PASTOR’S NOTES, January, 2021 Start the New Year with You Talking to God
For those of you who keep these newsletters, you may think that I am just giving you the January, 2020 “Pastor’s Notes” article. It was about God talking to you. Well, considering how “wonderful” 2020 was you may think it would be wise that I stop writing these things. 2020 definitely had me thinking, and when contemplating how to interpret last year, this hymn came into my head:
With the Lord begin your task, Jesus will direct it For his aid and counsel ask, Jesus will perfect it Every morn with Jesus rise and when day is ended In his name then close your eyes; Be to him commended
Let each day begin with prayer, praise and adoration On the Lord cast every care. He is your salvation Morning evening and at night Jesus will be near you Save you from the temper’s might, with his presence cheer you
With your Savior at your side foes need not alarm you In his promises confide and no ill can harm you All you trust and hope repose in the mighty master Who is wisdom truly know how to stem disaster.
If your task be thus begun with the Savior’s blessing Safely then your course will run, toward the promise pressing Good will follow everywhere while you here must wander You at last the joy will share in the mansion yonder.
I have run into people who have had a tough year; relatives dying (not from Covid19) and yet the one factor that buoyed them was to daily put themselves in Jesus’ hands. I have run into people who have had a tough year and it was made so much tougher because they had not thought of putting themselves into Jesus’ hands. Their way of dealing with problems appeared to be centered on “if this problem was gone, my life would be fine.”
Sometimes that problem would go away and immediately there was another problem for them on which to focus their attention. They were and still are not happy. It appears that they would never experience the last line in the second verse’ “Save you from the tempter’s might, with his presence cheer you.
2020 was just another year in the history of the broken world. It did not have a world war like 1914-1917 or 1939-1945. They had pandemics in 1918 and another in 1919 which killed 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 respectively. But in those days people went to church, said daily prayers and “with the Lord” began their “task” I pray that in 2021 you can “in his name then close your eyes” and “be to him commended.”
Happy New Year, you are still in God’s hands, just remember; With the Lord begin your task.
For those of you who keep these newsletters, you may think that I am just giving you the January, 2020 “Pastor’s Notes” article. It was about God talking to you. Well, considering how “wonderful” 2020 was you may think it would be wise that I stop writing these things. 2020 definitely had me thinking, and when contemplating how to interpret last year, this hymn came into my head:
With the Lord begin your task, Jesus will direct it For his aid and counsel ask, Jesus will perfect it Every morn with Jesus rise and when day is ended In his name then close your eyes; Be to him commended
Let each day begin with prayer, praise and adoration On the Lord cast every care. He is your salvation Morning evening and at night Jesus will be near you Save you from the temper’s might, with his presence cheer you
With your Savior at your side foes need not alarm you In his promises confide and no ill can harm you All you trust and hope repose in the mighty master Who is wisdom truly know how to stem disaster.
If your task be thus begun with the Savior’s blessing Safely then your course will run, toward the promise pressing Good will follow everywhere while you here must wander You at last the joy will share in the mansion yonder.
I have run into people who have had a tough year; relatives dying (not from Covid19) and yet the one factor that buoyed them was to daily put themselves in Jesus’ hands. I have run into people who have had a tough year and it was made so much tougher because they had not thought of putting themselves into Jesus’ hands. Their way of dealing with problems appeared to be centered on “if this problem was gone, my life would be fine.”
Sometimes that problem would go away and immediately there was another problem for them on which to focus their attention. They were and still are not happy. It appears that they would never experience the last line in the second verse’ “Save you from the tempter’s might, with his presence cheer you.
2020 was just another year in the history of the broken world. It did not have a world war like 1914-1917 or 1939-1945. They had pandemics in 1918 and another in 1919 which killed 30,000,000 and 50,000,000 respectively. But in those days people went to church, said daily prayers and “with the Lord” began their “task” I pray that in 2021 you can “in his name then close your eyes” and “be to him commended.”
Happy New Year, you are still in God’s hands, just remember; With the Lord begin your task.