New in Christ 2016

Corporately as the church in Gurgaon as we fellowshipped on the word and prayed thanking the Lord for all His faithfulness in leading us thus far, it dawned on me personally my nineteenth spiritual birthday last night. We had a wonderful time testifying of what the Lord has been doing in us. The hymns, "Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father, #19 and "He leadeth me! He leadeth me! By His own hand He leadeth me; #585 were very apt to express the deep feeling within me.

As a church we pray-read Ezek. 1:4 with the footnotes from the Holy Bible Recovery Version.

And I looked, and there came a storm wind from the north, a great cloud and a fire flashing incessantly; and there was a brightness around it, and from the midst of it there was something like the sight of electrum, from the midst of the fire.

This has been our experiences these days, and the Lord is faith to send the storm from the north wind blowing us to have a spiritual turn. Many saints have had this experience; in their business, in their family, in their finance, in their relationship and even in the church life. Now the Lord has made us understand why things were happening as it were. Nevertheless He comforted us by abiding with us as the cloud. Furthermore, He sanctifies us by burning away all the "tin and dross" that does not conform to His holy life and divine nature, thereby, filling us with Himself as the glory to express Him in our Christian life and church life. That was the speaking of the Lord last night. Praise the Lord!

Besides, the leading in the church was for a consecrated life to maintain a regular prayer life, personally and corporately as the church, and to be not taken advantaged of by Satan with his schemes as in 2 Corinthians 2:11, "That we may not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." To also be equipped with the word of God by daily reading of the Bible; to this effect a reading schedule for reading through the text of the Bible in a year was given to all as well. All these spiritual pursuit must ensue in gospel preaching as the Lord commissioned us in Matthew 28:19, "Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and thereby shepherding one another by love in a way of blending and building up. That was the Lord's leading for this coming new year.

The real new one is God Himself.  In God, in Christ we are ever new, for God is eternally new. Such newness is expressed in hymn #16 "Our Father, as the evergreen, Thou art forever new;" We enjoyed this hymn as  the physical new year dawned. It was a wonderful time indeed to be renewed year by year at large, and day by day particularly.

So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Lord, grace us to enjoy You as the newness all the days of our lives.