“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)
Here it is: January 1st of a new year and the often used verse for “New Year’s”. What exactly is this “new thing” the prophet Isaiah speaks of here? God was giving His people a promise through Isaiah that they would be delivered from their captivity in Babylon. Greater than this, though, is that He was also declaring what He would do in the future for all mankind. God was telling His people that He would send a “way” — a way back to Him, to reconcile a right relationship between the lost sinner and God. This “way” is none other than Jesus Christ. As you start this new year off, set down the list of resolutions you wrote that you probably will forget about by next week and ask yourself this: Am I right with God? When I take my last breath, what happens to me next? If you cannot be sure of the answers to those questions, please reach out to us so we can help show you from God’s Word how you can be sure.
All of us at Alive Ministries USA want to wish you a happy and healthy 2020!
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for him. The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.” Psalms 98:1-2 (ESV)
Take a moment to think it over: God had such a great love for us that though we as sinners were separated from Him, He would not allow that to be our final fate. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, as the intermediary and redeemer of our sins. All we have to do is trust Jesus as the Son of God and seek forgiveness for our sins that keep us from God. Once we have been made right with God our hearts, being made clean, will burst forth with a song of praise to the One who created us and loves us with an everlasting love. Are you right with God, and this able to sing this song of praise? If not, please contact us for more information on how you can become redeemed by the blood of Christ.
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)
Make sure when reading that first verse you do not read it like this: “And let us consider how to stir up one another”. I’m afraid far too often that is as far as most of us, professed followers of Christ or not, get. We tend to be “pot stirrers” instead of “people stirrers”, encouraging and uplifting each other in Jesus’ name. The next verse reminds us of the importance of gathering together with like-minded followers of Christ (going to church, joining a Bible Study group) so that we are better equipped with the Word of God in order to be “people stirrers” who can in turn lift each other up and be an encouragement to one another. In today’s society and world, there are so many things that point to that “Day” being near that it is ever more important to assemble together and be “people stirrers” and not “pot stirrers” so that the children of God may be fully equipped to withstand the spiritual battles now and those that are surely to come. What kind of a “stirrer” are you?
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (ESV)
In the preceding verse the Apostle Paul alludes to gifts that the believers in Corinth had already promised to give. These were not gifts that were to be exacted by the Apostles upon those at Corinth, but rather these were “free will” offerings that the believers at Corinth had already promised. The Apostle Paul was communicating a principle here which is simply stated that “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV).
To be ultra clear, this is not a magic formula that if you do this you get that. I think it is often misused to increase financial gifts in error by those who simply seek to enrich themselves. However, just as some carry it too far in the direction of money multiplication, it would be equally erroneous to deny the truth herein. What you get out of your Christian walk is directly proportional to what you put in. You can skate by on the grace of God, but why would you want to? God loves a cheerful giver, and if you give reluctantly it is my belief that God does not desire that gift, because it is not really a gift if you give with reluctance or out of obligation.
Sadly, seed principle giving has been twisted from the cheerful giver who gives prayerfully and according to their means, to begrudging, guilt ridden giving, or giving that is born out of greed in that the giving comes out of a desire for what is expected to be multiplied in return. Both are wrong attitudes. The focus on giving is on the gift; it is not a gift if you expect a return. Not that there is anything wrong with a return, but does this promise that the return is always financial? No, it does not. It promises that if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly, but if you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully. I know for a fact that sometimes the most bountiful harvest is in fact the joy we get from giving. So I encourage you all to give prayerfully, with consideration and according to your means. You will never ever out give God, period. I will share a verse that illustrates this point.
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10 ESV)
You cannot outgive God, period. If you want to see bountiful harvests then sow bountifully, but do so as a cheerful giver who leaves the return harvest in the hands of the Almighty God. Besides God will always bless us better in every way than we could ever hope to.
Father, I pray that the praise of the Lord will always be in our hearts, and upon our lips. May we bring glory and honor to You always, in everything we do. Lord, help us to give with the right attitude, and with good and pure motivations. Let us sow in abundance, expecting a return but not forgetting that it is You that is the Sovereign God, and not us. Let us leave the return to You, and the harvest in Your hands. We will surely be busy enough with the giving if it is done with joy and cheer, that we can leave the harvest in Your hands where it belongs until You entrust it to us. Bless all who read, hear, and share these posts. I ask these things in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!
Blessings in Christ, Rev. Christopher B. Cain Minister of Evangelism and Discipleship Alive Ministries USA
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Romans 8:18 (ESV)
We all experience suffering at one point or another in our lives. The Apostle Paul experienced sufferings like we may never even come close to. Many of the letters he wrote that appear in the Bible were written during his imprisonments. He was also beaten, shunned from the very people he had so zealously stood beside before his conversion, and so much more. Yet, here he was stating that any and all sufferings he would face here on earth absolutely paled when compared with the glory that would be revealed in Heaven. Knowing that God has great things to reveal and make known to us in our eternal home should cause us to look upon the sufferings this broken world brings as not even worth comparison. Where is your focus?
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalms 73:26 (ESV)
The Psalmist here in today’s verse understands the brevity and fragility of his own life. He understands that circumstances will arise where, in sickness or trials or even death, he will not be mentally, emotionally, or physically strong enough to overcome them. However, he also holds an important treasure in knowing that God will always be the strength for him when he cannot overcome what life puts in front of him. When contemplating trials of this life, and even ultimately death itself, are you able to say with such confidence as the Psalmist that God will be “the strength of [your] heart and [your] portion forever”?
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:24 (ESV)
There is a HUGE difference between simply hearing the truth of God’s Word (and His saving grace), and believing it! There are many self-proclaimed “Christians” sitting in church pews who will unfortunately find out when they leave this world that they must sit in judgement before God for not only their sin but not believing His Word. Those who have believed the truth that they have heard from the Word of God, however, will pass “from death to life” when they leave this temporary world for their eternal home. So, where do you fall? Have you only heard or have you believed and trusted the truth of God’s Word and redemption power?
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” James 1:19 (ESV)
If ever there was a verse that flew directly against our very human, sinful, nature — this just might be it. Especially today with technology so attached to our fingertips. How easy it is to not “hear” exactly what someone is trying to say to us, if we are even taking the time to truly listen in the first place. How sadly commonplace it is to be someone with a “short fuse” or to speak without even thinking about it. The unfortunate thing is, once spoken, words cannot be taken back. Sure, we may be able to apologize and even may be forgiven, but the words have still been spoken. How much better off would we be if we devoted ourselves to slowing down, even just minutely, to take the time to truly listen to those around us, only speak once we have judged that our words are the correct ones (and are edifying and not hurtful), and take a deep breath before “exploding”? I know, it is all “easier said than done”; but if we continue on in those behaviors with this as an excuse and an escape, we are not living the way our Lord and Savior intends for us to live.
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalms 119:105 (ESV)
Truly this is a dark and fallen world that we live in, and sometimes it can be so hard to know which way to go or what to do amidst all the darkness. It is especially in those times that we need to be like the Psalmist and dive into the Word of God. His Word will not only light up the darkness around us and illuminate the path He has planned for us, but it will empower us to shine His light to those who are lost in a sea of darkness. Have you recharged your spiritual light lately? Get into the Word right now — put down your phone or tablet and take some time with God.
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.” James 1:22-24 (ESV)
If you are simply “hearing” God’s Word and not “doing” it (or applying it to your life), then you truly are deceiving yourself. You may pat yourself on the back for being in church every Sunday for the sermon, or for reading your Bible and learning verses, but that is not the whole of what we as Christians are called to do. If we do not apply the Scriptures to our lives, how easily they can “go in one ear and out the other” and be forgotten, as the man in James’ example forgets what his own face looks like. James here in today’s verses reminds — and indeed challenges — us that we must act on what we are reading and hearing from the Scriptures in order to grow spiritually. If we want a closer walk with God and deeper roots of spiritual wisdom then we must live out the words within His Word. So, are you just hearing or are you doing?
Jessica Ford Communications Director Alive Ministries USA
