New Year Message

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 January 1, 2004

 

THIS IS THE YEAR WHICH THE LORD HAS MADE!

 

Beloved Ones in Christ,

 

Wish you the very best of God throughout this New Year!

 

The message about this New Year that the Lord put in my heart is that:

 

"This is the day (in Hebrew it means, YEAR also) which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psa 118:24). Not only that God gave this year for us, but He made this year for us - what for? that we may rejoice and be glad in it. "Rejoice and be glad" - double rejoicing; why? - because God made and gave us this New Year.

 

For a child of God who lives for God, every day is made by God. In the beginning God made the six days, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Gen 1:31). In this New Year, let us believe His unfailing promise that every day is specially "tailor-made" for us. Everything that God made during the six days was made for the blessings of man. Even every day of the six days was made for the blessings of man.

 

As for the old creation, God made every day for man; we are the new creation. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2Cor 5:17). Therefore, being the new creation, old things have passed away. "All things are become new," our thoughts, desires, ambitions, prayers including all our days also - throughout the New Year and throughout our life.

 

If we believe, it is the Lord who made this year and it is the Lord who gave us this year, we will believe the previous verse also (verse 23): "This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes." Yes, if this New Year is the Lord's doing, as our God is marvellous, the year God made and gave also will be marvellous, as whatever made and given by the Lord has nothing evil in it, but fullness of the blessings of the Lord. Let us therefore, rejoice and be glad in it.

 

Can you believe, not only this New Year, but also every day of the New Year is specially made and given specially to you with eternal blessings in it? If you believe that this day is God's handiwork, then you will see the blessed hand of God in every detail of the happenings of this day and every day. Whatever happens this day, you will have the blessed assurance, "This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes" (Psa 118:23).

 

One of the worst trials that you can face is rejection, particularly from your own people."He (Jesus) came unto His own, and His own received Him not (but rejected Him)" (John 1:11). However, what an encouragement it is to see that "the Stone (Christ) which the builders (high priests, scribes and Pharisees) refused, is become the headstone of the corner." How strange but true, normally if the expert builders reject and throw away a stone as useless for the building work, nobody will dare to use it again even for the least place in the building. However, the Stone rejected by the skilled builders is exalted to be the head stone of the corner (most important stone for the most important place of the building). Humanly speaking, it is impossible, but what is impossible with man is possible with God. All what we can say is "This is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes."

 

From this the Lord wants us to learn that even if the worst trial we face in a day, even if it is to be rejected, humiliated and insulted by our own people, we must take it that "this is the Lord's doing." If we take our rejections as man's doing (instead of God's doing), we will become bitter against those who reject and despise us, and it will make things miserable (instead of marvellous). In other words, in every trial and trouble we face, see our God in charge of every situation. Then a very great miracle will take place in every moment of our life. God will become all in all to us - i.e., for us, Jesus will become better than the best physicians on earth; wiser than the wisest Solomon; higher than the highest heavens; purer than the purest gold; whiter than the whitest snow; sweeter than the sweetest honey; brighter than the brightest morning star; fairer than the fairest of men; lovelier than the loveliest rose; closer than the closest relations; better than the best friend. Oh, beloved brethren, shall we dedicate ourselves in this New Year that Christ may be all in all to us.

 

The lesson that we learn from this is that in this New Year whether we face rejections, humiliations, privations or any trial or trouble, if we take it in the right spirit (with the Spirit of Christ), then marvellous things will happen: God will turn human rejections into divine acceptance; He will turn our water into wine; bitter into sweet; darkness into light; weakness into strength; burden into blessing; sadness into gladness; sickness into health; foolishness into wisdom; failure into success; poverty into eternal riches; filthiness into holiness; discouragement into encouragement; depression into delight; shame into glory; confusion into peace; fear into faith; emptiness into fullness; mourning into dancing; sighing into singing; hatred into love; death into life; hell into heaven. Your life may be in a mess, but JESUS can turn your mess into a message.

 

Beloved ones, "This is the YEAR which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." As the Lord has made and gave us this New Year, let us rejoice and be glad in it. If God will make us glad, no devil can make us sad.

 

It may be possible, one of these days the Lord may come; by His grace then also we will shout and sing as we meet and greet Him in the air: "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

 

Once again I wish you a blessed and triumphant New Year!

 

                                                                             May God Bless you.