A New Month; April 1

Today is special to us all, because we have been given the distinct privilege by our Lord to see this new beginning.

Today is not just a new day, but it is the beginning of a new month and we are here, only because God has given us the privilege of seeing the beginning of another new month. May we never take for granted each new day. May we never feel that God owes us a new day and be ungrateful and thankless about it. May we never ever feel that the day is ours and run off and do as we please, with not the slightest thought of our Giver. 

It is so very easy for us to forget our Lord, Immanuel, forget that He has given us this privileged gift, and go about our own business, with not the slightest thought of Him. Perhaps we do think of Him and do acknowledge the gift of this newness which He has given to us, but sadly, along the way we forget Him and do all our own business.

Today, it has become incumbent upon me to pause for a bit, to remind myself and you as well, of some things which many of us have forgotten. We have either simply forgotten them, ignored them, or foolishly cast them aside as not necessary.

Be never deceived, our prodigal behaviour does not have to physically take us away from our Heavenly Father, in open ways. This is what I mean. None of us may have turned away completely, from attending Church worship, for example. None of us can be faulted on not praying to God and thanking Him for life, or not saying our grace before meals. But we are prodigals in our faith and trust in Immanuel, God with us. Too many of us show in our lives that God is not with us and that we have to live as people who are not covered by the Precious, Saving, shed Blood of the Lamb of God.

If many of us will be honest with ourselves and stop making excuses and giving ourselves exemptions for our sad, pathetic, shaky lives, we would note that we are not being the children for whom Christ Jesus died. Too many of us are happy, almost proud to say that we are worriers, that we have weak faith, that we are not able to trust God as we should, while continuing in the prison of fear and helplessness. We must not let the world and its convincing voices keep us believing that Jesus got it wrong and that it is humanly impossible to live as He commands us to live. The truth is that it is humanly impossible to live as He wants us to live, but Immanuel is with us in Spirit, to enable us to live as He says.

We have been given the Word of Promise of Jesus Himself to work the Father’s will, way and work in all of us who will trust Him. Listen to these words of Jesus Himself to us.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11: 28. We know that Jesus has given this promise to all who are weary and burdened. He never ever stipulated the quantity of the burdens, nor their quality.  Will each of us be honest about our lives and see whether or not we know this promise of our Master? Jesus is not dead, so why do we think that His promises are dead?

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16: 33. Jesus has said it openly, boldly and truthfully, that if we are in Him, we have peace. Do I have peace? Do you have peace? We cannot be in Jesus and be held in the prison of the world’s threats and troubles. Jesus has told us that He has overcome them all. There is no trouble, no evil and no power of the world that He is not Victor over. Jesus is not a deceiver nor is He a liar, so why do we feel that He cannot be our daily, constant peace?

I have just brought before us two of Jesus’ words. You know many more. As we have been given this first day of a new month, may we bow before our Lord and Saviour Jesus, seeking to truly be in Him and remain in Him.