–Louis L’Amour  (The Mountain Valley War)

      “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
                    –Romans 6:4 (NKJV)
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Welcome to 2023!  Whatever 2022 was to you, it is now over.  It is in the past, however, there may be some lingering consequences.  I am going to start the year by finishing Psalm 88.  It may be fitting for you in your situation.  2022 is past, but you may still need the Lord’s help to get you into 2023.  “You may be feeling overwhelmed by your present situation.  Go ahead and mourn with Psalm 88, but don’t stay in the pit.  Pray to God, who is more than able to help you, enabling you to climb into a song of thanksgiving and praise.”  (William Petersen)

          11 — Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?  Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
          12 — Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?  And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
          13 — But to You I have cried out, O LORD, and in the morning my prayer comes before You.
          14 — LORD, why do You cast off my soul?  Why do You hide Your face from me?
          15 — I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught.
          16 — Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off.
          17 — They came around me all day long like water; they engulfed me altogether.
          18 — Loved one and friend You have put far from me, and my acquaintances into darkness. (NKJV)

       What in the world am I writing this for the first Monday in the new year?  It is to understand that throughout life the Psalmist knew sorrow and suffering just like you and me.  Paul and Silas found themselves in the dungeon, but they sang anyway.  We are to remember that whether down in the woes, or in the pit, or in the dungeon, or the slough of despond that the Lord is with us, He hears our prayers.  “The problem with the pit lies in your feeling that this is the end.” (George O. Wood)  No, 2022 is past, the new year signifies the beginning.
       Preserve my life, so that I may declare your love and your faithfulness each and every day that I live (a little paraphrase of verse 11).  Now is the day to praise Him for this is the day that He has given you.  Proclaim His righteous deeds as you go through this new year.  Part of our reason for living is to glorify Him.  We are not immune from times of woe, suffering or discouragement, and we most likely will have some to one degree or another in 2023.  However, in the midst of them we must turn to the Lord for encourage-ment and strength.  Remember, “…My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9, NKJV)

                    “I’ll praise Him while He lends me breath;
                    And when my voice is lost in death,
                    Praise shall employ my nobler powers;
                    My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
                    While life, and thought, and being last,
                    Or immortality endures.”
                            –Isaac Watts

                    –G. Michael Hopf  (Last Ride)

       “But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.  Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.”

                    –1 Timothy 1:16 (NLT)
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“I want patience so give it to me now!”  Have you ever heard anyone say those words, or imply them in some manner?  Patience is a fruit, it must grow.  There are different things that help us gain patience:  a good heart (Luke 8:15) and trials (James 1:3-4) among them.  I came across an article written by an early church father–Cyprian.  I enjoy his writings.  He lived around 200-258 and was well educated.  He became a leader in the church in Carthage and eventually became a bishop there.  During the reign of Decius, Cyprian had to hide in a place near the city and led the church from there.  He was exiled in 258 and soon beheaded.  Ponder the words, take time for this is the last Echo of 2022.  Be patient…

       Let us stay alert and hold fast to Christ’s patience, but which we can reach God.  This patience, abundant and diverse, is not restrained by narrow limits, nor confined by straight boundaries.  But the virtue of patience is demonstrated widely.  Even though its fertility and liberality come from a single source…patience both recommends us to God and preserves our relationship with Him.  It relieves anger, bridles the tongue, governs the mind, guards peace, rules discipline, and breaks the force of lust.  It represses the violence  of pride, extinguishes the fire of hostility, checks the power of the rich, and soothes the needs of the poor.  Patience protects the blessed integrity of virgins and the careful purity of widows, and those united under a single affection in marriage.  It makes men humble in prosperity, brave in adversity, and gentle towards wrongs and disrespect.  It teaches us to pardon quickly those who wrong us, and, if we do wrong, to beg earnestly for forgiveness.  It resists temptations, suffers persecutions, perfects passions and martyrdoms.  Patience firmly strengthens the foundations of our faith and elevates our increasing hope.  It directs our actions so that we hold fast to the way of Christ while walking by His patience.  While we imitate our Father’s patience, we persevere as sons of God.

       The new year is coming–have patience, it will soon be upon us.  The old year, with all that happened in it is almost over, passed away into history.  The new is upon us with all the decisions that have to be made because of circumstances brought to us in the new year.  One thing not changing is Jesus Christ–He will be the same Savior and Lord in 2023 as He was in 2022.

                    –Elmer Kelton (The Way of the Coyote)

       “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

                    –John 15:15 (NKJV)
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Prayer, what a force!  Prayer plus reading God’s Word–a force that cannot be reckoned with–too powerful for natural understanding!    Add the power of the Holy Spirit and we can be “more than conquerors.”
       The other day my eldest granddaughter and I were having a conversation about prayer.  She said it was “crazy” in today’s vernacular.  “Why pray when God already knows, yet I know we should.  It was a good discussion.  Prayer is one of the most vital spiritual disciplines yet is one of the most neglected.  I told her that indeed God already knows but when we pray we are building up a relationship.  Everyone is saying that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion, but only, only if we pray and read the Bible.  That is how the relationship grows.
       How prayer works is for the most part a mystery.  God is omniscient, therefore, as my granddaughter said, He already knows, yet there must be more to it.  The more I contemplated it over the weekend, the more I began to think that there is indeed something more that happens when we pray.  Because of prayers, we see needs met, lives changed, miracles happen, but that is what the eye can see.  What about the spiritual realm?  What happens there?  I have come to the conclusion that prayer not only builds a relationship with Christ, but that there is something taking place in the spiritual realm.  Something far beyond our understanding.
       Prayer is simply talking to Christ, or to the Father.  Now don’t get me wrong, there is a time for formal prayer, and there is nothing wrong with the habitual prayer said over meals as long as it is meant and not perfunctory.  However, the stronger relationship comes through conversational prayer; talking to God in a conversation.  The more you know your Bible the better and easier this becomes.  Talk to Him as if He were beside you and a friend, for He is.  Your personality will dictate greatly to how you pray.  I remember a well known preacher lying in bed after heart surgery.  In walked one of his colleagues and began to shake the walls of his infirmity down.  He was a boisterous man and so was his prayer.  A while later another colleague came in and prayed over him, “Father, this is Joe.  My friend is in need…”  Get the picture?  Neither prayer was wrong.  Don’t let the devil trick you into thinking that God can hear only certain types of prayers.

               “When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
                          –Ephesians 4:14-19 (NLT)

The best gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”

                         –Burton Hill

 

       “Thank God for his Son–a gift too wonderful for words!”

                         –2 Corinthians 9:15 (NLT)

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!  to one and to all.  This is the time of year to take time to understand and appreciate all the benefits that Christmas brings to us.  There are many, both grand and small.  The primary, numero uno, most wonderful benefit is to recognize the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  But also look up at the stars, not only that they are magnificent in their creation–a word spoken by God, but they also remind us of that one star–see that bright one?  Hmmm…

       Go someplace, take a drive (weather permitting) and see the lights.  Our square here in Coldspring is brightly decorated.  The courthouse lights are beautiful and the nativity is brightly lit.  My first word was “pretty” upon seeing the pretty lights at Christmas.  Then there are the smells of Christmas.  Yes, we have to put up with exhaust if you’re living in the city, but out here, we can go out in the cold and the air seems fresher and cleaner.  Walking back inside, what is that smell?  Could it be an apple pie, or pumpkin?  Christmas morning will be the tradition of beignets, bacon, and coffee.  Ahhh, such a benefit.

       Christmas brings a smile as we remember the Christmases of the past.  However, the smiles don’t stop there, for they continue with the giving of gifts and watching loved ones open them.  They are all around the table as the turkey, ham, dressing, and all of the other bounty are there.  Look at each other once in a while, and enjoy their presence as they eat.  Oh, and let me say one thing–put away the phone!  It has been a blessing, but also a handicap.  

       Christmas is a time to remember to enjoy life as the One who gave life came into the world as a baby for the purpose of redeeming mankind.  Remember the past, but value the present.  Christmas teaches that we need to thank God for the things of the day; live in the present by giving thanks and sharing not only gifts but one another.

       Be as the wise men when the star again appeared to them.  “It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were filled with joy!” (Matthew 2:10)  Seize what God has for you this Christmas season–be filled with joy.  That joy is unspeakable and full of glory as is the knowledge of His Son.

       This is the last Echo until after Christmas.  I’m not sure what will be out the week afterward; it will depend upon whether or not my mind takes a vacation and I want to get up early to send out my morning note.  So don’t get up early and anxious next week to read my thoughts, but still be ready in case they come your way.  I wish I had the ability to send all my friends and readers a present, but you’ll have to take to heart when I say I pray that your Christmas is full of the wonder of Christ and of family and friends.