As a new year begins, we can rest assured that it will bring changes to our lives.  Some will be appreciated while others may bring us pain, disappointment and maybe change our lives forever. 

Yes, life keeps happening!

Who would have thought this time last year that 20 beautiful 5-and 6-year-old children would be buried because one mad man killed them?  Their families’ lives will be forever changed.  Their nice city will always bear the scars left by the tragedy as they mourn their losses.

We have no guarantee that the plans and resolutions we are making now will come to fruition.  Does that mean we are curl to up in a corner and live in dread and discouragement?  NO, a thousand times, NO!  Not as long as God lives, NO.

Life will keep happening, but God is still on His throne.  We still have options; we still can make choices as to how we will live as “life keeps happening.”  Our future depends on how we face life and what we put our confidence in.  Some things will continue to change, as long as time lasts.  Of course, not all change is bad!  God has ordained progress in His earth.  New technology, new medical cures, etc. that benefit mankind are good and profitable.  When these changes are misused, they become harmful and detrimental to what God intended.

What can we depend on to be steadfast and unmovable to establish a secure foundation?  All signs point to the need for a stable place to stand in this ensuing year.  What can that be?  What is unchangeable, forever settled?

“Conservative” folks are gradually losing their toe-hold on traditional values that they grew up with and thought would last throughout the ages.  We live in a “relativity” age.  Truth doesn’t apply if it requires lifestyles to alter their values.  A new set of rules are just put into place, old ones discarded.  But rest assured that the plan God set in place when He created this world will not be thwarted by new rules made by any of His creatures!

It doesn’t matter how many times the stone falls on the hammer, the hammer doesn’t break—the stone does.  The only “new rules” that will not offend God are those made within the guidelines of the ones He has made.  So before we concur with new ideas, let us investigate how they line up with God’s.  Any deviation from God’s “ideas” will result in ultimate failure.  How can we know what to stand firm on and what to be lenient toward?  What is positive truth and always reliable, never needing to be altered as time marches on?  Only one standard measures up to God’s values—His Word!

“For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119.89).

Josiah, the 16th king of Judah, faced gross negligence in the beautiful Temple that Solomon had built.  It had been desecrated by pagan worship and lay in ruins.  He ordered it to be restored, and during the restoration, “The Book of the Law” was discovered.  Imagine this:  God’s Word had been lost in His house!  Sadly, there seems to be a repetition of that today in some places.  The remedy for today is the same as the one that Josiah used when the “lost” Word of God was recovered in the Temple ruins.

“And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, 'Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book.'  And Shaphan read it before the king.  And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.  And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest…'Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found...to do according unto all that which is written…' ” (2 Kings 22:10-13).

The only way that America will find the way back to foundational values, the only way that individuals will find the illusive peace and safety that they seek is the same path that Josiah chose.  Rediscover “The Book” and “do according unto all that which is written.” 

As we begin a new year, what better time than NOW to go back to the Bible for rules of conduct and morality, for prosperity and daily living with each other?  If we expect the blessings that God has promised to those who seek first His Kingdom, we have to play by His rules.  They are not hard to find nor are they grievous.  Just dust off “The Book” and open its pages to find life in its fullness.

This is not the first generation that has tried to eliminate God’s Word.  In the third century, Roman Emperor Diocletian declared, “I have completely exterminated the Christian writings from the face of the earth.”  He was not able to do so. 

In the 17th century, Voltaire said that within 100 years the Bible would be no more.  His prophesy failed.

In the 19th century, Robert Ingersoll stated that in 15 years he would have the Bible in the morgue.  He is gone; the Bible is still alive!

Most households have a Bible on a shelf or even on the coffee table; but displaying it will not put it in the heart.  The Psalmist said “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” Psalm 119:11).  It has to be applied to be effective.  Solomon said, “I applied mine heart to know wisdom…” Ecclesiastes 8:16.

The beginning of wisdom is to start with a key that will open wisdom.  A good place to begin is with Paul's advice to the Romans.  It's the "inside track" to understanding the rest of the "Book."

"...the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" Romans 10:8-10).

If we make one resolution for this New Year, it should be that we will “apply” Biblical principles to our daily lives; and we have to get into the Word and allow the Word to get into us to make this work.  Wouldn't this be a good consolidated venture for all of us?  It is the only hope for individuals and for our nation.  Let’s discard our change-as-needed book of rules and apply God’s unchangeable one, and we will soon begin to see results that are “out of this world”!  That is the resume that God is looking for in His people.

“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:  The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:  The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace” (Numbers 6:24-16).

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

~~Delores~~