Our devotional readings this morning started out with a rather somber warning. I will share excerpts from these readings, interspersed with some pictures that I have taken recently. It is my prayer that the words from God's Word will not only give us cause to pause and consider our own hearts and thoughts, but also give us hope and encouragement as we enter this new year and decade.
I John 2:18
"Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour...."
This section of I John chapter 2 continues with more warnings and exhortations, and also some encouraging words:
I John 2:23-25
23. "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either;
he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24. Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25. And this is the promise that He has promised us--
Eternal Life."
From there we went back to the Gospel of John 1:1-18...what is it that we have heard from the beginning that should abide in us?
John 1:1-5
1. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
4. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
And Who was that Light?
John 1:9-10,14
9. "That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him..."
14. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
Skip down to John 1:29, where John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan:
29. "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"
34. "And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God."
And here, as we end this old year and begin the new, we will stop and give God praise and glory for what He has done for us!
Psalm 96
1."Oh sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2. Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3. Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5. For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6. Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.
13. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with His truth."
Not "The End", but the beginning!
Let us sail away into a blessed and Happy New Year, filled with hope, joy, and gladness!
"For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised!"
Amen!!
