"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" ~ 2nd Corinthians 5:17
A new year: new resolutions, new determinations...even a new website! I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to write and publish on this website, www.nearyouraltar.com. The title of the site is from Psalm 84:3: "Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young— a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God." During a period of my life, years ago, I was a single mom, rearing two small children, going through a painful divorce. This verse spoke to me, as I was desperately trying to rear the boys to have hearts for God, to make my home and indeed my heart altars of worship to God. Not a table in a room with candles, crucifix and Bible, no ... but a living, take-with-me-anywhere altar in my heart, and I wanted my home to reflect that. We as a society tend to take the God of all creation, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and stuff Him into a box that looks like us, with our politics, our causes, our missions. But God cannot be limited by humans. He cannot be stuffed into a box. He wants to save us, to grow us, to mold and shape us so that we resemble His Son, Jesus Christ. If we accept Christ as our Savior but don't turn away from lifestyles that don't honor or glorify God, how is that becoming a new creation? When we are saved, we need to participate in activities, in mindsets, indeed in the very language that does glorify God. What makes me look the most like Christ? This activity, or that? This is not saying we should put on a cloak of self-righteousness, but one of forgiveness. We are no better than anyone else, but we are forgiven. As Christ did not stay on the cross, and did not stay in the grave (Praise Him!), we should not hunker down and participate in past, dead lifestyles that do not say we belong to the King of Kings. We should act like the new creations we are. Peace, Terrie Bentley McKee
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