God’s Will in this New Year

Matthew 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word;

As we enter this New Year we are hoping for the best. I presume, just like me you too might ponder over what is in store and/or what we might encounter in the upcoming year. On and after January 1 and possibly for the next 2-3 weeks we will be wishing everybody good tidings, with the hope that everybody will have a good year ahead. It is good to be optimistic. However, we should be optimistic by being in sync with God’s will, otherwise when things go topsy-turvy we will get discouraged.

The gospel of Matthew tells us an interesting story after the birth of Jesus. Jesus is just born in Bethlehem; a new star is shining in the sky; three wise men have come from the east with some awesome gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh for baby Jesus; the angels in heaven are rejoicing; the shepherds are witnessing the fulfillment of prophesy, that the Messiah will come; Joseph and Mary are thanking God for this awesome blessing that they have been bestowed upon. And in midst of all these wonderful things the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph, telling him to flee to Egypt.

I am sure that Joseph might have been motivated to ask God a lot of questions, with respect to the command that was given to him. If I was to imagine Joseph in current world scenario, he might have asked the following questions; Then what God? Do you want us to live in Egypt forever? Where will we stay in Egypt? Is there somebody there, who will take care of our needs? Should I inform my family of my move? This is too short a notice for me to move, my wife just had a baby? My finances are limited; will I be reimbursed for the moving expenses? Will I get a job there? Will I be able to send Jesus to a good private school? The list of such questions is endless.

Almost every time we desire to know every detail of task that is ahead of us, however in God’s view almost every time it does not happen that way. God gives us a word or takes us through certain circumstances such that we are left wondering what the next steps might be. However, we can learn something from Joseph. He did not ask any such questions, but when he woke up, took the young child and his mother by night itself and left for Egypt. His obedience was immediate, he never questioned God. We need to recognize that God always has a reason for his commandments, which is for our good and for His glory. As we read this passage in the gospel of Matthew we see that God gave this instruction to Joseph to protect the life of Jesus from King Herod and also to fulfill prophesy.

As the New Year begins we might be wondering what the year has in store for us. We want to know all things before hand, so that we can make appropriate plans to cover our bases, just in case we run into problems. We want to take full control of our destiny for the year. However, God unfolds his will and purpose in our life one step at a time. If God is telling you to do something this year, then just do it as he has told, don’t argue with him nor ask him why. God has his reasons and when the time comes, you will know and you will glorify Him for his wonderful love. Then God will tell you your next step, just like in the case of Joseph. God later tells him that Herod who was trying to kill the baby is dead, so now you can move back to Israel.

God loves us very much and he will always take care of our needs, even if we walk through the valley of shadow of death. So as you begin this year, I encourage you to look at Jesus and ask him to guide your path. Let your decisions be in sync with God’s will and your ways be ordered of the Lord. Then you will see the blessing of the Lord cover your life all the days of this New Year. So when somebody says, “Happy New Year” to you, you may want to reply with this statement, “Yes indeed it will be a Happy New Year, since Jesus will be guiding my path”. May the good Lord bless you and have a Happy New Year.


Stanley Samuel,
Associate,
India International Church

The Power of Sin

1 Corinthians 15:56 ……the power of sin…….

The other day I was reminded of the differing characteristics between a pig and a cat. The pig loves the dirt so much that it keeps going back into the swamp, as if the dirt is pulling the pig into the swamp. However, the cat has a total opposite nature. The cat is a clean animal, the moment a single drop of dirt falls on its body it immediately cleans itself. Interestingly, I saw a similar analogy in our lives. I am sure if you look into your life you will surely find some things or some characteristics that you seem to be constantly struggling with or doing which eventually leads to death. Many times we wonder why we keep doing those things. We make every effort to cover it up, read books to understand the root cause to possibly resolve them, sometimes we try counseling for help, and even we talk to friends or family to provide assistance. No matter what we seem to do we never seem to get deliverance from these infirmities that exist in our nature. For some people this nature is openly exhibited, while others keep it is as a dark personal secret.

We all seem to be drawn away and enticed to do things as if it was an invisible magnetic force. The Bible calls this magnetic attraction as the “power of sin”. Sin prevails in the lives of every person on this earth. Many deny the existence of sin in their lives. They either fail to recognize the power of sin, or perhaps are in a state of denial in spite of clearly observing the facts in their life.

This is very similar to what drugs or cigarette smoking does to a person. Both seem to draw the person like a magnetic force, until it kills that person. The eventual outcome of sin is death. Any act done outside the will and commandment of God will lead to eternal death. We are all drawn away and enticed like a magnet attracts iron. We can take any nature of sin and see how the power of sin devastates our lives. Pornography destroys God’s view of a perfect marriage. Drinking alcohol opens up the door for the devil to corrupt a good moral character. Un-forgiveness creates bondage in our life. Unwholesome talk can corrupt one person’s character. Uncontrolled anger can bring about a deadly destruction in one’s life.

Sin has a way to make people think that it is okay the first time, since we can get away with it. However, when you are entangled with sin you are hooked for life. Sin prevents us from enjoying the true fellowship with our God. The only way we can have eternal deliverance from this magnetic power of sin is through accepting Jesus and his sacrifice that he made on the cross. When you accept Jesus your nature will be transformed like that of a cat and you will always be conscious of the sin in your life. So whenever you are tempted, Jesus through the power of God will show you a way out of that temptation and eventually help you achieve eternal deliverance from sin.

So what do you want to do today??


Stanley Samuel
Associate, India International Church