The End of This Year

As I look back over the year of 2011, I find myself wondering who lived my life this year. I did very little that I had planned to do at the start of it.  I just did not seem to have ANY motivation. My life borders on a disaster in many ways. There are many things left undone, and it bothers me.

So what does this have to do with a Blog based on Christianity?

God is still on the throne, and despite my failures, He loves me still! Jesus came to heal and to help us. He came to restore our relationship with The Father, the Creator of the universe.

What makes this relevant to the end of the year?

Easy, as we end a year, we begin a new one. Personally, I plan to make 2012 a much better year, and to do a better job of fulfilling my obligations and responsibilities. And who knows, maybe the Mayans are right, the world will end, or change, or maybe Jesus will come back.

The bottom line is that Jesus loves us all and will continue to love us this year, next year and always!  He does not give His love or forgiveness conditionally, with the exception of our acceptance of them.  Christianity is different from all other religions because all other religions focus on man's seeking God or gods, and Christianity focuses on God seeking man.

God bless us all!

The Start of a New Year

On the radio today, I heard a comment about how to start the New Year right.  It had to do with letting the old one go, including the past hurts, problems, et cetera.

Kaleidoscope picture

This is true, not only at the New Year but every day as a Christian.  Jesus forgives us, and throws our sins as far away as the east is from the west. We too are required to forgive others as Jesus has forgiven us. In fact, Jesus warns us that if we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven either.

One of the main differences between Christianity and all other religions, is that Christianity teaches that we cannot ever be good enough to be forgiven or earn God's love and a place in heaven. Instead, Christ paid the penalty for my sins and yours, when He died on the cross. We cannot and do not have to earn forgiveness or the love of our God.

We celebrate the birth of Jesus each year on December 25th and this is a great place to start thinking about the New Year, new start and new life brought to us by our Savior. He entered this world as a baby so that He could experience life as a human, and sacrifice His life in our place.

So as we close the chapter on one year of our lives, and begin another, let us put past hurts, mistakes and problems behind us, and begin a new year, new life and help bring healing and grace to ourselves and our fellow man.

Just as a kaleidoscope is different every time we look in it, let us continue to change and bring glory to our God and Savior, Jesus Christ this New Year!