WITH A GRATEFUL HEART!
Amen and let it be!

 

I am now giving you twelve words which can change your life…. That is, if you accept (or already have accepted) and put into practice the lifestyle it takes to have not only a beautiful New Year of 2023; but also a beautiful year after year after year!

Selah.
And amen!

Before I go any further, I will expose the truth that, yes, you will still have challenges, trials, and sorrows. Everyone does. But knowing how to survive and thrive, not everyone does. Please remember and never forget, we are living in a fallen world and demons are real! So are demonized people.

Selah.

Herewith are those precious, life blessing words:

 

Philippians 4:9
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

Do you know Apostle Paul? Hopefully you do. God wrote the book of Philippians through Paul:

 

1 Thessalonians 2:13
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.

 

Crucial to say, God’s word does not return void and God’s counsel (through Paul in this case) is benevolent and so much more!  He is the God who sees, restores: but only for the humble, the willing.

Selah.

 

Philippians 4:9
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

God is using Paul as an example of one who is sold out to holiness; not compromise. The Apostle Paul knew God’s word is infallible!

 

Hebrews 4:12-13
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

 

The Bible cannot be revoked and the saint is never forsaken.
One of the common excuses in my lifetime is this:

“After all, I am only human!”

So what! So was Paul… Yet not. One of the misconceptions Satan’s love to attack us with is just this:

“After all, I am only human!”

Let’s talk about Paul in a little more depth now and how we, too, can have continual gratitude and reverence for God. Paul had called himself the chief sinner. He was a highly, highly educated Pharisee and he remained so. He, too, was a man made in the image and likeness of the only true God. He sinned just as we all have…

Selah.

Let me articulate to you that you and I (each and every one of us) are without excuse with that from that stale statement:

“After all, I am only human!”

I will expound on simply one man, Paul. Paul the apostle. Paul who had been a sinner, in fact according to him, the chief sinner. Paul truly had been a sinner; and truly one of the worst. (There are degrees of sin. Please see the Scriptures below.)

Paul was (and I do emphasize was) a sinner in low contempt. He was a conspirator and an accessory to murder…

Selah.

But he had literally seen the light. Please refer to you Bible and read Paul’s encounter with the Christ in Acts, chapter nine.

Saul was not just also Paul, so this:

 

Philippians 4:9
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

could not possibly apply to his character — yet. Saul, now referred to as Paul, became God’s chosen instrument. God had reached Paul’s soul and now he was no longer the chief sinner. Paul had become disciple, apostle, martyr.

Selah.

HERE’S MY POINT TO THIS STORY:
Paul repented, just as we all need to do. He didn’t make excuses of being only human. He acknowledged what he had been, giving all the glory to God!

As one of God’s messengers, did you know that Paul had experienced more hardships in serving the Lord than most of us ever had, ever will?!

FOR THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST PAUL was put into prison more than his counterparts? Do you know that he was flogged more severely as well? Frequently he was stoned! He was beaten with rods, not once, but three times! Pelted with stones. Three times Paul was shipwrecked! He as in danger from Jews and Gentiles. Paul went hungry; he was in danger from false believers. And there’s more!

I hope you have read the more Paul went through…

 

Philippians 4:9
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

HOW DO YOU START YOUR NEW YEAR OUT BEAUTIFULLY (and let it remain so)?
Have a grateful heart! And let it remain so! This New Year of 2023 and all the ones that follow, think of Apostle Paul. Remember what he had been. Throw away all of your excuses and learn from him!

 

Philippians 4:9
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

 

Selah.

 

 

 

SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS FOR THIS JOY  STORY:

 

APOSTLE PAUL REMAINED A PHARISEE:
Acts 23:6
Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”

 

MANKIND IS MADE IN THE IMAGE AND LIKNESS OF GOD:
Genesis 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

 

EVERY PERSON OF ACCOUNTABILITY HAS SINNED:
Romans 3:23-26
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

 

THE ONE WHO HANDED JESUS OVER TO PILATE WAS GUILTY OF A GREATER SIN:
John 19:8-11
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”