Psalm 136 begins and ends its passage with “Oh, give thanks.” The Psalmist penned each line to reflect on the goodness and deliverance of God for His people. What a way to start the new year, let us spare a few minutes and reflect on this passage. Let us continue to proclaim that the Lord’s love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord.
January; widely recognised as the National Thank You month by most US calendars. To most of us, it is a widely encouraged practice; starting the New Year with gratitude is the best way to reflect on the gift of life and the goodness of the Lord.
Psalm 136 begins and ends its passage with “Oh, give thanks.” The Psalmist penned each line to reflect on the goodness and deliverance of God for His people. What a way to start the new year, let us spare a few minutes and reflect on this passage. Let us continue to proclaim that the Lord’s love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord.
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Merry Christmas dear blessed families and friends,
As we gather to celebrate the birth of our Saviour, we pray that you will find the gladness of Christmas, filled with the love, joy and peace that the Lord Jesus Christ has come to bestow upon our lives. May you embrace His free gift of salvation and know that you are always loved and favored. Amen. - Hopeful Heart team. Do you ever notice that when something bad happens, many tend to throw in the saying of, “oh that is life” or “life happens.” That brought me to reflect that isn’t life much more than bad things that happened to us?
Thank you Jesus for this life and all the little things that made up our daily lives. As life unfolds everyday whether good or bad, help us to remember each day is a gift from You and it is a privilege to live in the freedom that You have given us. Teach us to number our days wisely and live it fully with thanksgiving and gratitude. Amen. 1 Thessalonians 5: 18 NLT Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. - John W. God's sweetest memorial is the transformed thorn and thistle blooming with flowers of peace and goodness where once recriminations grew. God is waiting to make just such memorials in your life out of the things that are hurting you most today. Take the grievances, the separations, the strained friendships and the broken ties which have been the sorrow and heartbreak of your life and let God heal them. Allow Him to give you grace that can make you right with all those with whom you have been wrong. You will wonder at the joy and, blessing that will come out of the things that have caused you nothing but regret and pain. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). The everlasting employment of our blessed Redeemer is to reconcile the guilty and the estranged from God. The highest and most Christlike work that we can do is to be like Him. Shall we go forth to dry the tears of a sorrowing world, to heal the brokenhearted, to bind up the wounds of human lives, and to unite heart to heart and earth to heaven? Instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree. Isaiah 55:13 NLT Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD's name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love. - A.Simpson ‘They huddled inside the storm door—two children in ragged, oversized coats. “Any old papers, lady?” they asked. I was busy. I wanted to say no—until I saw their feet. Little sandals sopped with sleet. “Come in and I’ll make you some hot cocoa.” There was no conversation. Their soggy sandals left marks on the hearthstone. I served them cocoa with toast and jam to fortify them against the chill outside. Then I went back to the kitchen to work on my household budget. The silence in the front room struck through me. I looked in. The little girl held the empty cup in her hands and looked at it. The boy asked, “Lady, are you rich?” I looked at my shabby slipcovers. “Am I rich? Mercy, no!” The girl put the cup in its saucer, carefully. “Your cups match your saucers.” Her voice was old with a hunger not of the stomach. They then left, holding their bundles of paper against the wind. They hadn’t said thank you. They didn’t need to, they’d done more than that. Much more. Plain white pottery cups and saucers, but they matched. Potatoes in brown gravy; a roof over our heads; my husband with a good steady job, these things matched, too. I moved the chairs back from the fire and tidied the living room. The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet on my hearth. I let them be. I want them there in case I ever forget how rich I am!’ Deuteronomy 8: 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God. - Author unknown Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Jesus, my heart's dear refuge, Jesus has died for me; Firm on the Rock of Ages Ever my trust shall be. I had never imagined that those beautiful lyrics from my favourite hymns, filled with praise and thankfulness, were written by a blind person. 'Safe in the Arms of Jesus', 'Blessed Assurance', and more than 9,000 hymns were written by Francis Jane Crosby (Fanny Crosby). In the matter of her blindness, Fanny Crosby said: "When I was six weeks old a slight cold caused inflammation of the eyes. Our usual doctor was away from home, so a stranger was called in. He recommended the use of hot poultices, which practically destroyed my sight. When this sad calamity became known, the unfortunate man thought it best to leave the neighbourhood, and we never heard of him again." "But," she added, "I have not, for a moment, in more than eighty-five years, felt a spark of resentment against him; for I have always believed that the good Lord, in His infinite mercy, by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do. When I remember how I have been blessed, how can I repine?" Fanny Crosby's life story and her hymns has deeply touched my heart. Just like the aspostle Paul, she had learned to be content. She even counted her blindness as a blessing instead of a hindrance. She loved the Lord and memorized the Bible diligently. Her heart overflowed with praise and by singing her hymns, we're reminded of the Lord's grace. Philippians 4:12-13 - I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. - Diven We often live in tomorrows, we plan mostly for the future which prevents us from savoring the present moment. We keep that fancy tea cup sets for another day or even, stationeries. We reason that we may need it someday but using it today will be a luxury. Tomorrow became an illusion as we continue to postpone it. We may find ourselves saying, “I will take time to pray tomorrow and listen to God without getting distracted,” but finds ourselves making another promise and losing our joy for not keeping our words. Perhaps, at work, we find ourselves saying many if onlys and only by having those satisfied, we are convinced we will be happy. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5: 19 – To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life is a gift from God. Its commentary for it states that life is God’s gift and a cheerful spirit is a great blessing from within, it makes employment easy and affliction lighter. This way too, we ought to accept the calling of God with cheerfulness and gladness as it is too God’s gift for us. God has made all things and given us the ability to acquire wealth/employment, friends, families, spouse, possessions and opportunities to enter into His calling. He has enabled us to enjoy every experience with all senses He has given us for this glorifies Him as a giver of both life and enjoyment. May we learn to make proper use of our times, savor every present moment and present ourselves to God in full presence without worrying about tomorrow or putting it off when we are able to do what we can today, whether in personal or professional life. Enjoy the lot that God has entrust us with a cheerful spirit and with this, we will remember our days with pleasure and gladness as God has intended us to. Ecclesiastes 5: 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil--this is a gift of God. - Irene Soon Recently I heard a preacher echo a truth that God’s been sharing with me, about pain and trials. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t cushion me in pillows and feathers and puppies. Sometimes I wonder why pain even exists. But I’d be lying if I told you that I come out of trials worse off than when I entered them. I’d be lying if I told you that my character doesn’t grow from the experience. The truth is this - victory in my situation may not look like instant healing. Victory might look more like choosing joy in the trial. Because that would be spitting in the face of the enemy. And as our preacher put it - our default then becomes resilience. We win when we choose Christ - when we choose joy, love, faith. James 1:2-4 ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’ Like a valuable but hardened rock, we must go through furnace in order to be refined. (Psalm 66:10 ‘For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver) So instead of asking God to take the pain and trials away from me, I’m praying - may I learn everything I possibly can throughout this trial, so that I can be mature and complete, lacking nothing. - Rebecca Ng No one knows what the future holds. We’re quick to wish a “happy new year” on January 1st, but we actually have very little control over how things will play out. “You do not know what a day may bring,” the Bible cautions. It’s good to plan ahead and lay solid foundations in our personal and professional lives, but we know from the start that the year is going to be full of events and circumstances that we haven’t foreseen and that we will have limited ability to influence. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, if it reminds us that when all is said and done, the happiest and most secure place for us and our loved ones is in God’s hands. Perhaps rather than wishing the outward manifestations of happiness to those we care about, we should wish for them to be connected to the source of those blessings, the loving Father who promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Whether the upcoming new year brings prosperity or hardship, health or sickness, love or loss, we can be assured of God’s love and presence, His ability to answer our prayers, and His standing resolution to make all things work together for good in the lives of those who are His children and who love Him. God never forgets His promises and He’s never unable to keep them. As Paul observed, “All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’” God bless you with His presence and care in the coming year. Hebrews 13:5 (NIV) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. John 14:23 (NIV) Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. - Anonymous The deep says, "It is not in me"; the sea says, "It is not with me." – Job 28:14 I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, “It is not in me!” It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of the Lord's love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the “depths” said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of God's eternal friendship and love for us. - Margaret Bottome |
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