SELFLESS

We tend to think a lot of ourselves. We naturally take care of our wants and needs first. The motto of this world is “Me first.” Yet there are some who dare to be different and have been acknowledged as selfless individuals, revered for the help they have given to the poor. Take Mother Teresa for example. Most would acknowledge here selfless giving of her time and resources while living a life of moderation.

Our prime example is to be taken from God and His Son, Jesus Christ. God could have made man entirely different from Himself, but He chose to make us in His image. He could have told us to sit there, be quiet and work while He ran things, but He put us in charge of His creation…

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 (NASB)

Jesus, the Son of God, was selfless in His short life on this earth…

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8 (NASB)

As you start out this new year, think about how you can help others. Think about how you can live the life that Paul speaks of in Philippians 2:3…

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; (NASB)

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PLAN

It seems like almost every day someone says to me, “I’m bored.” I ask some what their dreams are or what they want to “be” when they get older and the usual response is a shoulder shrug with “I don’t know.”

Have we forgotten how to dream? Have we forgotten to teach the young ones how to imagine the different possibilities that God has laid out before them? Might we also have neglected to tell them (or teach them) that reaching your dreams takes a plan and a lot of hard work.

Remember the old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”? The first book of the Bible shows us that God had a plan and went about creating the world and all it contains. He didn’t start creating man until He had formed the environment in which man would live. The environment provides our shelter and food to name just a couple of things.

God created light and separated it from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). He created water and separated the water from the sky (Genesis 1:7). He created dry land and separated it from the seas (Genesis 1:9). It wasn’t until he had done all of this, after a couple of days of work, that God “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10).

Only after the environment was ready did He start to create life: vegetation, fruit trees, fish, birds, wild life and finally man. Then He looked at everything He created and saw it was “very good.”

What “plan” does God have for your life? Do you know? Have you asked Him?

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ¹²‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:11 - 12 (NASB)

Plan the work, and then work the plan. Many today view “work” as a bad word but without it, nothing would be done.

God has set each one of us on this earth to do “work” for Him. Are you in tune with His plan?

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LIGHT

Many people are depressed about their lives especially during the holidays. You may be one of those people. Perhaps you wish things were different, a different boyfriend or girlfriend, a different job or a clearer purpose in your life.

Whatever it is that is getting you down, you need to know that there is One who cares about you and can make a real difference in your life. Look at this verse about an incredible change that illuminated things:

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. ³Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:2 - 3 (NLT)

If God can provide light for us to see by and light to fill the whole earth and sky, He can definitely provide “light” in your life.

• Light to see the “real” you (made in His image) and how important you are to Him
• Light to provide purpose and direction to your life

Jesus Christ is the light of the World (John 8:12). He was there in the beginning of the world (John 1:2-4) and He will be with us in eternity. The Lamb of God, our Savior, wants us to love Him and follow Him. We will not be sorry, nor will we want for anything…

2

We will dwell with Christ, our light, forever:

And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. ⁵And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 21:23, 22:5 (NASB)

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BEGINNINGS

The New Year has begun! Today many of you will be going back to work for the first time in 2008, a new beginning. I would like to encourage you to remember the beginning of beginnings and the One who originated all beginnings:

Genesis 1:1 (NASB) ¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God created everything that exists including the material that things are made of. He created you, me and all other human beings that have ever existed or that ever will exist. He alone is worthy of our praise and our worship.

Begin this new year by acknowledging the One who loves you and gave you life.

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HOPE

¹ Praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD, O my soul!

² I will praise the LORD while I live;

I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Do not trust in princes,

In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

⁴ His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;

In that very day his thoughts perish.

⁵ How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the LORD his God,

Psalms 146:1 - 5 (NASB)

The dictionary (Encarta online) breaks down the definition of hope into several things. The first is “confident desire: a feeling that something desirable is likely to happen.” The last definition it gives is, “trust: a feeling of trust.”

Those of us that call Jesus, Lord and Savior have placed our hope in Him. Jesus himself said, ¹³“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:13, NASB) We not only have a feeling that something desirable is going to happen, we trust the God of the Universe to make it happen. He has promised us new life and we trust Him to make that happen.

Blessed, or happy, is the man and woman whose hope is in the Lord…

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5 (NASB)

Trusting in our fellow man often results in disappointment. So, in this New Year, place your hope in God. You will not be disappointed.

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FAITHFUL

The LORD protects all those who love him,

but he destroys the wicked. Psalms 145:20 (NLT)

The Lord is totally right in everything He does (righteous) and overflows with kindness toward those who regard Him as Lord and Master.

He is so close to us (omnipresent) that when we call on Him sincerely, He is right there with us.

When we recognize the awesome nature of His power (Creator, Savior, Redeemer, etc.), He grants our every wish…because our every wish will be lined up with His will.

He hears our prayers for help (before we even think them) and comes to our aid to rescue us from our problems.

When we love Him sincerely (you can’t fool God!), He returns that genuine affection with protection from our enemies whether physical or spiritual

Look back over this past year and see where God has worked in your life. Can you find His protection in any specific event? Can you remember a time when you prayed for help and He was there with the solution? Can you recall something that you desired that only God could have brought about? Or perhaps you remember a time when He comforted you in a moment of hurt…it felt like He was holding you in His ever loving arms.

Take the time to record your findings. Perhaps it will come in handy in the coming year when you need a little reminder of God’s incredible faithfulness to those who love Him.

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