There is no renewal without He who renews. There is no resurrection without He who calls the dead to life. There is a stench that grows and lingers, a world sad with grief of the loss of life, but it shall not be forever. For those who walk the way of the Father, accepting the true way of God’s Son, who walked the way of death, but rose again, to these there is the promise of true resurrection. Not promise alone, but power to do so by the One true and faithful, who will come and gather His own. My Spirit beckons out as light in the darkness, power to the weak, truth to those living in confusion and loss. Death is the way of all other ways, but the way of the Father, through My blood, My light finds the lost and calls them by name. You are called. Do not hear the empty echoes of man-made faith in mindless matter. It breaths not the life of the living God. Creation shall not bow to creation, or it too will perish, but to the Creator of all, worshiping in Spirit and Truth. Come from the darkness. My life has come that you would have life, everlasting and full. The light of the universe is not your God, it is reflection only of the Father of Lights, who gives life through Me. Believe in Me that you shall live, even though you die. In My Name alone, there is hope, even in the darkness, for the things of this present world are passing away. The light of the universe fades, but My life renews, and it is this light that is the true light and life of men, for it comes from the Father, and Him alone, who has life, and gives it to those He wills. Raise your heart above the stars, for they too do My will. I speak life to you – arise in My light, that your renewed heart might forever bear the same.
John 1:7-11, 9-13 (CSB) – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it… The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
John 8:12 (CSB) – Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”
Bottom Line: With each trip around the sun, we celebrate the great renewal of New Year’s Day. As the old year passes and the new begins, we celebrate the hope that might come with it. If the passing year was particularly tough, as it was for most of us, with even more celebration do we welcome this world-wide renewal. We love the new start, the fresh air that it represents, the hope of better things to come. Through God’s words today, we are reminded of an even better, true and more lasting renewal, actually, the most important renewal of our lives – the one Jesus gives us when we decide to follow Him. For those of us who know this truth, we know the hope that it brings – not just for a new year, but for a completely new life! We celebrate daily the great hope of His light scattering our former darkness. Many today are bowing and praying to the “universe”, and if you look out to that night sky, as brilliant as it sometimes can be, it is appropriate that most of that universe is darkness. In this New Year to come, we pray for the Light of God to penetrate and renew, especially to those of us who need it most. Lord Jesus – in this new year, shine your light in me that it would be my new life! Amen!
