Greetings and Welcome to 2017!
By now you have probably declared that you’ll say good-bye to old habits that did not serve you well, and have made a few New Year’s resolutions in the hope that you can improve your life. If you’re like most people, those resolutions won’t last very long because you are depending on your own will power to make them happen, and if that’s all you need to succeed, then you could have changed those habits or situations long before now. So here are a couple of suggestions for you if you want to change your life for the better in 2017.
First, put your hope in God, not your will power. If you are a Believer, or want to become one, Scripture tells us that in Christ we are a new creation – not a fixed up one, or better version of one, but a NEW creation. This new creation is powered by the Holy Spirit. Mark 10:27 states, “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’ ”
Second, let’s rethink the message that our society has given us about the holidays. Stores start advertising Christmas shopping and gifts even before Halloween. By the time we go through all the experiences that Terrie spoke about in last week’s blog, we are ready to drop, stressed to the max, and sick and tired of the whole season. But how differently would we feel if we ignored what 21st century society dictates, and instead, take in the message of that first holy season when the calendar we presently use began, which was immediately following the actual birth of Jesus.
What if we considered Christmas Day as the first day of a new year instead of the Christmas season signifying the end of a year. After all, that was God’s plan that the birth of His Son, Jesus, be our new beginning. What came before his birth is over and done with; new and eternal life is possible beginning with the night Jesus was born. God’s Word tells us He came to save us, to restore our relationship with God, and to bring us peace.
Peace. Hmm. As each year goes by our world experiences more war and destruction. How can we really believe the message from the angels in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” We can believe it because it is true, and we’ll know it is true when we come to understand what the word “peace” in that first Christmas message really means. Our English translation of the word the angels spoke is far too wimpy and vague to convey the meaning and message of Shalom, which is God’s kind of peace, and His intended message that first Christmas night.
Shalom is not simply one word or idea. Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety, soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. It encompasses the idea of putting back together that which was broken, and putting it to rights as regarding relationships and lives.
God didn’t send Jesus to earth to wave a magic wand and end all disagreements and wars. He gave us Jesus so that we might know God the Father and experience a right and loving relationship with Him; that our lives would be changed and made new as we accept and experience His gift of Shalom.
If you are seeking a better life in 2017, instead of throwing out all the reminders of love and goodwill with your Christmas tree and litter, throw out those resolutions you thought about making, and stand on the belief that the New Year and New You begins when you worship at the feet of Jesus and truly celebrate His Birth; when you give your heart and life to Jesus. That is when you become a new creation, when the old things of your life are over and done with, and the new you is born. God’s mercies are new every morning, and by the power of the Holy Spirit you can live the life God planned for you to live, and be the person God created you to be.
We send our love and blessings to you as you look forward to 2017. We say to you “Shalom“, speaking into your life all the wonderful things that this powerful and lovely word means.
In His love, Sara Cain, Executive Vice President
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