Dearly beloved in Christ,
My loving greetings to you in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
In our lives certain events happen repeatedly. When we think of them, we feel why such unsavoury events happen repeatedly. “Why should such trials and tribulation pursue me? How long will this last?” The Lord God heard the prayer of Abraham to save Lot from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and had mercy on Lot and showed favour to him. The Lord asked him to leave the place with his family before its destruction. But he did not know where to go. He had to run away from that place to a mountain. He thought he would perish there. Today, evil pursues the lives of many persons. Life has become bitter to them. They are broken-hearted and spend their time in desperation. But the Lord God is merciful and relents and would wipe away your tears. He can remove all your worries. He will preserve you and protect you as the apple of the eye. He will make you live a wholesome live in this new year.
Some become depressed and desperate as the enemy continues to pursue them. Those who were delivered from Egypt began to leave Egypt for Canaan with the joy of deliverance and peace according to the word of Moses. God did not take them through the shortest route as He did not want them to see wars on the way which might make them to go back to Egypt. Instead, He led them in a roundabout way through the desert toward the Red Sea. Pharoah saw that they had lost their way and that the desert had entrapped them. So, he pursued them. Dear child of God, do not be disheartened by the fact that the devil is pursuing you at a time you thought that your problems have come to an end. The Lord who is with you is greater than the one who is in this world. He will wage wars for you against the enemy. He will destroy his works. He will lead you in joy and peace by protecting you and by being with you in pillar of fire and cloud. “For the wicked one shall no more pass through you; he is utterly cut off.” (Nahum 1:15). You will be blessed this year.
We know that in the lives of some, their sins continue to haunt them. This makes sorrows and bitterness to abound in their lives. But Jesus Christ annihilates sin in your life by forgiving you and giving you a new life and new assurance. You will henceforth be a new creation in Christ. Sin or darkness cannot continue to haunt you. This year He would do that in your life. He will protect and guide you. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who bore the sins of the whole humanity will cleanse you of all sins and forgive you. The sins that haunted you cannot pursue you any longer. He will help you to hate those sins and to lead a new life. Sins like addiction to liquor or drugs, pornography, hearing cine songs, and acts like stealing, telling lies, accusing others, tale-bearing, and other acts of unrighteousness that haunted you so far cannot have any hold on you as the Lord will cleanse you and bless you. The Lord God will do it for you and make you a weapon or instrument in His hands for His glory. You knew that the wages of sin is death and were sorrowful. Transformation will come in your life and joy would abound. All desires of sin will vanish. The Lord will do it for you and lead you.
The burden of debt that held you bondage so far will leave you and you will be free. You would have joy and blessings of abundance this year. This is the Lord’s doing. You may have questions as to how this transformation is possible. Have faith in the living Lord who calls into being things that do not exist. The Lord who blessed just five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 people to their satisfaction and to gather 12 baskets of leftover will feed you throughout this New Year with His abundance and help you by blessing what you have.
In the sixth chapter of 2 Kings, we read about a lady whose husband had been a prophet. But she was in debt after his death. Those who loaned her money had come to take her sons as slaves. She went to Prophet Elisha, who asked her what she had. She said that all she had was a pot of oil. He instructed her to borrow empty vessels from those around her and lock her house and pour that oil into those vessels. Then she was asked to sell that and settle her debts. The Lord will multiply that you have and make it sufficient for you. Debt cannot pursue you. The Lord assures you: “ you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow” (Deut. 15:6). This promise will be fulfilled in your life.
I. THE GOODNESS FROM THE LORD
The goodness and love of God will follow you all the days of your life. The Lord who assures you this is alive. James 1:17 tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” The Lord has enabled us to enter this New Year. He will bless us with His goodness and make it abound.
1. Protection
“Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” (Psalm 31:19-20).
We are in the midst of people who constantly work against us out of jealousy and competition. They expect us to be destroyed in diseases. With no reason, they seek destruction of others. Even members of the same family indulge in witchcraft against others just because someone’s children do better in studies than their own children. This affects them in their studies. I know one family well. Their son always stood first in the class. But in the public examination he got only low marks and passed. This was because of the witchcraft performed by the girl who always came second in the class. We cannot believe that such acts would be performed out of jealousy. Just because the family and their son trusted in the Lord, he could do medicine and could complete his studies with the protection of the Lord.
Thus, in business too, prosperous ones get into trouble and degrade into nothing. Such strife and competitions are rampant. Jesus Christ can destroy the works of the devil and give you a wonderful life. He is alive and does not change. Those who trust in Him will prosper. He will become your shield and protect you and your children and your boundary from any possible destruction of the enemy by the evil acts of sorcery and words of conjury. But “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns” (Psalm 12:5). Again, in Psalm 27:5, the Bible says, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”
2. No Lack
“The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” (Psalm 34:10).
Our Lord God supplies all sorts of blessings in full measure. When we seek Him truly, through His awesome acts He satisfies us with His goodness. Today you may be worried due to lack of something or other. When we start seeking Him with heart and soul, He starts to work wonders to meet all our needs. Then you would lack nothing; you would have surplus. But, instead of seeking Him, we approach others and banks for help. The Lord looks at your heart; He knows our heart and all our needs and problems. When you fully trust Him and seek Him with whole heart, He will meet all your needs. First, you must seek the Lord; then all other things will be added unto it.
I was greatly stressed due to debt burden. But I made a decision not to borrow any longer. At the time of Christmas, I did not know how to manage the expenses of buying new dress for children. I thought of paying the instalment and interest with my low salary and to use the rest for buying dress for children. Usually, after Christmas and New Year, we joyfully share about our new dress. I did not want my wife to say that she did not buy anything for Christmas. I thought that buying at least some cheap dress would make my wife happy. So, I decided to pray in the presence of the Lord, not for new dress but for enlarging the areas of ministry. There was only one chest of drawers in my house which belonged to my father. The Lord showed me the lowest drawer which was full of old dresses of children that cannot be used. I thought it might be filled with mice. When I examined it, there was a new pack of two-rupee notes. I was wonderstruck. I did not know when I kept it there. The Lord helped us to buy good clothes for all of us and to take part in the worship during those days. Thus, the Lord who does greater things than what we think and ask is still alive in our midst. When we go before His presence, He will meet our needs and there would be no lack.
Jeremiah 31:12 says, “Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the goodness of the Lord— for wheat and new wine and oil, for the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, and they shall sorrow no more at all.” When we go before His presence, He gives wheat which denotes the Word of the Lord as promises and comforts us. All His promises are as Amen. These words of promise encourage and comfort you really, and also counsel and caution you. These words make you holy and heal you. With these words, He will save you from destruction. There are several advantages of these words of wheat. Wine symbolizes spiritual blessings. It comforts the broken heart and heals the hurt and wounds. It denotes the spiritual gifts for the Lord’s ministry. The oil alludes to the Holy Spirit. When we go before Him, He fills us with His Spirit. When we commit to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to lead us as a Shepherd, He anoints us before our enemies. You would see that fulfilled in your life.
The flock and the herd refer to the blessings of this world. When we come to Him, all our needs will be met through His goodness and blessings to make our life like a watered garden. Thus, our life will be transformed. All our sorrows will be turned to happiness, and sighing will stop.
3. Satisfaction
“Who satisfies your mouth with good things,so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:5).
The Lord God who said, “. . . Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it,” is still alive. With His goodness we are filled to satisfaction. When He fed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and two fish, they were filled to satisfaction and the left over was gathered in 12 baskets. The same loving Lord Jesus Christ will satisfy your mouth and multiply good health in you. When He was on earth, He went about doing good (Acts 10:28). One area where he satisfies us is health. As said in Psalm 103:5, your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
He also satisfies us with the goodness from His sanctuary. Today many a one ignores the importance of the House of the Lord. Hebrews 10:25 advises us: “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” When we go there, we are satisfied with His goodness. Jesus Christ said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matthews 18:20). He indwells the praises of Israel (Psalm 22:3). There He remains and blesses us. In the gathering of saints, we are filled with His presence and are blessed to satisfaction. He will transform our worries into joy. Hannah went to the presence of the Lord and prayed for what she had lacked. The Lord heard her prayer and gave her a son. She had other children also later. Thus, when we go to the gathering of saints, His goodness fills us. Zachariah was doing ministry in the tabernacle. The Lord listened to his prayer and blessed him with a son. Whenever we go to the church, the Lord fills us with His true blessings.
I went to church for prayer on the birth day of my wife early in the morning on the insistence of my wife when I had not been saved. At that time an old woman was at the church who also had come for praying. She offered to pray with us. We told her that my wife was jobless. She also shared her problem. We prayed together. In the evening a person from the nearby Methodist school came and asked her to come to the school with her certificates. That evening itself we went there. After examining the certificates, she was offered a temporary job for three months. But later it became permanent.
Dear Brother/ Sister, the Lord who fills us with the goodness of the church is still alive. If we turn to Him, today itself He will fill us with double blessings. If you accept Him as your dwelling place, He will answer your prayers and will satisfy you with long days. The Lord will fill us with His goodness and satisfy us with exaltation and blessings to continue in the New Year.
II ABUNDANT GRACE
If we accept Jesus Christ as our Shepherd, not only His goodness but also His grace pursues us. It is a great blessing. Because Jesus Christ was born on this earth, we had the privilege of His grace upon us all. John 1:17 says, “. . . grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
1. Grace That Protects Us
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not” (Lamentation 3:22).
By the grace of the Lord, we are protected in our day today life. There is no end to His mercies. From the time we leave the house and return, we are safeguarded by His grace. Even though some meet with accidents, nothing of consequence happens by His grace. His mercies are there forever. Solomon acknowledges the mercies of the Lord when he says: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place” (2 Chr. 1:8). But Saul lost this mercy and so he and his children died.
Dear Brother/ Sister, the Lord your Redeemer says, “With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you” (Isaiah 54:8). He lives. By His mercy, we are saved from afflictions and sufferings.
2. Grace That Sustains Us
“...But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him” (Psalm 32:10).
Because of His mercy which surrounds us, we have great protection.
3. Grace That Forgives
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” (Hebrews 8:12).
Our sins are forgiven because of His mercy. All our sins are before Him from the days of our youth. In Psalm 25:7, David pleads, “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.” Whatever might be our sins and however big they might be, He is prepared to forgive us out of His mercy and would give us a new life of transformation, and would make us a useful tool in His hands. We should not lose this exalted mercy, but strive to live pleasing Him as His beloved children. Jesus Christ who bore all our sins on the cross forgave the sins of the thief who requested Him to think of him when He was in His kingdom. He assured him that he would be with Him in paradise that day. We are saved by this forgiving mercy from punishment. The earth is filled with His mercy. By this unending mercy we are forgiven to live a good life.
4. Grace Shows Compassion
“Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.” (Lam. 3:32).
Out of His fullness, we have grace upon grace. The reason for winning His mercy is His grace. All sorts of diseases, great and small, were healed by Him. By His unending mercy, we have recourse to escape from terrible diseases.
Dear child of God, you will be delivered from the evil that haunted you all through your life, and the works of the devil that persisted will cease through the goodness and mercy of the Lord and you will be blessed by having healing, strength and salvation.
May the Lord bless this year with all these goodness in full measure from Him!
In the service of Christ Jesus,
Bro. C. Ebenezer Paul.