Happy New Year!
/Greetings New Life! (from church email, 1/17,20)
Trusting this fine third Friday in January (already!) finds you close to Jesus and in the best of moods as we continue in our service to the King of Kings in this New Year of 2020! In case you missed it, the scripture for the church that was chosen at our annual New Year's Eve Service is very, very appropriate for the times we are living in. Psalm 20:5 states: "May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God..." Yes, we can and we do..."shout for joy at the Victory we have in Jesus", and yes, we can, and we will, "raise our banners in the Name of our God."
Taken in context this verse gets even better. Psalm 20:1-5 states: "May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the Name of the God of Jacob protect you. May He send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests"NIV.
As we begin this New Year, may I remind you of a few precious promises based on this scripture? Here goes:
(1) Keep crying out to the Lord in good times and bad, for He is faithful to watch over us and protect us. (2) The Lord is faithful to always send us the help we need, often from the least expected sources, but mainly from "the sanctuary" and from "Zion", meaning from His church and from His resources. (3)The Lord always remembers our prayers, supplications, fastings and sacrifices. He never forgets when we earnestly seek Him. (4) The Lord really wants to give us the desires of our hearts, provided they line up with His plans for us...and when they do, they succeed! (5) Our responsibility is to always praise Him, thank Him, honor Him, to "shout for joy" as we remember His victory, and our victory through Him; and to parade before Him with our "banners", meaning our lives, our gifts, our sacrifices, our creativity, all in the Name of our God! Then, as we live for Him, His way, we are in a great position to receive the blessings we seek through our prayers and supplications.
The Word of God is replete with scriptures regarding our victory in Christ. This is exciting!
~Deuteronomy 20:4 “…for the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
~I Chronicles 29:11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head above all.”
~Proverbs 24:6 “…for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.”
~I Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
~I John 5:4 “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
Can I hear someone say, "Amen?!" Please know that you are loved by the Lord and by the church, and by your Pastor! Please know that you are being prayed for on on ongoing basis. Please know that this year, 2020, will be the best year ever as we walk and live in the Victory that is ours through Jesus Christ. Amen!
See you in "the sanctuary" this Sunday as we...continue! God bless you, and God bless your New Year!
All For Jesus!
Pastor Rick and Pamela
"May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God..." Psalm 20:5