The New Year's Gift

I have always been different from everyone around me, so it should come as no surprise that I celebrate New Year's Eve differently too.  I really don't give much thought to celebrating it.  Sure, I may turn on the TV and look at other people celebrating, but it doesn't really move me.

I don't know where I got the idea, but for at least the last dozen years I have had my own tradition.  I spend New Year's Eve alone with God, and I ponder which spiritual attribute I lack the most--the one that would give me a closer walk with God, in the year(s) ahead, if I had it.  Then, I request it of God.


The most memorable was the year that I asked Him for faith.  I had already heard that one shouldn't ask for faith because it would bring many trials.  But, that's what I felt led to ask for, and I'm glad I didn't let fear stop me.

When the spring semester ended, I was surprised to learn that I would have no financial aid for the summer . . . and my lease would end at the same time!  As a single parent of three kids, this was not a good situation to have looming on the horizon!

After much prayer, I decided that camping in the woods all summer was one option.  But, that a better option would be to buy a camper shell for my pickup truck, store our things somewhere, and travel the USA for the summer.  I realized we had what might be a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'!

That summer is one that none of us has ever forgotten!  A whole summer of 'quality time' together really bonded us deeply.  We had a couple of destinations in mind--relatives that we could visit for a few days, but mostly we had 'time to kill'!  (I find that almost impossible to imagine these days!)

For $100 we bought a family pass to the National Parks, and we lived on $600 a month.  Every day I got behind the wheel and asked God to guide me.  I would set a jar of canned food on the dashboard and head east, driving and praying.

By midday we had a warm 'meal'.  We ate very simply and very rarely paid to stay at a campground or eat at a restaurant.  We trusted God to show us a safe place to park each night, and prayed we could sleep unbothered.

We soaked in the beauty of God's creation and rested--what a blessed thing that was!  We learned that California had a nearly magical forest of giant trees;  that in Michigan, blueberries grew on the ground; and that the mosquitos in Minnesota were something to be reckoned with!!  We fell asleep in the woods at dusk, serenaded by the most beautiful birdsong I had ever heard.

That summer, I learned that God can take a bad situation and turn it completely around; that He can be trusted to watch over me, even while I'm asleep; that He is always with me, even when I have no idea where I am; that some of His best gifts are free; and that a glimpse of blue sky, the song of a bird, or a gentle breeze can help me reconnect with Him when I feel alone and afraid.


In the days ahead, as the works of man grow more depraved and ugly, and as evil increases around us--remember to look up sometimes.  Let God's creation remind you of who is eternal and who is really in charge.  Remember that the trials and tribulations that lie ahead are only temporary.  Life on earth has never been easy.  Although things will get a lot worse--it won't last much longer!!  Ten years from now, it may all be behind us.

We have much to look forward to.  We will have a thousand years to live on earth, in peace and equity, with Jesus Himself in authority.  How I yearn for His truth and justice to be established upon the Earth; for righteousness to be the standard, and the law to be upheld; for things to finally be fair; for a chance to rest and walk with Him; for a time when evil is put to flight and goodness can prevail.


Last year was difficult.  Not the circumstances of my life, but the evil around us grinding on me, wearing me down.  I imagine that a year from now, 2009 will seem like 'a piece of cake' as evil continues to increase.  I've become polluted by our culture, taking on bad attitudes and values, picked up from TV and movies.  Anger has taken root inside me, and hatred has started to grow, as I have seen America stolen and our rights stripped away.

Learning that it is all part of God's judgment has helped me put it in perspective.  I have long known America was provoking His judgment.  Realizing that the destruction of America that is now taking place is God's will--because of our sin--my anger at the people involved diminishes.

Instead I cry bitter tears of regret.  We had it all, but knew it not!  We had such a priceless gift from God, but we threw it away.  We squandered our freedom, to indulge our lusts.  Oh how foolish we were!!  America is forever lost.  We can never go back.


The anger and attitudes I have adopted have hardened my heart and made me more callous towards the pain and suffering of others.  Tonight, I need to repent of my anger, and my attitudes, and move beyond them.  I think what I need to ask for this year, is compassion.  Someone's life may depend on it.

Unconditional Salvation?

American church, you have lost your way!  You are a ship, adrift at sea, cut loose from your moorings.  Great storms are coming, yet you have been rocked to sleep and are drifting unaware into the eye of the hurricane.

You call your prophets alarmists, and in your hearts you mock the messages God sends to you.  You shun words of correction, but chase after those who will flatter you and say what you want to hear.  You adore those who tell you that you can live as you wish and still inherit the kingdom of God.  (In this case, who is the God, and who is the servant?  By living this way, you exalt yourself to be God and relegate God to the position of a genie who grants your wishes whenever you rub his bottle in prayer!) You pick and choose what to believe, casting aside whatever doesn't suit you.

Some of you have 'chosen God' as a means to wealth, power, unlimited blessings, unending grace and supernatural protection.  I'm not just speaking to the leaders!  Most of you see Christianity as the way to a blessed life here on Earth.  What will you do if He takes it all away?  If He strips you to your bare skin and all you have left is His outstretched hand and His invitation to walk with Him?

God is fully able to keep those who want to walk with Him.  He will guide them so that they stay on the path, and help them up when they stumble.  But, unlike the adversary, God holds no man against his will.

When you, who are Christians, choose to live in sin, you abuse the generosity of God and insult his gift of grace.  If you continue to live that way, His anger will burn hot against you.  You were chosen to be a cleansing, preserving salt, and a light of wisdom and hope to the world around you.  Many of you are neither.  Of what use are you then to God?  Step aside and let another take your place, lest He sweep you away in His anger!

You have been given the choicest meats, the finest grain, the most fertile and beautiful lands, yet you take it all for granted!  Many of you even think you deserve it.  On what grounds?  What makes you any better than the man in India who will never sleep one night in a bed?  Or the filthy little orphan children who dig their food out of a garbage dump, and are never rocked to sleep in the arms of a loving parent? 

Don't you know you are balanced on the head of a pin?  All that you hold dear was given you by the grace of God--yet  how many of you even remember to thank Him?  If a little breeze should blow, you would topple to the ground!  God chooses who to humble, and who to exalt.  Don't make the mistake of thinking your position is secure!!

Do not practice sin, it will not release you from its grip. Make no mistake, it is 'him who endures to the end' who shall be saved.  If, after knowing Christ, you resume a life of sin--there is no sacrifice left that will cover your sins! 

Examine your heart and your motives!  Do you really love God, or merely the gifts He gives His children?  At dusk, He will come and take His children by the hand.  They will gather up their toys and take them from you, then they will head for home.  All that will be left for you is silence, and the vision of their backs as they walk away intothe deepening night.

If you have let your zeal for God grow cold, if you are living a life of sin, BEWARE!  You are standing on the edge of the abyss!  You are in very real danger of eternal damnation! 

It is not that God cannot forgive your sin, it is that you may soon be unable to repent--unable to feel sorrow, shame or regret, or to even summon the motivation to seek forgiveness! 

Sin deceives you, sears your conscience, takes away all shame and modesty, hardens your heart and mind, and closes your ears to the invitation of God to return to Him!  You don't know which stab of guilt will be the last you feel--which will be your final call to repent, before sorrow can no longer penetrate the hardness of your heart, and ceases to strive with you, leaving you to practice your sin unbothered.

Don't be deceived, God is not mocked--a man reaps what he sows.