Did you wake up on January the 2nd with a terrible feeling of it is back to work, as usual, the same old routine and the same old blues? Somehow, we drag our baggage from last year and any residual baggage of years past into a brand-spanking new year, and the “new” of the new year is already showing signs of wear!
Facing the same old same old, along with the same feelings of uncertainties of the past year in the new year, Democrats and Republicans are continuing to go at it; social engineering is screaming for rights, a Constitutional crisis is at every turn; entitlement mentalities are going haywire; immorality and unethical behaviors are coursing throughout all levels of society (surprise!); nuke ‘em proclivities are itching, terrorist acts are everywhere; apostasy is swelling among the ranks; and, hey, “Jesus may come back this year,” ho-hum. Back to normal; the hubbub of the holidays is over, and it's back to work!
Forget the psycho-babble of the glass being half-empty or half-full coming into a new year. Frankly, no matter how you look at that glass of water, the level is still the same. If I was in the desert with only a half-glass of water, no matter how I looked at it in my mind, it will not change my situation! I will continue to thirst whether it is half-empty or half-full, knowing that this is all the water that I have, standing in the middle of a vast desert on a bright and sunny summer day.
Okay, I am not in the desert; so how should I look at that half-glass of water? Don’t look at it in physical terms. As a believer, we should try looking at it from a spiritual perspective rather than choosing to see it as half-empty or half-full. As a believer in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is forever within us, never leaving or forsaking us! What great news that is! His presence within our hearts is the certainty of glory! Hallelujah! God is sovereign and reigns from on High, nothing changes there. Amen! Nothing enters our lives without His permission. Thank God!
Even if the glass was full, it would not be full enough because in the physical realm, we will always be thirsty, and that's the point regardless of how we spin our outlook. So, in the spiritual realm, the glass of water is irrelevant, and we are left only with a choice to trust Him or not in meeting our physical needs.
Though there are evil men and women who desire to warp our nation into something antichrist in spirit or be blown up by some rogue nation, God is sovereign and forever on the throne. He will determine the destiny of nations, not a man or woman, or any political or military agenda, of what becomes of a nation. The will of God will be fulfilled on earth, and anyone or any ideology opposing His decrees will ultimately fail as Scripture bears out, and history confirms. As Daniel observed,
“He removes kings and raises up kings” (Dan 2:21).
We would be naïve, gullible, and deceived to believe that trouble is not hastening to our country and to all the countries of the earth; welcome to the new year! Apollyon is waiting for his seven-year stint (Dan 9:27) where human depravity reaches its peak, bringing forth a rain of death and destruction upon the whole earth during the last 3.5 years known as Jacob’s Trouble (Jer 30:7), as described in Revelation 6-19. It will be an unprecedented time (Mt 24:21-22). The spirit of the antichrist is increasingly becoming more globally prevalent today (cf. 1 Jn 2:18, 22; 4:3).
An ancient hatred of darkness is engulfing the world with angst and animus. We are definitely living on the precipice of the fulfillment of prophecy that reads more like bad news as found in the book of Revelation 6-19. I am of the eschatological persuasion that the rapture is imminent or looming overhead; Jesus could call His bride, the Church, home to His heavenly abode at any moment prior to hell breaking out upon the earth (Jn 14:3; 1 Cor 15:51-53; 1 Thes 4:13-18; 5:9). It seems so surreal, but Scripture is real and unfailing.
If the antediluvian civilization is any kind of metric, it suggests that a vast number of people living before the fiery judgment will perish even though the Lord is longsuffering and not willing that any should perish but all should come to repentance as in the days of Noah (2 Pet 3:8-9). We are reminded by Peter that only eight people made it out of the flood alive; everyone else perished (1 Pet 3:20). This doesn't look good for those living in unbelief during the last days.
The survivors of repentance in the last days will be far greater than eight in Noah’s days, but still, the numbers will be terribly lopsided by those who perish on the day of judgment. When looking at the historical record, the teaching of universal salvation is far-fetched and deceiving. The call and need for repentance have always been central in a personal relationship with the thrice holy God.
Do we ever take time to realize how radical our life is going to change when Jesus returns? It will immeasurably exceed our shortsighted expectations! We will be with our Lord and Savior, our God and King, face to face for all eternity! Our sinful nature will be discarded like leprous rags. We will be changed into His likeness in a moment in the twinkling of an eye forever. No more corruptible things! No more mortality! Victory is a gift, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over sin and death! Because He lives, we shall live; it doesn’t get any more exciting than that positive prospect!
So, how is that glass of water looking in the new year? Any new year’s resolutions of seeing all things half-full? Ever thought of seeing it as always full-full, regardless of the measure!? Recall the words of Jesus to the woman in Samaria at Jacob’s well,
“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. (Jn 4:13-14).
Maybe the baggage that was alluded to earlier is the result of seeking to quench a thirst that cannot be satisfied by the wells of this world. All that comes from this earthly well “will thirst again.” In the spiritual realm, there is no half-empty or half-full conundrum. Jesus said that “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” There is no baggage. Was there ever a time when you asked Jesus, “Sir, give me this water” for salvation? Or did you make an unwise decision to lose sight of that along the way, foolishly thinking that something other than Jesus could satisfy your soul?
Maybe the baggage that was alluded to earlier is the result of seeking to quench a thirst that cannot be satisfied by the wells of this world. All that comes from this earthly well “will thirst again.” In the spiritual realm, there is no half-empty or half-full conundrum. Jesus said that “whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.” There is no baggage. Was there ever a time when you asked Jesus, “Sir, give me this water” for salvation? Or did you make an unwise decision to lose sight of that along the way, foolishly thinking that something other than Jesus could satisfy your soul?
The unknown Samarian woman at the well that day accepted Jesus’ claim that He was the Messiah – “I am He” and embraced Him as her Messiah through the repentance of sin. The fruit of her new-found faith was evident; she immediately and excitedly pointed others to Him. Her thirst to fill what was missing in her heart was gone forever, spiritually speaking.
The blues of another year is really not becoming of any of us who claim the name of Jesus Christ. I have been foolishly guilty of this myself whenever I lose sight of the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” for my life (Php 3:14). Goodness, guarding your heart with all diligence is a never-ending process (Prov 4:23)! On day two of the new year, another attempt was made by the enemy of my soul to undermine me through discouragement, but by the grace of God, the Holy Spirit intervened on my behalf. Here is the answer to that somber outlook that creeps up on us if we are not careful with the beginning of each new year.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor 15:58).
Our Lord is coming for us; we got His Word on it! Keep believing and moving forward for His glory, dissipating the blues from the distractions of the world that is passing away and saturated with unbelief. We do well, my friends, to keep our eyes on the prize until then. <><
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