One powerful evidence of the new inward Life of the Spirit in the believer
is a growing sense of the eternal significance of the Bible as the actual
and accurate record of the revelation of God in history: the very Word of
God.
Can we imagine how stunted and impoverished our conception of God would be
if we were limited to our observations of man and nature as our sole source
of theological understanding?
It is not necessary for us to imagine. We need only examine the ideas of God
found in the man-made religions of the world from the beginning of recorded
history to the present.
When man rejects, or is without access to divine revelation in Scripture he
discloses his innate spiritual longings for something or Someone
transcendent by conceiving and constructing gods, hopefully, as sources of
power, and to provide some degree of comprehensibility of the mysterious. To
him the One by whom and for whom he was made remains “The Unknown God” of
Acts 17:23.
When we begin to recognize the spiritual perfection of the written record of
the New Testament revelation, it becomes evident that the real Author,
behind the human writers, was the Holy Spirit.
The indwelling Spirit of God is indeed the same Holy Spirit who filled the
Living Word when He visited this earth, inspired the authors of the written
Word that now covers the earth, and dwells in the spirit of every true
believer to the ends of the earth.
And with this holy Presence in the believer’s heart, a new purifying power
begins a transformation of the desires to a growing ability joyfully to
surrender to the will of God.
His holy will is disclosed in the moral and ethical principles revealed in
the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.
A true follower of Jesus Christ wants, above all things, to be good; good as
measured by God’s clearly revealed standards.
With this progressive purifying of the heart and life there is also a
growing sense of the preciousness of Scripture.
How tragic that, for those living in willful unbelief, the truth of the Good
News of eternal life appears as bad news. Those who neglect, reject or seek
to destroy the Word of God revel something dreadful about themselves.
True Christians don’t worship the bible, for them it is not a sacred relic.
But since the God of the universe has chosen to reveal the truth of His
message of love and redeeming grace in and through it to our hearts, we will
reverence, cherish and yes, love it. If we had just one letter from our most
beloved in this world, how would we treat it? Would we not cherish it?
The following words could only have been written from hearts that were
filled with the assurance of God’s love for them.

“I will delight myself in Thy statutes; I will not forget Thy word”.
“Thy testimonies are my delight and my counselors”.
“O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day”.
“.I love Thy commandments above gold; yeah, above fine gold”.
“Great peace have they which love Thy law.”
– Psalm 119:16,97,127,165

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word
was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.”
– Jeremiah 15:16

Whether much changes or not there is something positive about closing out the calendar on one year and beginning a new one. Maybe it’s because we seem to need progress, new beginnings, fresh starts. Is it because everything of this world gets old and is eventually gone?

How many experiences of life have we had that we wished, at the moment, could last forever? But sadly, as someone said, “all good things must come to an end”. But thanks be to our gracious Creator-God it’s not true or necessary. While “time, like an ever rolling stream bears all it’s sons away”, those who have surrendered to the Saviour have the inward witness of the Holy Spirit and the clear words of promise that we have been reborn with the power of eternal newness. “Therefore if anyone be in Christ there is a new act of creation, old things are passed away – all things are becoming new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17

“And He that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold I am making all things new’”.  Revelation 21:5

One reason people complain that their lives seem to be flying by, is a deep, often unacknowledged, fear of eternity. What lies beyond the “end”?

For His own, God has provided a fear-proof hope, a fixed confident expectation, of joy and blessing so full and complete that it is beyond human capacity, not only to see or hear in this life, but to imagine; what “God has prepared for those who love Him”.

Even for those who trust the Lord with all their hearts, the New Year will get old fast enough. For in this world, good things do come to an end. But for God’s own the eternal best is just beginning.

Happy Forever!