And I saw another sign in heaven, great marvellous,
seven angels having the seven plagues; for in
them is filled up the wrath of God: And I saw as
it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them
that had gotten the victory over the beast,
and over his image, and over his mark, and over
the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass,
having the harps of God. And they sing the
song of Moses the servant of God, and the song
of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are
Thy works, Lord God almighty; just and true are
Thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear
Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name: for Thou only
art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.
Revelation 15:1-4
Well, once again a new year begins and as always it seems to produce the need to rethink, to renew, to make vows, or promises, to begin again and all this is not a bad thing for it causes a person to meditate upon what is important to them and to, at least, attempt to make positive changes. Actually, it is just another day in the course of our lives, Sunday was the first day of the New Year, but really it is the day after Saturday, and the day before Monday. Yet, we must not take this new year to be just another new year. We must take the time to renew ourselves as well, a new year for ourselves. Before I return to Revelation let us take a time to meditate upon this new year and how we can make it better that the last year. Isaiah writes: "For ye shall not go out with hast, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you: and the God of Israel will be your rearward" (Isaiah 52:12). It is at this time, the year end and the beginning of a new year that we should turn to God, with eagerness for all that God has for the future, and time that often brings anxiety to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Too often we allow our yesterdays to check our enjoyment of God's grace, those sins and blunders. Turn you eyes upon Jesus, upon our God knowing that He has allow us to remember our yesterdays so that we can turn the past into a ministry for the future. Our remembrance of the past teaches us to not allow us to have a shallow security in our present.
Think upon this: "for the LORD will go before you:" Here is the revelation of God that teaches us that God will be our protection, our garrison where we have failed. God will watch our steps and will guide us, that is, if we allow Him to do so, that those sins, blunders of the past will not trip us up again, and they will if we do not allow God to reach back into our memories of the past and "clean house," of our conscience.
We have security for today, for tomorrow, from our yesterdays: "For ye shall not go out with hast, nor go by flight:" This teaches us to not be hasty, to impetuous, and not to remember to not be impulsive, thoughtlessness, but to have patience, to have the power of knowing that our God will go before us. Yesterday is gone, it is not reparable and we may have, and most of will agree, that we have lost opportunities, opportunities that will never return. Do pout, do not shout, do not be dismayed, God can transform all this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future.
Let the past go to sleep, let go of it, do not dwell upon it, and place all this in the bosom of Jesus Christ, leave it in His hands, and then your part is to step out into the future with Him. God is willing to do His part: are you willing to do yours?
We have a holy God who has promised us that He will by His wrath destroy all those who will not accept Him as Savior, but to those who are victorious will worship Him, rejoice in all that God has done for you, now, in the past, in the future.
I do hope your Christmas was a good one, and that this New Year will bring you to a greater joy in the Lord.
So the spirit lifted me up,
and took me away,
and I went in bitterness,
in the heat of my spirit;
but the hand of the LORD
was strong upon me.
Isaiah 3:14
May this year be a year of holiness for you
Richard L. Crumb
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