 to year 2019.

It’s just we humans are finite and we function better marking time. We feel better about ourselves when we can claim a new beginning. I’m okay with that too. I like new beginnings! A lot!  And so, I am mindful tonight that we get just that with every sun rise.

Lamentations 3: 20 I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.  21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. source

And a further reading:  24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. 27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: source

So, are you game to start with this very next sunrise, January 1, 2019?

Looking Forward

As we prepare to enter the New Year, there may be some things we will need to leave behind  — The Word of our GOD is not one of those things. As we see the times unfolding stepping up our love for and obedience to Thus Saith The LORD will only serve us well! 

14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you.

19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God*, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you. source 

*That is our suffering is not because of sin we have committed, but rather because we ARE being obedient to Him, then* . . . emphasis mine

Exactly

The 6th month on the Hebrew calendar roughly corresponds with our month of September – it varies from year to year.

26 Then in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by Adonai into a town in the Galilee named Natzeret 27 and to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Miriam.  source Luke 1 TLV 

Verse 26 and 27 – The Angel Gabriel was sent by GOD to a town in Galilee, a specific town, not just any town in Galilee but the town of Natzeret. Why? Because in that specific town was a young women of child-bearing age but not yet married, a virgin.

Now let’s let this give us some deep spiritual pleasure. GOD sent. GOD directed the Angel – which means GOD is active and GOD is in charge. Moreover, HE sent the Angel to a specific place because HE knew exactly where the young woman was. In any given moment GOD knows EXACTLY where YOU ARE. GOD knew this young woman personally! HE knew her habits, He knew her goings and comings. Let that settle in on you like you’ve never heard it before. Let the HOLY SPIRIT breathe something holy into your being that will hold you and love you.

OF THE HOUSE OF DAVID. That is SO important. You see GOD follows the rules. GOD does what HE says HE will do. The House of David. GOD made sure the lineage was exact. GOD made sure the bloodline was just as it was spoken by the Prophets of the Old Testament.

This should give us holy awe and gratitude that GOD is GOD. HE is faithful. HE is exact. HE is sure. HE does what HE does ON PURPOSE because His purpose is to save US! Save us from sin, from ourselves, from hell. Just flat-out SAVE us!

The virgin’s name was Miriam (we call her Mary) but GOD called her!

Where else the rest of this reading will go I do not know but just this far wraps me in LOVE and I wanted to share.