Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“Where have you come from and where do you want to go?”

God asked a person who was running away this question. It is my favorite devotional thought as I approach the threshold of a new year. When you have reflected on an old year and been filled with resolute thoughts about a new year have you ever had the thought, “I can’t stand another year, or a decade of years, like the years I’ve been having?”

If you have, this is a good New Years devotional thought for you. This question implies that if we do not have a crisis that changes things, we’re headed for more years like the years we’ve been experiencing. The most important change we actually need is that we be changed ourselves.

The Bible tells us that when the Ethiopian can change the color of his skin and the leopard her spots then we who are accustomed to messing things up are going to start getting it right. The good news is that we can meet certain conditions and then be changed by God.

It is possible for God to give us an experience Jesus called being “born again.” When that happens to us we’re told that we are a new creation. Old things have passed away. All things have become new and all this is done by God – not by us. So we’re not doomed to go where we have come from because we can be born again. The how question is answered in one word; that word is “BELIEVE!”

“ …I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10

A great Christmas word is “Incarnation.” (The word literally means “In flesh.”) We’re told in the Bible that on that first Christmas Eve God became flesh and lived among us for thirty-three years. We’re also told that everything we’re capable of understanding about God was revealed in the life and teachings of the Man who was God in human flesh. This includes everything He said, everything He was, and everything He did.

If you want to capture the true meaning of Christmas read the gospel of Matthew – especially chapters five through seven. As you do, every time you see Jesus declare a value, make that value part of your own value system. You will see what a revolutionary Jesus truly was because using the values of Christ for your own values clarification will revolutionize your values and your life.

Jesus said He came that we might have life. One way He gives us that life is by giving us the right values. If your values have been in what you’ve lost this year it may be you’re ready for a new value system. Check out the values of Christ and you’ll find that the greatest statement about values this world has ever heard and seen was when God became flesh and lived among us.

John 8: 31-36 … “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

A great Christmas verse is where we’re told they were to call His name Jesus because “He would save His people from their sins.” Many of us seem to apply that verse this way; “He would forgive His people for their sins.” A great Christmas word is Salvation. This word literally means “deliverance.” Jesus came to set us free from our sins. That’s why He could never pass up a person who was not free without setting them free.

An anonymous poet wrote “A famished bear, whose foot was clenched within a murderous trap wrenched about in fright and pain, around the tree that held the chain emitting many a hideous howl. His state was noticed by an owl that perched above him fat and free, philosophized from out of the tree, ‘To what avail this fuss and noise? The thing you need good bear is poise!'”

The poet was making a statement. There are two kinds of people in this world – those who are free and those who are not free. He’s also telling us that those who are free frequently look down with detached apathy on those who are not free. Our great Christmas verse announced that Jesus was no fat owl.

According to David, the worship experience is like having an audience with the greatest Monarch in the world. The protocol that leads us into the presence of that Monarch begins at the gates of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a gate that leads us into the presence of God (Psalm 100).

In practical terms this means that when we want to enter into the presence of God in our own private prayer closet, we should begin with thanksgiving. In other words, just start by thanking God for everything we can think of for which we are grateful.

In my own experience I have discovered that no matter how bad things get, the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff. When I, therefore, start thanking God for all the good things, I not only find myself in the presence of God. I confirm the reality that God is good and things are not as bad as I thought they were.

So no matter how bad things may be for you right now, discover the therapy of thanksgiving. Start thanking God for every good thing you can think of for which you are grateful until you discover, in the presence of God, that the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff and things are not as bad as you thought they were.

Matthew 6: 22 & 23
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

How do you see things??

According to Jesus, the difference between a life filled with light or happiness and a life filled with darkness or unhappiness depends on how you answer this question. He taught that if our eye, or the way we see things, is healthy our life can be filled with happiness. But if the way we see things, if our outlook or mindset is messed up, there is no end to how dark our life can be.

If you are one of the millions who have lost big in the stock market it’s so important for you to have the right attitude toward your losses. When we suffer a loss we have two options: we can focus on what we have lost and be depressed, or we can focus on what we still have and be filled with gratitude.

The next thoughts Jesus shared were that we cannot serve two masters. We cannot and we should not try to serve God and money. Is money the driving force of your life? Are you trying to serve those two masters? Are you serving God and money? Is your life filled with light or darkness – with happiness or unhappiness?

How do you see things?

“The Lord is my Shepherd…(Psalm 23)

These are some of the most familiar words in the Bible. They are loved by Jews, Catholics, Protestants and devout people everywhere. According to the Shepherd Psalm of David, the key to the real blessings of this life and the next is a relationship with God. The green pastures, the still waters, the table of provision, the blessing of God described as anointing oil and the cup that runs over all the time are all conditioned on that relationship. David tells us how that relationship is established in the second verse when he writes that, “He makes me to lie down”.

However, the spirit in which these words are often recalled can be something like this: “The Lord is my Shepherd—but I have a health problem”. Or, the Lord is my Shepherd—but I have marriage problems!” Or, “The Lord is my Shepherd—but I cannot control my children”.

When we say “The Lord is my Shepherd—but” we are putting our “but” in the wrong place. We need to get our “but” in the right place and recall the precious promise these words this way: “I have a health problem, BUT the Lord is my Shepherd! I have marriage problems, BUT the Lord is my Shepherd! I cannot control my children, BUT the Lord is my Shepherd!”

One way the Lord makes us lie down is to use health problems, marriage problems, problems with our children, financial problems, career and professional problems and any other kind of problems we can imagine to teach us about the relationship which is the key to all the blessings profiled in these beautiful words.