New Year Message

By Rev. Dr. Emmanuel E James

 God's Timing is perfect: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.  Ecclesiastes 3:11   (NIV)

Each New Day is Special: The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"  Lamentations 3:22-24 (NASB)

 Remember what the Lord says to you in this New Year 2011

You are not alone - For God is with you.

Genesis 26:24

That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

Matthew 1:23

 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

You are not defenseless - For God is your protector.

Psalms 106:8  

Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known.

Proverbs 2:8  

for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

You are not inadequate - For God is your sufficiency.

2 Corinthians 12:9  

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

You are not useless - For God has a purpose for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11-14  

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

14 I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Ephesians 1:11  

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,

You are not worthless - For God sent His Son to die for you. 

Romans 5:8  

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Peter 3:18  

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,

You are not without hope - For God has a place prepared for you.

John 14:2-4  

2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 You are not unloved - For God loves you with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31:3  

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

John 3:16  

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

You are not rejected, or abandoned - For God calls you His own.

Titus 2:14  

Who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own; eager to do what is good.

1 Thessalonians 2:10-12  

10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.

11 For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,

12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

"I will never fail you. I will never abandon you." So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT