"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalms 90:12; " ...redeeming the time because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16; "...."a time for every purpose" Ecc. 3:17; "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:13-15

As we enter a New Year, remember the one constant true for everyone, rich or poor, male or female: each of us is given 8,760 hours in a Gregorian calendar year. That is, 1,440 minutes a day, or 525,600 minutes a year. Sounds like a lot, yet have you noticed how time flies these days? Personally, I can't find enough hours in a day to accomplish all that I want to. When I was younger I had all the time in the world. These days its rate of passage is just short of astonishing. And time is one thing we cannot recapture once lost. Are we behaving like we have all the time in the world? We don't, and it was always an illusion to think otherwise. Time is precious. A heart of wisdom will rightly value the limited and uncertain portion allotted, and will make the most of it. Brothers & Sisters, seize the day. Discover the purpose for the time. The Lord will guide and empower you to live meaningfully and fruitfully, even as if today is the last day of your life; (it actually could be). If you need to, repent. If you need to, reconcile; don't wait. Pray for the Lord's economy in your use of time. You'll be amazed at the ways He inspires, arranges, and invests your time with His wonderful purposes. Every minute of your life will be assessed according to His value. So make the most of it...Shalom! DON'T BE FOOLED. TIME IS SHORT AND PRECIOUS!

"For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so your God will rejoice over you.' Isaiah 62:5; "Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints." Revelation 19:7-8; "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come." Revelation 22:17

The last and most intimate metaphor for Messiah's relationship with us is as Bridegroom to Bride. For some, the Lord's intention to marry will be the most significant and wondrous purpose in all of Creation. The preparation for the wedding will be the most meticulous and profound of all historical processes, orchestrated by His Holy Spirit in cooperation with every devoted and expectant saint who ever lived. Ancient wedding customs provide insight illustrating our preparation for the divine wedding ahead. In ancient times, acquiring a bride involved a transaction; a bride-price and a dowry were set and agreed upon in the betrothal of a young couple. Following this agreement the bridegroom returned to His Father's house to build a domicile for his expectant bride, while she anticipated her husband's return by preparing her wedding garments. In parallel, our betrothal to our holy Lord, the beginning of our preparation for marriage, required the offering of His cleansing blood on our behalf. And before returning to his Father's house following his death and resurrection, Jesus told his disciples, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself." [John 14:2-3] It is clear that Jesus expected his followers to understand the parallel to betrothal and marriage customs within their own culture, and to apply that understanding to their own relationship with him. This applies to us as well. Anticipating our Bridegroom's return will awaken a deep excitement stimulating an intense desire to be prepared for him. Brothers & Sisters, your love for your Bridegroom will be expressed in your desire to be like him. That preparation is the work of the Holy Spirit within you, cleansing and transforming you through faith, good works, obedience, and prayer, the "fabric" of your wedding garment. Your joyful anticipation of his soon return will inspire the abiding which prepares you for the heavenly announcement you've waited for all your life. PREPARE TO BE MARRIED!

"Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a shofar into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: When I blow the shofar, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the shofars on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!' " So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as they had posted the watch; and they blew the shofars and broke the pitchers that were in their hands." Judges 7:16-19

When God called Gideon to lead Israel against their enemies, He wanted to show that a small army empowered by God was more effective than the largest armies. But notice how they fought – without weapons that an army would normally use. They fought with shofars and lamps! They fought with weapons that the world would consider ineffective, yet triumphed mightily over their enemies. They shouted as loud as they could, sounded the shofar, and broke the vessels that held the fire so that their lamps burst through with brightness. This breaking of the lamps of clay holds a powerful metaphor for us. If we too are "earthen vessels" holding the fire of God – the Spirit of God within us, then a "breaking" of the outer man is necessary for His inner light to burst through. Victory can come out of brokenness. Our old life of self, often called the "old man", when truly crucified and broken, will give way to the release of the Lord's Spirit of God in our lives. The death of our Lord has broken the power of our self-life since we were crucified with Him. Walking in that awareness brings light and victory. Brothers & Sisters, let the love, joy, peace, and all the fruit of the Spirit breakthrough in your life. Your old life of Self has been and is being broken, as Jesus's victorious light shines through your earthen vessel this 2023 season. LET THE LIGHT BREAK THROUGH!

"The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes." Psalms 118:22-23 ; "Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily." Isaiah 28:16; "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." John 15:18

These first two scriptures are speaking of the same "Stone", the prophesied Messiah (Jesus), the "head of the corner" or "rosh pina", in Hebrew. This stone is laid in Zion, a common synonym for Jerusalem, where mount Zion rests. The stone is "tried", that is, tested in every way that a stone can be; the stone is precious and excellent to be set as a sure, reliable, accurate, even everlasting foundation, and a stone which is prepared and set in place by God, Himself. Can you think of a "Stone" more perfect or beautiful than our Messiah? Yet this same "stone" is rejected by the "builders"; but also believed in by others, who will not act hastily. The Hebrew word for "rejected", “ma-as”, carries even stronger meaning; "to abhor", "cast away", "despise", "disdain", and "be loathsome" are also denoted by it. So the "Rosh Pinah", the "Chief Cornerstone" of God is spurned, abhorred, held in contempt, and rejected. Now the builders are the ones who ought to know a good stone for a building when they see one. They're responsible for the quality of the building. But this precious cornerstone is abhorred and cast away by them; very sad and irresponsible. Yet the prophet clearly predicts this stone will become the "Chief Cornerstone", even though rejected by the builders -- and that it will be marvelous in the eyes of some...and these will not "make haste"; the Hebrew "chuwsh" means to hurry, or even "to flee in alarm". Apparently, those, who believe, will be at peace, they will be relaxed. Brothers & Sisters, The Lord Jesus said that our identification with Him would cause us to be hated and rejected too. And in this world, there are quite a few modern "builders" who have also rejected the "Chief Cornerstone", so we can expect that they will reject and abhor us who belong to Him. But the prophet said that believers in this Precious Cornerstone will not make haste, or flee in terror; instead, their belief, their faith, their trust will make them relaxed. Is that you? REJECTED? RELAX...... Shalom!

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:10-12

It ought to be obvious to all of us believers that we are in a spiritual war that is taking place all over the earth -- and that we are called to fight in this battle. In the world's armies, soldiers are not sent into battle before receiving many months of serious training. They need to get physically in shape first and then to learn how to handle different wartime situations and tactics of the enemy. For us, the moment we are saved, the Lord begins our training for the ongoing spiritual battle in this world. It begins with learning to trust Him for protection as young believers, and progresses through many phases even to the place where we may enter strenuous wrestling with principalities and powers, as the apostle Paul describes in these verses. Are you struggling in your walk with God? If so, realize that He is training you. Born into war, you are both protected and also necessarily engaged in the battle. Thank God for His protection and His preparation. We need both as we mature and become more involved and useful soldiers for Him against the diverse strategies and tactics of the enemy. The Lord's weapons are spiritual; they include a knowledge of the scriptures, the anointing of the Holy Spirit which increases with a devoted prayer life, the courage which comes only with deep trust, and His divine wisdom which reveals His strategy for our present situation. Realizing that we are in a battle, we ought to reflect on and discover where our weaknesses are. We may already be aware of some of them, but the Lord will show us if we ask Him for more insight. Our part is to cooperate with His development and sharpening of our spiritual weapons. If we cooperate with Him He will always lead us in triumph. Our present trial is the battleground for our next victory. Brothers & Sisters, so, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. With His armor, you will stand, and with His weapons, you will win. PREPARE FOR BATTLE!

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

Junk mail -- those annoying letters that fill your mail box. Along with the junk comes the delightful bills, and renewal notices. Of course the junk, we can just throw away, the bills, unfortunately can't be ignored, but the renewal notices, those we're thankful to see. Without them, we'd likely forget that we need to renew our licenses, our credit cards, membership cards, whatever else. Without those renewal notices, we might go to the ATM one day and not be able to get the cash we need because our card is expired -- oops! We might be asked to show our identification and the authorities might say, "Sorry Guide, this license is not valid - you didn't renew it!" Sadly though, the most important things in life that need renewing, do not come with renewal notices. We will never open a piece of mail and see a notice to renew our love for our spouses, our children or our friends. But if we don't continually renew our love for them, it will eventually grow cold. We'll also never receive the most important renewal notice -- to remind us to renew our relationship with God. Our relationship with God is the most important relationship we can have. It must be renewed daily! In Hebrew, the word "le-cha-desh" means to renew. Here you go. Here is your renewal notice. Renew your love for the ones you love today. Renew your love for the Lord. Renew your love for the things of God and for his calling upon your lives. Brothers & Sisters, we all need a little renewing today. Let's ask the Lord to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. HERE'S YOUR RENEWAL NOTICE!

"For this Melchizedek was king of Salem, kohen of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him," Hebrews 7:1 ; "Now it is beyond dispute that the lesser is blessed by the greater." Hebrews 7:7

Our life, the life of faith, is pervaded by paradox. Life faces us with apparently irreconcilable conditions and realities which we struggle to understand and integrate, sometimes throughout an entire lifetime. The Lord himself exemplifies this reality in his dual identity as the express image of God and a fully human male, who suffered the worst consequences of sin...without deserving them. We live daily within the paradox of God's perfect holiness and our fundamental human imperfection, needing constantly to accept His grace as we strive toward His perfection. Much of the life of faith is learning to abide in love and peace within our paradoxical existence, and Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to make it possible. He also offered us a pile of "paradoxical" advice exhorting us to behave or respond opposite to human nature. You want to be great in the Kingdom? Become a servant to all. An enemy strikes your left cheek? Turn to him the right one. Overcome evil with good. There are many of these if you look for them, and they begin to describe a lifestyle which distinguishes a true believer in ever increasing uniqueness. This passage in Hebrews reveals that Melchizedek blessed Abraham, according to this principle: the lesser is blessed by the greater. Given the greatness of Abraham, we might be surprised to discover the dimension of Melchizedek's status. His name means "My King is Righteousness", suggesting that he is a type of Messiah, and quite (paradoxically) qualified to bless the father of faith. Brothers & Sisters, this paradoxical life, perplexing, frustrating, tempting, tormenting as it is, incites most of us to react badly in one way or another, producing endless cycles of revenge, hatred, retribution, and remorse. But God, who is the greatest of all, blesses us who are "lesser". And He also invites us to the greatness of blessing...our neighbors, our children, even our enemies. The temptation of paradox is overcome by the opportunity to bless. It's a way of God whose life and heart are full of blessing. If we desire to be like Him, increasing in stature and overcoming evil, we'll seek the Spirit's power to bless others. LIVE THE BLESSED PARADOX LIFE!