Yes! There is Good News! 12.28.17

The end of another year! Has it been a good one for you? Have you grown in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Knowing that our very capable and faithful newspaper editor, Linda, is doing a “year in review,” wouldn’t it be a good idea to do the same with this column? So where did we begin the year 2017? We began by considering how God, who declared all things good, could allow the very bad actions of people to corrupt His world; and the answer we saw was freedom! God understands freedom and has given to His human creation a free moral agency.

We also looked at the “dumbing down” of society through the many replications of our DNA (a copy, of a copy, of a copy, of a copy, etc,)  And yet we have technology, which has been both a blessing and a curse. Technology may make things easier for us, but it is no substitute for a relationship with God.

“God is good all the time”! In February we took a walk through Psalm 103 and considered our loving, compassionate and gracious God. And then we praise Him, or better yet, “praise His holy name” for His name has meaning. If we would translate His name into English it would be “The Eternal One.”
 
In March we talked about what might be our ultimate goal in life. And the answer: to have my Savior place His hand upon my shoulder and say to me, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.” In April, figures of speech caught our attention. And we took a close look at Peter choosing a “type” or a template in 2 Peter 1:16-18 to show forth the future glory of our Savior concerning the “Mount of Transfiguration.” We also considered a very special reason to think of Spring as our favorite time of the year – it is the time when our Lord suffered and bled and died on the cross so as to give us life!! He who was without sin gave His life so that we who are filled with sin may have life eternal.

In June, because we live in Iowa, we took a look at agriculture and we contemplated the parables in Matthew 13 concerning the sower and the seed and how we too must be good soil so as to produce a good harvest of fruit for our heavenly Father! We also looked at the parable in John 15 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man abides in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” It is imperative for us to bear fruit and bring glory to God.

Toward the end of this year we talked at length about Abraham and his relationship with God. He loved God, was obedient to God and was called “the friend of God” by several people. He was a man of faith – true faith and we ought to emulate him as one might emulate a father. God said that He was not ashamed to be called Abraham’s God. Wow!!

I hope you’ve had a good year and pray that this new year will be filled with “good news.”