A Fresh Start

The poets would have us believe that each "New Year" opens yet another chapter in our lives, which can easily erase the past with its blessings and burdens and, by simply turning over a "new" leaf, create a fresh beginning - a complete, total "makeover". How we wish they were right! Only in Jesus' grace and fullness is such a "dream" made possible. But even those resources do not magically make old mistakes go away or present realities disappear. We live in a fallen world among people who are selfish and deceitful- and find God's "much needed grace" to help in dealing with these same impulses within our own hearts. 

 
Into this effort, God's Spirit speaks Truth from Scriptures and offers us strength - to choose to change. I trust you are growing increasingly like Jesus as you experience this transforming work of God in your living and thinking. I hope Right Start daily stimulates you to such godly adventures and brings "fresh bread" encounters with the Living God through His Word. 
 
There are truths which are changeless, and therefore worthy of our trust. The Scriptures and the God who speaks through them are absolutely secure. I hope you are beginning this "new year" with your mind focused upon these absolutes. There are "other voices" who challenge your confidence in God's promises. Beginning on the first Monday evening in February, we plan to "test" these voices and their source. If you have not read the book, "The Three Princes" by Tom Julian, please consider doing so in anticipation of these studies. We want to open the Scriptures to uncover the deceptions and lies of the satanic hosts who are determined to unsettle our faith in God and His Word. Bring your questions to these studies as we look "behind the veil" into the strategies and schemes of the demonic hosts. 
 
We need to know that God has provided for our protection against these fallen, intelligent beings. God wants us to know how He has planned to remove them from their influence in our world. We are warned in the Scriptures to recognize these angelic creatures and their attempts to detour their Creator's plans for His universe - and the destruction of His people. 
 
There are many pressures on the uses of the monies which God places in our control. Many worthy projects beg our gifts and they champion noble programs. Thank you for prayerfully investing in the Right Start ministry. Please pray that these efforts will be used by God to speak His Truth into the cacophony of our world's problems. These moments of opportunity are limited by sovereign grace and that message is essential to the eternal existence of every listener. As demonic spirits actively seek to silence our message, they are powerless against the prayers and support of God's people. Thanks for being part of that team. 
 
Until He shouts,
 
Pastor Jim