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Happy New Year!
FROM THE DECEMBER EDITION OF THE WHITEWATER FRIEND
Contributed by Doug Gwyn - Pastor
The new
year is a milepost in time. It offers us opportunity to resolve
events of the past, refocus energies in the present, and renew
hopes for the future. As Jews do at their new-year celebration in the
autumn, we can use this time to review the past year, forgive those who
have hurt us, and reconcile with those we have hurt. Jesus said that what
we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and what we loose on earth is loosed
in heaven (Matthew 18:18). When we hold onto old hurts, it tends to bind
and block our spiritual energies, the part of us that connects with
heaven. But when we resolve the past, we free up energies to face present
challenges. We find ways to live a bit more of the kingdom of heaven in
this life. But this won't happen without time spent in reflection and
prayer. As we put present concerns before the Lord in prayer, we are
guided in understanding where and how to focus our energies. And the
future? Well, Jesus suggests we let the day's troubles be sufficient, and
not worry about the future (Matthew 6:34). That's easier said than done!
But when we pray and wait for God's guidance, we abide in the Spirit of
Jesus, which comes to us from the future. And as we are faithful to the
Spirit's leadings in the present, we can be confident that we are being
drawn into God's joyful and victorious future, whatever the world may
throw at us in the meantime. Faith is about living the End-time hope amid
meantime conditions, God's ultimate reality amid this proximate situation,
heaven on earth. 2004 A.D. -- 'the year of our Lord'? Our faithfulness can
help create that reality in important ways.
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