MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2012 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year!  A time of new things, of new hopes and dreams.  A time of new beginnings.   Jesus is the source of all new beginnings.  Because He is the creator of new things and new people, Jesus has the power to re-create us and give us brand new lives when we give ourselves to Him.  Unfortunately, many of us, for a long time, thought we had to try to bring about a new beginning for ourselves and then give ourselves to God.  We have it backwards.  While we struggle, God invites us to come.  If we believe in His power to change us, accept Him and the new life He offers, we will become children of God filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

The Bible teaches us about Jesus, the living word when it says:  In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.  Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. But although the world was made through him, the world didn’t recognize him when he came.  Even in his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted.  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.  (From John 1)

The same power that created the universe is available to create a new life from our shattered hopes.  The light of that life that exposes and drives away the darkness of the human race is the same light that brightens the dark corners of our personal world. The source of all life and true light of the world is the source of our recovery.  Eternal life and true recovery are ours when we believe what God says.  We need to renounce our tendency to do things our own way and receive the one whom God sent to help us.