The first Monday of the year. Now the Holidays are really over and reality sets in.
Perhaps you will be going work or school. Moms are getting children ready to get out the door. Spouses are leaving for their busy day.
Maybe a a retired person you are not looking forward to another week of loneliness and boredom.
Whatever your life is like this Monday, there is one thing that will get you through any situation. That is found in the Bible verse. Seek the LORD for His strength. Jesus is with you and will help you through every day in 2025 if you will look to Him for guidance.
1 Timothy 5:17 – Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine
Pastors are under attack today in every denomination. They are attacked from within their own church by disgruntled attendees and from without by those who don’t even attend or aren’t members of the church.
Some things you may not know about Pastors. Every Pastor has some of these problems.
97% of pastors have been betrayed, falsely accused or hurt by their trusted friends.
70% of pastors battle depression.
7,000 churches close each year.
1,500 pastors quit each month.
10% will retire a pastor.
80% of pastors feel discouraged.
94% of pastors families feel the pressure of ministry.
78% of pastors have no close friends.
90% of pastors report working 55-75 hours per week.
Pray for your Pastor and do something to show your appreciation for him. Write a note, email or text him if you are fortunate enough to have his personal number.
Intimacy with God requires a repentant heart. In His love, God says when we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to cleanse us. That cleansing restores our fellowship with Him.
God hates sin because He is Holy and Righteous. Sin is anything we have done that God has commanded us not to do.
All have sinned and come short. You can watch a small child only months old and already they are sinners. Selfishness and disobedience. They will be playing and grab a toy from another child, hit or bite.
Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins if we by faith ask His forgiveness, repent of our sin and put our trust in Him
Christmas is over, time to take down the beautiful decorations and keeping in our hearts the memories of Christmas 2024
It always makes me sad to put away those wonderful things that make Christmas special every year. As we put away the lights, tree, nativity sets, let us NOT put away the truth of Christmas, Jesus was born into this world to be our Savior, and it is our responsibility to tell others. So let us make a resolution to be better witnesses in 2025 and Serve Our Savior with more zeal than we ever had before.
Witnessing is a responsibility for every Christian. Tell someone about our wonderful Savior. In person is best. But, we can make phone calls, write notes and use social media to be a witness for the Lord. Be creative.
Think of someone today who needs the Lord and pray for him or her, and then contact them. People need the Lord now more than ever.
Acts 26:22-23 Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
A New Year! Some people have resolutions. They are going to loose weight, budget their money, meet a goal that has been put off for a long time. Usually, our resolutions last a week, a month but soon they are forgotten and we fall back into our old ways.
There is someone who can help you with your new goals. his name is Jesus. Jesus wants a relationship with you. He will help you. Jesus cares about you, and loves you unconditionally.
So, today, January 1, 2025 let’s make a resolution that we can keep. Everyday will be a new day. Start each day with Jesus.
Some of us have a lot of time in the morning to read the Bible and pray. Many of us have busy chaotic mornings getting ready for work, children off to school, babies who demand attention.
It only takes a minute to breathe a quick prayer. As you get dressed for work, pray for your coworkers. Packing lunches, pray for your spouse and children.
Put a post note on your bathroom mirror with a favorite Bible verse. It isn’t the quantity of time, it is the quality. Jesus wants to walk with you and talk with you throughout your day.
Start your New Year with Jesus. That is one resolution that you cannot fail. Jesus never fails.
Isaiah 43:18&19 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Many people will be celebrating New Year’s Eve tonight drinking, going to parties, etc., only to start the New Year with a headache and hangover. We can start our New Year with a clean heart.
Christians take time this evening to pray for forgiveness for the unconfessed sins that we have committed.
If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior there is no better way to start a new year than becoming a new person in Christ.
Happy New Year. May 2025 bring you and your loved ones peace and joy that only the Lord can give.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2024 is almost over. Just a few more days to reflect on this past year. Every year has both joy and sorrow. Maybe this year there was a new birth in your family, or you had a promotion on your job or moved into a new house. Think of the joy that you had this past year.
Then there may have been sorrow, a death in the family that has left a huge hole in your heart, or maybe you lost your job or your house is foreclosed.
Contrasts in life is a normal thing for man. The good news is that there is a new year coming that is like a blank canvas. God will bring some blessings and He may allow some sorrow, but it is always exciting to look forward to the new year and know that God will direct our path if we trust Him.
Proverbs 3:6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
On this last Sunday of 2024, I pray that you truly have had a blessed year.
Looking forward to the new year ahead may you seek to follow the LORD Jesus in everything you do. May He continue to bless you with good health, happiness and prosperity.
After the wise men’s visit, Joseph was warned in a dream to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt.
Herod was seeking to kill Jesus and not getting a report back from the wise men he had all the young children in Bethlehem killed. But Jesus was safe and the little family stayed in Egypt until Herod was dead.
Then once again Joseph had a dream and returned but went to live in Nazareth where Jesus grew from childhood until He started His earthly ministry.
God’s Word is true. Every prophesy concerning Jesus birth was fulfilled down to the last detail. Many people leave Jesus in the manger as a baby but do not believe future events also predicted in the Bible. Jesus is the Messiah, He did die on the cross and He is coming again to rule and reign over all the world. Are you ready for a great future with Jesus the coming King?
Matthew 2:13-15 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Center for Evangelists 
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