2015 - the New Year beckons change...

To me, the start of my day, on New Year's Eve always seems like a Sunday morning - which isn't all that strange considering that although it is the end of a secular now, it is an integral part of something new - a change - that doesn't remain new; we can only count on it remaining constant (take Monday mornings, for instance) - and that is what New Years, days, months and things are all about - constant change. Hopefully and prayerfully for the best and, please God, of and in ourselves...

IT IS OBVIOUS WHAT KIND OF LIFE DEVELOPS OUT OF TRYING TO GET YOUR OWN WAY ALL THE TIME: REPETITIVE,  LOVELESS,  CHEAP SEX,  A STINKING ACCUMULATION OF MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL GARBAGE,  FRENZIED AND JOYLESS GRABS FOR HAPPINESS,  TRINKET GODS,  MAGIC-SHOW RELIGION,  PARANOID LONELINESS,  CUT-THROAT COMPETITION,  ALL-CONSUMING-YET-NEVER-SATISFIED WANTS,  A BRUTAL TEMPER - SEEDED FROM DISSATISFACTION,  AN IMPOTENCE TO LOVE OR BE LOVED,  DIVIDED HOMES AND DIVIDED LIVES,  SMALL-MINDED AND LOP-SIDED PURSUITS,  THE VICIOUS HABIT OF DEPERSONALISING EVERYONE INTO A RIVAL,  UNCONTROLLED AND UNCONTROLLABLE ADDITIONS,  UGLY PARODIES OF COMMUNITY...

I COULD GO ON... IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED - IF YOU USE YOUR FREEDOM THIS WAY, YOU WILL NOT INHERIT GOD’S KINGDOM. - Gal 5:19

JESUS TOLD ANOTHER STORY:
“GOD’S KINGDOM IS LIKE A FARMER WHO PLANTED GOOD SEED IN HIS FIELD. THAT NIGHT, WHILE HIS HIRED MEN WERE ASLEEP, HIS ENEMY SOWED THISTLES ALL THROUGH THE HEAT AND SLIPPED AWAY BEFORE DAWN. WHEN THE FIRST GREEN SHOOTS APPEARED AND THE GRAIN BEGAN TO FORM, THE THISTLES SHOWED UP, TOO... THE FARMHANDS CAME TO THE FARMER AND SAID, ‘MASTER, THAT WAS CLEAN SEED YOU PLANTED,WAS IT NOT? WHERE DID THESE THISTLES COME FROM?’

HE ANSWERED, ‘SOME ENEMY DID THIS.’ THE FARMHANDS ASKED, ‘SHOULD WE WEED OUT THE THISTLES?’ HE SAID, ‘NO, IF YOU WEED THE THISTLES, YOU WILL PULL UP THE WHEAT, TOO. LET THEM GROW TOGETHER UNTIL HARVEST TIME. THEN I WILL INSTRUCT THE HARVESTERS TO PULL UP THE THISTLES AND TIE THEM IN BUNDLES FOR THE FIRE, THEN GATHER THE WHEAT AND PUT IT IN THE BARN.’

SO HE EXPLAINED, 'THE FARMER WHO SOWS THE PURE SEED IS THE SON OF MAN. THE FIELD IS THE WORLD, THE PURE SEEDS ARE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM, THE THISTLES ARE SUBJECTS OF THE DEVIL, AND THE ENEMY WHO SOWS THEM IS THE DEVIL. THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE, THE CURTAIN OF HISTORY. THE HARVEST HANDS ARE ANGELS.
THE PICTURE OF THISTLES PULLED UP AND BURNED IS A SCENE FROM THE FINAL ACT. THE SON OF MAN WILL SEND HIS ANGELS, WEED OUT THE THISTLES FROM HIS KINGDOM, PITCH THEM IN THE TRASH, AND BE DONE WITH THEM. THEY ARE GOING TO COMPLAIN TO HIGH HEAVEN, BUT NOBODY IS GOING TO LISTEN. AT THE SAME TIME, RIPE, HOLY LIVES WILL MATURE AND ADORN THE KINGDOM OF THEIR FATHER.'"

ARE YOU LISTENING TO THIS? - REALLY LISTENING? - GOD’S KINGDOM IS LIKE A TREASURE HIDDEN IN A FIELD FOR YEARS AND THEN ACCIDENTALLY FOUND BY A TRESPASSER. THE FINDER IS ECSTATIC - WHAT A FIND! AND PROCEEDS TO SELL EVERY EXCESS HE OWNS TO RAISE MONEY AND BUY THAT FIELD. - Matt 13:24

MAY THE GRACE OF GOD BE UPON YOU, AND HIS SPIRIT BE YOUR GUIDE IN THIS NEW YEAR - SHALOM : PEACE TO YOU...