From all of us here at Walking In The Way, have a safe, happy, and blessed New Year!

A Passion to Know Christ

Read | Philippians 3:3-11

Most believers know the essential facts about their Savior’s life, but few know Him well relationally. They’re so busy with activities and pursuits that they rarely think of Jesus until a desperate situation arises.

Yet those who know the Lord intimately have a continually deepening relationship with Him. He’s their top priority, and every possession, accomplishment, or pursuit is worthless compared to knowing Him. Consider the results of making Christ the passion of your life (Phil. 3:8-10):

Increasing hunger: “that I may gain Christ.” Even though Paul had an amazing relationship with Jesus, his passion was so great that he wanted to know Him more.

Changed life: “the righteousness which comes from God.” The more we know Christ, the more we’ll mature spiritually and display His righteousness.

Increased capability: “the power of His resurrection.” The Spirit’s power flows through those intimately related to Jesus.

New perspective: “the fellowship of His sufferings.” When we understand Christ, we recognize the benefits He works in us through our suffering.

Victorious living: “being conformed to His death.” Christians who know Jesus intimately count themselves dead to the sins that once dominated their lives.

Is your life characterized by a deep, abiding passion for Christ, or is your relationship with Him shallow and mechanical? Believers must not let the pleasures, opportunities, and responsibilities of this world rob them of the treasure of knowing Jesus. It’s time to count it all as loss and pursue Christ.

Promise Land

We also have a land that God has set before us. It is the promised land of the Kingdom of God. We are to contend for the faith and compel sinners to come in. If you have never shared your faith, take courage, and do it. Ask someone what he thinks happens after we die, and let him do the talking. Just hearing people share their thoughts on the subject will help you to deal with your own fears.

Deuteronomy 1:1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2It is eleven days’journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. 3Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first dayof the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them, 4after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.

Consequences

Amazingly, the king succumbed to pride despite having been forewarned of this very thing—and its dire consequences. We are to warn the lost of the consequences of their sin and plead with them to submit to God, but many will tragically reject our pleas.

To strip a man of his pride, show him the requirements of God’s holy Law. It reveals that he has the heart of a beast (v. 16) and brings him to a point of understanding that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He chooses (v. 32). Like the prodigal son of Jesus’ parable, when the sinner sees his sinfulness in the bright light of God’s Law, he sees that his desire is for pig food and he comes to his senses (vv. 34–37).

Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”

God is All in All

The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes. Proverbs 21:1

God rules, God reigns. God, and God alone. And His way is right. It leads to His glory.

Deep within the hearts of men and women, even though most would never acknowledge it, is the realization that we really don't have the final answer.

There is this little hidden clause tucked away in the deep recesses of most thinking minds that says, "There may be a God after all."

When we take this to the ultimate future for humanity, God is sovereignly in charge.

One second after they die, the men and women who have rejected and resisted the Lord for years will step into eternity. One second . . . and they will be totally at a loss to determine their future.

God's sovereignty steps over their lives and sets forth His decree, "That God may be all in all" [1 Corinthians 15:28].

Just Anger

What a fearful day it will be when Almighty God reveals His just anger against all evil. As Jesus predicted (see Matt. 24:38), people will be as they were in the days of Noah, eating and drinking, with no thoughts of God’s anger against sin or concerns about judgment. Yet, each time the ungodly sin against God’s Law, they store up His wrath that will be revealed on Judgment Day. Take the time to study Rom. 2:1–16, and pray that God gives you an empathy that will drive you to reach out to the lost, to plead with them to flee from His wrath. Make sure you have Paul’s testimony: “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11).

Zephaniah 3:8 “Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord, “Until the day I rise up for plunder; My determination is to gather the nations To My assembly of kingdoms, To pour on them My indignation, All My fierce anger; All the earth shall be devoured With the fire of My jealousy.

For All Nations

“Some people seem to think we have got beyond the commandments. What did Christ say? 'Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.' The commandments of God given to Moses in the Mount at Horeb are as binding today as ever they have been since the time they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people. The Jews said the law was not given in Palestine (which belonged to Israel), but in the wilderness, because the law was for all nations.” D. L. Moody

2 Chronicles 5:10 Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.

From all of us here at Walking In The Way ministries, "Have a very Merry Christmas! And my God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ bless you!! "

What's in a Gift?

For unto us a child is born . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
–Isaiah 9:6

To Christians the joy of Christmas is not limited to His birth. It is built even more on the triumph of His death and resurrection—that gave meaning to His birth. The mysterious spirit of generosity which possesses us at Christmas is the afterglow of Calvary. The fact of the cross illuminates this day and hallows it. As we exchange our gifts, let us remember that they are symbolic of the unspeakable gift of God’s love.

I do not believe that Christians should be giving expensive gifts to each other. We should quietly give simple little gifts that are expressions of our love and devotion to the recipients. These gifts become symbolic of the gift of God’s love. How much money could be saved and invested in the Kingdom of God by thousands of Christian families every year if the true meaning of Christmas was observed.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Loving God, my heavenly Father, in Your gift of Jesus I see Your immeasurable love reaching out to all mankind. How I praise You and adore You!

Idolatrous Understanding

An idolatrous understanding of God is always at the core of the pride of man. But when the holiness of the Law of God is paraded before a sinful heart, it stirs the conscience and humbles a man. It brings him to his rightful place—on his face before Almighty God.

Isaiah 2:17 The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; The Lord alone will be exalted in that day,