Happy New Year!

We were a few minutes late to see the ball fall in Time Square, but we did see all of the merriment going on.  What is significant for the celebration for New Years is that there is hope for the future.  No matter what 2011 was like, there is the belief that 2012 will bring greater joy and prosperity.  But for us who believe in God through Jesus Christ, is these just simply a wish or positive thought, or is there something more that we can rest our hope on?

Fortunately, there is more.  Our hope for a better year in 2012 rests upon our Heavenly Father.  But how, you might be asking.  We can know this through how God has worked through His people in the past.  In Isaiah 54 we find three different ways that God has worked in the past that is a template for how He is working now in our lives.  In verses 1-3 we find Isaiah relating to how God's people are figuratively represented by a childless women.  In the culture at that time, it was shameful not to have kids.  We also must remember that her condition was due to her own sin.  But through these verses God promises to remove her shame and replace it with joyful shouting because her offspring will be more than the one who has children.  The bigger picture is that God is able to redeem our past or another way of saying this is that with our Lord, life is a forward movement.  We are not to be enslaved by our weaknesses and failures, but through God forgiving work through Jesus Christ and His Spirit growing us right now we can move beyond our failures and limitations.

In verses 4-10 we see God great compassion for His people.  The command is given to fear not for God is with them.  The passage proclaims God 's compassion and lovingkindness for His people.  In verse 5 the Lord is identified as their husband, Maker and Redeemer.  God, through the prophet Isaiah, recognizes that out of His anger He did "hide" His face from them, but with everlasting lovingkindness He will have compassion on them.  What we can carry forward to the 21st century is that God is compassionate and loving toward His people.  He is not malicious or mean.  This should lead us to the truth found in Romans 8:31:  "If God is for us, who can be against us?" NKJV.  

Facing the future can be a daunting experience if we did not have the God of the universe working to accomplish His purposes through us.  The God centered view is that God has His purposes for us to accomplish through us this year.  Because of His power to redeem our past and because of His compassion for us, we can look forward to this year and for what it holds because He will accomplish His purpose through us not as a demanding dictator, but as a compassionate, loving Father.  Praise God!

God Bless,

Pastor Steve