Happy New Year

Well, it’s almost a brand New Year which will have some new challenges, new sorrows and some new joys. These are all part of our earthly life.  Have you made any New Year’s resolutions, which are really promises that you are making to yourself?  A new year brings about a desire for  positive changes to occur.

             Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) wrote out 70 resolutions when he was twenty years old and part of his resolution was to read them at least every week.  I really don’t know how many of them he kept or for

Volition

I really like this word but it carries with it a huge weight of responsibility and also a great sense of freedom.  When I first heard it I wasn’t quite sure of its meaning so I had to look it up.  The act of willing or choosing is how Random house defines volition.  Our life is full of volitional acts. You made many choices, one of which was to be at church this morning.  Before you got here you decided when to get up, what to wear, what to eat, etc.  Bad choices result in consequences which are sometimes painful and the duration can seem unending. God honoring choices brings forth the fruit of righteousness which honors God and brings us peace and joy in our daily lives.

When Joshua was near the end of his life he challenged the people of Israel with a volition.  Now

WORDS

                                             

The first couple of days after my surgery I was talking more than usual.  As the anesthesia was leaving my system, I was making many random comments. Some of these made sense but some were just ramblings that didn’t pertain to anything at all.

At times King David must have been concerned about the type of words or perhaps the amount of them that he was using. “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Ps 141:3  He also mentioned in

Ps 39 about restraining his mouth with a muzzle. He must have passed that information along to his son Solomon because he wrote, “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Prov 10:19

We must carefully consider the type and amount of words we are using in

Hold You

Hold You

Recently our grandson has come up with a phrase that he says from time to time; hold you.  It is not a question but a statement he makes, but he has the wording just a little bit off. He doesn’t want to hold you, but he wants you to hold him.  Whether he wants to snuggle up and show you how much he loves you or he is feeling a little frightened and he needs the assurance that you will keep him safe, he says hold you.  It brings so much joy in our hearts when he says, “hold you” papa or “hold you” grammy.

Our relationship with our heavenly Father is one of true intimacy.  We have such a close relationship that we can call the Creator and

Recognizable

While I was walking down a sidewalk the other day, a man passed by that I hadn’t seen in many months.  We made eye contact and he turned his truck around and we had a wonderful time talking and catching up.  He said to me “before I saw your face I thought that guy walks just like Pastor Marty.” (I didn’t know I had a walk but I guess I do).  After he left I started thinking about being recognizable.

In 2 Samuel 18, Absalom had been killed and the news is being brought to King David by way of men running with the news.  So the watchman said, “I think the running of the first is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.” (2 Sam 18:27)  Ahimaaz was recognizable by the style of his running.  Perhaps you see where I am going with this.

Are we recognizable as followers of Jesus Christ by our actions throughout the course of our normal everyday life?  Is the fruit of the Spirit resplendent in our lives whether