MAKING ALL THINGS NEW - Your Heavenly Father can transform your troublesome circumstances and give you a new beginning - you’re glad to know that the “former things” will eventually pass away - we serve a God of second chances and fresh starts - Jesus the Messiah is not some faraway person - He’s right there with you - “He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.’” – Whether your goal is to lose weight… get out of debt… rekindle romance in your marriage… or spend more time with your children, you can call upon God for His supernatural help! If you need some kind of new beginning today, you’re definitely not alone. From time to time, we ALL find ourselves in that position. We should find great comfort in the fact that the Bible tells numerous stories of people who received breakthroughs and turnarounds from God. It’s time to forget the past and let the Lord fill your heart with a “new song” of praise for His salvation. Perhaps you’ve gotten used to thinking that your turnaround would come at some distant time in the future, if it ever came at all. But Jesus the Messiah is not some faraway person. He’s right there with you, just as He was for the Samaritan woman! The woman from Samaria was personally transformed by her encounter with Jesus. Her transformation caused a ripple effect that impacted countless other lives as well.

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Making All Things New

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Your Heavenly Father can transform your troublesome circumstances and give you a new beginning - you’re glad to know that the “former things” will eventually pass away - we serve a God of second chances and fresh starts - Jesus the Messiah is not some faraway person - He’s right there with you

by David Cerullo

“He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.’” – Revelation 21:5

If you got a call from a telemarketer, and he told you he could make everything new in your life, how would you respond?

“Yeah, right,” you might reply. “No one could possibly do that!”

However, what if the Creator and King of the entire universe made you this amazing promise?

And in case you were still skeptical, perhaps He would add a further assurance: “These words are true and faithful.”

Friend, as you enter another year, your Heavenly Father has given you His Word on this.

He can transform your troublesome circumstances and give you a new beginning!

In this same passage in Revelation 21, we’re told that God will dwell with us (verse 3), and “will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (verse 4).

If you’re like me, you’re glad to know that the “former things” will eventually pass away!

We serve a God of second chances and fresh starts.

With His help, we can turn the page on every other previous year, making this our best year ever.

So, let me encourage you to bring your New Year’s resolutions to the Lord and ask for His strategies and His strength.

Whether your goal is to lose weight… get out of debt… rekindle romance in your marriage… or spend more time with your children, you can call upon God for His supernatural help!

You’re Not Alone

If you need some kind of new beginning today, you’re definitely not alone.

From time to time, we ALL find ourselves in that position.

We should find great comfort in the fact that the Bible tells numerous stories of people who received breakthroughs and turnarounds from God.

I especially love the account of the Samaritan woman who had a life-changing encounter with Jesus while drawing water from a well in the town of Sychar (John 4:1-42).

Later in the story, we learn why this woman needed a turnaround. She had already been married five times, and she now was living with a man who wasn’t her husband.

Yet despite her sordid past, she was about to meet someone who could turn things around and give her a wonderful new future.

He could show her a kind of love that no mortal man could provide.

But, because of her past choices, this woman was a social outcast.

That’s why she came to the well at midday, when it would be so hot that no one else would be there.

To her surprise, someone was sitting by the well when she arrived.

Not a Samaritan, but a Jew.

Not a woman, as normally would come to draw water, but a man.

And He was already there, as if to await her arrival.

It was Jesus, and He met her right where she was…

He knew all about this woman’s shame and brokenness, just as He knows about yours and mine.

He knew she was working to get water that would soon leave her thirsty again.

He saw behind her self-assured facade and knew she was hungry for spiritual truth.

He knew she needed the kind of turnaround that only He could provide.

Just as for this Samaritan woman, a new beginning is available to you today, my friend.

It’s time to forget the past and let the Lord fill your heart with a “new song” of praise for His salvation (Psalm 40:3).

Wait No Longer

One of the intriguing parts of the Samaritan woman’s story is found when she told Jesus, “‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things’” (John 4:25).

You see, this woman expected the Messiah to come someday.

She could even envision a future day when the Messiah would “tell us all things.”

Yet she didn’t recognize that her new beginning was at hand.

There was no need to wait any longer. The long-awaited Messiah was standing right next to her!

To the woman’s amazement, Jesus told her, “I who speak to you am He” (verse 26).

There’s a vital lesson here. Perhaps you’ve gotten used to thinking that your turnaround would come at some distant time in the future, if it ever came at all.

But Jesus the Messiah is not some faraway person. He’s right there with you, just as He was for the Samaritan woman!

Unexpected Impact

The woman from Samaria was personally transformed by her encounter with Jesus.

However, the story doesn’t end there. Her transformation caused a ripple effect that impacted countless other lives as well: “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified” (verse 39).

This incredible impact was possible because a woman who had made so many mistakes along the way came face to face with the Messiah.

In the same way, God wants to set you free from any past frustrations this year, giving you a new life of fulfillment, fruitfulness, and peace.

Please know that I am praying for you this month, asking God to give you the breakthrough you’ve been longing for.

You may not need the kind of forgiveness and restoration Jesus gave the woman at the well.

Perhaps you’re seeking a financial breakthrough… healing in your body… restoration of your marriage… reconciliation with your children… deliverance from addiction…o r the salvation of your loved ones.

Whatever your needs may be, we’re convinced God wants to turn things around for you this year.

Regardless of your struggles in the past, a better day is ahead.

As Jesus told one of His disciples, “You will see greater things than these” (John 1:50).

Wherever you may be in your life today, recognize Jesus’ presence and power right there with you.

In Him, you’re a “new creation,” and “all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17)!

God bless you,

David Cerullo is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Inspiration Ministries, located in Indian Land, South Carolina ­– a ministry dedicated to impacting people for Christ worldwide through media. The son of international evangelist Morris Cerullo, David took a less traditional approach to ministry, graduating from Oral Roberts University with a degree in business administration and management. He has authored over 20 books, and operates a global media ministry that powerfully impacts the world for Christ. 

https://inspiration.org/david-cerullo/strengthen-your-walk/making-all-things-new/

GOD’S PLAN CAME BEFORE YOU DID - God’s purpose for your life began even before you were born, and the fact that God has a plan indicates two things: no random development, and intelligent design by the Creator who knows even the end of your life from the beginning. The bottom line is that, having been made in the image of God, you were created for Him, and by Him, and to fulfill His purpose. Your genetic code made you the person you are and, the Bible says that all of this is not a matter of random choice but the determination of God whose plan for your life began before you were born. God does have a will for you. You are not a mistake. The implications of God having a plan for our lives are tremendous. No, you are not a mistake. No, you are not a person who should never have been born, the abortion that didn’t succeed, the offspring of someone who didn’t want to father a child. You were created in the image of God whose vocabulary doesn’t have the word illegitimate — only child, only a son or a daughter.

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God’s Plan Came Before You Did

Dr. Harold J. Sala

“Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath.”  Psalm 39:4-5

There’s good news, friend! 

Life is not a matter of chance or fate. 

Winning is not the equivalent of standing in front of a slot machine when you feel lucky, or picking the right five or seven numbers in the lottery. 

Some 3,000 years ago David wrote, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:15,16).

David’s contention was that even before he was born, God had a plan and a purpose for his life. 

A paraphrase puts it like this: “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” (Psalm 139:16, Living Bible).

If David was right, then God’s purpose for your life began even before you were born, and the fact that God has a plan indicates two things: no random development, and intelligent design by the Creator who knows even the end of your life from the beginning. 

The bottom line is that, having been made in the image of God, you were created for Him, and by Him, and to fulfill His purpose. 

David talked about being knit together, or literally being woven together in his mother’s womb. 

Only in recent days have we gained a deeper understanding of what this means through scans, ultra-sounds and a variety of others tests, and an understanding of how babies develop prior to birth.

Here’s the scenario. At conception over 200 million sperm compete with each other to fertilize an ovum as two people come together. 

Keep in mind that 200 million represents more than the population of most countries, but of these 200 million, only one succeeds. 

At conception, there is one perfect cell which begins to divide and multiply. 

By the time you were born, your body had 26 billion cells that made you an original, without duplication unless you should happen to be an identical twin.

When that original cell was formed, it contained 23 chromosomes from each parent — a male and a female, and these united, making you YOU. 

But attached to each chromosome were literally thousands of genes, only four percent of which are utilized, and these determined your genetic make-up: the color of your eyes, the texture of your skin, the frame you have, whether you are tall or short, whether you can eat anything you want in your life and always be thin or struggle with weight.

Like two giant rivers which merged, your genetic code made you the person you are, and (are you ready for this), the Bible says that all of this is not a matter of random choice but the determination of God whose plan for your life began before you were born.

The fact that God is personal and that He does have a will for you takes away the feeling that you are a mistake, a failure, an accident which shouldn’t have happened.

The implications of God having a plan for our lives are tremendous. No, you are not a mistake. 

No, you are not a person who should never have been born, the abortion that didn’t succeed, the offspring of someone who didn’t want to father a child.

You were created in the image of God whose vocabulary doesn’t have the word illegitimate — only child, only a son or a daughter. 

Because life is sacred, there are some powerful implications.

Resource reading:  Psalm 139:1-24

Are you passionate about sharing the love of Jesus with the world?

People all over the world are living in darkness and desperate for hope. You can help transform their lives by introducing them to God. And you can make an impact right where you are.

Whatever your skills, resources, or time that you have, Guidelines has multiple ways for you to get involved and change lives around the world.

Harold J. Sala is founder and president of Guidelines International, Inc., a ministry communicating the message of Jesus Christ so that people come to faith in the Lord and believers are discipled and strengthened.

https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/gods-plan-came-before-you-did/

 

THE THIRD HEAVEN - Paradise, or the third heaven, is the place where God is. ‘Third heaven’ (which only appears once in the Bible) has the same meaning as how we normally use the word ‘heaven’. ‘Heaven’ or ‘heavens’ is used in various ways in the Bible. The first meaning of ‘heavens’ is the atmosphere of the earth. The second meaning of ‘heavens’ is the stars beyond the earth’s atmosphere. The third meaning of heavens is the dwelling place of God. So, when Paul was writing about ‘third heaven’, he meant to say: ‘I was not in the clouds, I was not among the stars – I was in the presence of God!’ That is a deep and overwhelming joy that each of us will experience if we have trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven’. ‘There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness’.

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The Third Heaven

What is the third heaven?

Marten Visser

Your question: What is the third heaven?

Paul wrote that he was “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2).

In the next verse he calls the same place “paradise”.

Paradise, or the third heaven, is the place where God is.

Jesus promised to the criminal on the cross: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

They will be in the presence of God together.

So ‘third heaven’ (which only appears once in the Bible) has the same meaning as how we normally use the word ‘heaven’.

Various ways of heaven

Why then is Paul talking about ‘third heaven’ and not just ‘heaven’?

That is to make sure his readers do not misunderstand him.

‘Heaven’ or ‘heavens’ is used in various ways in the Bible.

The first meaning of ‘heavens’ is the atmosphere of the earth. Examples of this are:

•   ‘the birds of the heavens’ (Genesis 1:26)

•   ‘the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained’ (Genesis 8:2).

•   ‘he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain’ (Deuteronomy 11:17).

•   ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven’ (Matthew 26:64).

The second meaning of ‘heavens’ is the stars beyond the earth’s atmosphere. Examples of this are:

•   ‘There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness’ (Exodus 24:10).

•   ‘I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven’, (Genesis 22:17).

•   ‘served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden’ (Deuteronomy 17:3)

•   ‘I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners’ (Acts 11:5).

The third meaning of heavens is the dwelling place of God. Examples of this use of the word are:

•   ‘And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive’ (1 Kings 8:30).

•   ‘then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14).

•   ‘The LORD has established his throne in the heavens’ (Psalms 103:19).

•   ‘give glory to your Father who is in heaven’ (Matthew 5:16).

Mixed use of heaven

Often ‘heaven’ is used in a way that these three meanings are more or less mixed. For example:

•   When Jacob flees Esau, we read ‘And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!’ (Genesis 28:12).

•   “Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven’” (John 6:32).

In the presence of the Lord

So, when Paul was writing about ‘third heaven’, he meant to say: ‘I was not in the clouds, I was not among the stars – I was in the presence of God!’

That is a deep and overwhelming joy that each of us will experience if we have trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour.

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Marten Visser (1971), experienced a call from the Lord to be a missionary while in Kindergarten. He received M.Div., Th.M. in Missiology, M.A. in cultural anthropology degrees and a Ph.D. degree in Theology. In 2000 he became a church planting missionary in Thailand with OMF, together with his wife Esther. In 2015 he returned to the Netherlands where he founded GlobalRize. He continues to serve as GlobalRize’s director of evangelism.

https://www.biblword.net/what-is-the-third-heaven/

ANCIENT ORIGINS OF NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS - There is nothing new about New Year’s. Festivals and celebrations marking the beginning of the calendar have been around for thousands of years. While some festivities were simply a chance to drink and be merry, many other New Year celebrations were linked to agricultural or astronomical events. In Egypt, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rising of the star Sirius. The Phoenicians and Persians began their new year with the spring equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice. The first day of the Chinese New Year occurred with the second new moon after the winter solstice. The earliest recorded New Year’s festivity dates back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon, and was deeply intertwined with religion and mythology. The Roman New Year also originally corresponded with the vernal equinox. According to tradition, the calendar was created by Romulus, the founder of Rome, in the eighth century B.C.

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The Ancient Origins of New Year’s Celebrations

Joanna Gillan

On the 1 ^st January of every year, many countries around the world celebrate the beginning of a new year. 

But there is nothing new about New Year’s. In fact, festivals and celebrations marking the beginning of the calendar have been around for thousands of years. 

While some festivities were simply a chance to drink and be merry, many other New Year celebrations were linked to agricultural or astronomical events. 

In Egypt, for instance, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided with the rising of the star Sirius.

The Phoenicians and Persians began their new year with the spring equinox, and the Greeks celebrated it on the winter solstice. 

The first day of the Chinese New Year, meanwhile, occurred with the second new moon after the winter solstice.

The Celebration of Akitu in Babylon

The earliest recorded New Year’s festivity dates back some 4,000 years to ancient Babylon, and was deeply intertwined with religion and mythology.  

For the Babylonians of ancient Mesopotamia, the first new moon following the vernal equinox — the day in late March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness — heralded the start of a new year and represented the rebirth of the natural world.

They marked the occasion with a massive religious festival called Akitu (derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days.

During the Akitu, statues of the gods were paraded through the city streets, and rites were enacted to symbolize their victory over the forces of chaos. Through these rituals the Babylonians believed the world was symbolically cleansed and recreated by the gods in preparation for the new year and the return of spring.

In addition to the new year, Atiku celebrated the mythical victory of the Babylonian sky god Marduk over the evil sea goddess Tiamat and served an important political purpose: it was during this time that a new king was crowned or that the current ruler’s divine mandate was renewed. 

One fascinating aspect of the Akitu involved a kind of ritual humiliation endured by the Babylonian king. This peculiar tradition saw the king brought before a statue of the god Marduk, stripped of his royal regalia, slapped and dragged by his ears in the hope of making him cry.

If royal tears were shed, it was seen as a sign that Marduk was satisfied and had symbolically extended the king’s rule.

Ancient Roman Celebration of Janus

The Roman New Year also originally corresponded with the vernal equinox. 

The early Roman calendar consisted of 10 months and 304 days, with each new year beginning at the vernal equinox. 

According to tradition, the calendar was created by Romulus, the founder of Rome, in the eighth century B.C.  

However, over the centuries, the calendar fell out of sync with the sun, and in 46 B.C. the emperor Julius Caesar decided to solve the problem by consulting with the most prominent astronomers and mathematicians of his time.  

He introduced the Julian calendar, a solar-based calendar which closely resembles the more modern Gregorian calendar that most countries around the world use today.

As part of his reform, Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honour the month’s namesake: Janus, the Roman god of change and beginnings, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. 

This idea became tied to the concept of transition from one year to the next.

Romans would celebrate January 1st by offering sacrifices to Janus in the hope of gaining good fortune for the New Year, decorating their homes with laurel branches and attending raucous parties.

This day was seen as setting the stage for the next twelve months, and it was common for friends and neighbours to make a positive start to the year by exchanging well wishes and gifts of figs and honey with one another.

Middle Ages: January 1st Abolished

In medieval Europe, however, the celebrations accompanying the New Year were considered pagan and unchristian-like, and in 567 AD the Council of Tours abolished January 1st as the beginning of the year, replacing it with days carrying more religious significance, such as December 25th or March 25 ^th, the Feast of the Annunciation, also called “Lady Day”. 

The date of January 1 ^st was also given Christian significance and became known as the Feast of the Circumcision, considered to be the eighth day of Christ's life counting from December 25th and following the Jewish tradition of circumcision eight days after birth on which the child is formally given his or her name.

However, the date of December 25 ^th for the birth of Jesus is debatable .

Gregorian Calendar: January 1st Restored

In 1582, after reform of the Gregorian calendar, Pope Gregory XIII re-established January 1 ^st as New Year’s Day.

Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually adopted among Protestant countries.  

The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752.

Until then, the British Empire, and their American colonies, still celebrated the New Year in March.

By April Holloway

April Holloway is a Co-Owner, Editor and Writer of Ancient Origins. For privacy reasons, she has previously written on Ancient Origins under the pen name April Holloway, but is now choosing to use her real name, Joanna Gillan.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-important-events/ancient-origins-new-year-s-celebrations-001181