St Peters RC Church Hamilton

“God lavished His grace on me so abundantly together with the faith and love that are only found in Christ Jesus!” (1 Timothy 1 v 14 The Truth)

Lord, You are life to us, a new life, thank You, Christ Jesus. We rejoice at Your coming to us as Saviour Redeemer, the Divine Healer, the Good Shepherd, the Living Word of God, true love manifest. Oh how blessed we are!

All times and all seasons reach their fullness in You, Lord Jesus, the One taking us home to our Father, according to the blessed work of Your Spirit. I long for the Spirit to enable me to draw closer to You than

ever before, Lord Jesus.

Thank You for dealing with my brokenness, all that I get wrong, so I can enjoy a fresh beginning blessed continuously by the power of Your healing love.

Please may the Spirit make me Yours, fully, with nothing held back, no sin impairing our growing friendship.

I can safely entrust this year to godly providence, my contentment.

This season of Christmas is a time so blessed by hope, full of the realisation of Your coming amongst us, Lord Jesus. I hope to overcome those ingrained patterns of sinfulness. They are damaging and I am sorry.

Lord Jesus, You come amongst us as our Deliverer, our rescue from the world, the flesh and the devil. “Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good For His mercy endures forever,” (Psalm 106 v

1) in You, our Saviour.

What healing help and pleasing joy it is to know You as our personal Saviour, to see how our Father favours us. “Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?” (v 2)

I can only try by living a holy, upright, honourable life in Your service, Lord Jesus. May the Holy Spirit please enable me to do this without losing the will to do so or the confidence in serving You as best I can.

For “Blessed are those who keep justice, and (s)he who keep righteousness at all times. (v 3)

Remember me, O LORD, with the favour You have toward Your people.” (v 4)

I am greatly indebted to You, Father God, working as a Trinity to restore me to the way we should live so as to delight and honour You, through our devotion to Christ Jesus.

“Oh, visit me with Your salvation,” daily “That I may see the benefit of Your chosen one.” (v 5) Now, at the start of a New Year is such a good time to ask for this grace.

Countless are the blessings of the year passed, matters which have meant I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, us as Your family Father God, made this through coming to Jesus as Saviour and the Holy Spirit as

Sanctifier, “That I may glory with Your inheritance.” (Cont)

So I enter the New Year with hope in my heart, on my mind and in my ambition to serve the Holy Trinity to the very best of my ability, all thanks to my Saviour Brother.

My New Year resolution must be to never again cause offence, never to displease or dishonour any Person of the Trinity. I seek the sanctity of sharing in my Master’s graced holiness, moving through life towards the

eternal home in heaven.

Thank You that I have the Lord Jesus by my side and the Holy Spirit as my Defender and Guide. May He ever safeguard all believers.

You know Lord Jesus, how often I need to come to You and ask for Your help, Your Spirit’s involvement in my decisions and actions. May I do nothing without this graced favour.

Lord Jesus, You are life to me, a life of hope, of peace in restoring me to our Father’s plentiful, super abundant goodness, that which He longs to share with us to honour You.

The workings of the Holy Trinity are truly wondrous, ever loving, most merciful, bountiful and beneficial, especially when we work and pray to possess You fully.

“Save us, O LORD our God.” (v 47) Please never forsake us, for we are Your children redeemed by the blood the Lord Jesus sheds for us. We are a new creation!

A new creation who enter this New Year with a decided hope that is an unbreakable spiritual helpline, a life enhancing hope, a joy giving hope offering us peace.

Thank You Father, Son and Holy Spirit for this hope we develop through faith in Your fulfilled promises and purpose of our holiness.

We are so grateful to be believers in the gift of salvation as we already live through You, Lord Jesus, by means of the Holy Spirit, just as You, Lord God, Eternal Father, wish for.

May the Holy Spirit ensure the beginning of our friendship with our Saviour Brother, the Divine Healer, will reach the conclusion of his life here amongst us.

We have a Saviour who heals and redeems, restores. We have the Holy Spirit who inspires and conquers. We have a Father of mercy who frees us from fear and doubt as to what is our purpose in life, why are we here.

Hope is the motto and message of the Christmas season. No longer must we be a rebellious, disobedient, wilful people, for we have been restored by grace to the fond favour of the Trinity.

Lord, Jesus, You are holy, make us holy. You are worthy, make us worthy. You are upright, make us firm in faith, dependent upon trust and hopeful, ever hopeful.

Lord, “Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul would soon have settled in silence.” (Psalm 94 v 17) But because of the blessings of Christmas, of our Saviour come now amongst us, I can pray confidently and seek the mercy of forgiveness humbly.

“If I say, ‘My foot slips,’ Your mercy O LORD, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” (Cont) For I am so blessed to possess my Saviour and my Sanctifier, so

I realise “Every promise has been fulfilled, not one has failed.” (Joshua 23 v 14)

This is the season of hope! For what has the Lord Jesus, Your Word made flesh, convinced us of with regard to Your authority, dearest Father?

It is definitely this: “Honour and majesty are before You” and revealed to us, all praise ever be. “Strength and beauty are in Your sanctuary,” (based on Psalm 96 v 6) shared with all who work and pray to become holy.

Profoundly we are blessed to become the family of the Lord Jesus, our forever Saviour our living hope. “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labour and strive)...” (1 Timothy

4 v 9 NIV) hopefully.

“We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially of those who believe.” (v 10) All thanks must be expressed for Christ Jesus’ cradle and cross Your compassion never fails us dearest Father, for Your love is unfailingly merciful. How grateful we are to have been given a new birth into the living hope of Christ Jesus, the truth which is constant and committed to us. Our hearts are glad and our spirits rejoice.

The hope, the peace and the joy of Christmas evolve into a season, not just a day. “This I call to mind and therefore I have hope.” (Lamentations 3 v 21) And what a blessing hope is, for Father God this must be Your wish for us. For You are “Good to those whose hope is in You, to the one who seeks You.” (based on v 25) We pray to seek to find and we are never disappointed.

We ask and we receive of Your goodness because we believe in the Saviour Brother You sent us, verifying this by the active, effective Spirit of holiness. Hope does not disappoint us, because Lord God, we believe in Jesus.

Through Him, by Him, in Him You have “Poured out Your love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom You have given us,” (based on Romans 5 v 5) sent by Jesus.

Father God, eternal love and mercy, You have through Your Son especially, backed up by the written word of sacred Scripture, been a goldmine of wealth to us, told us what is good for us.

“And this is what You require of us: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with You,” (based on Micah 6 v 8) for You are the Lord God Almighty, our Protector and Provider.

May this year be blessed by our efforts made to become holy, to offer service out of love and respect for the Trinity and for each other, striving to become one human family known for its love because we are Christians.

May our spiritual growth develop because we are single-minded and wholehearted about seeking to share the holiness the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, offers us, all to Your delight and honour, dearest Father.

“Now all glory to You Lord God, who is able through Your mighty power at work within us” and this is our true and fullest happiness, for it results in holiness, this being a power “To accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (based on Ephesians 3 v 20)

I think of the difference in life for Saul when touched by the Spirit he becomes Paul, the ardent advocate of giving out life to Jesus and the one who can write about holy love’s amazing power.

“Glory to You in the church and in Christ Jesus” as brought about by the Holy Spirit, “Through all generations, forever and ever!” (based on v 21) For we have a Saviour, hope is born into our world!

Amen

Images by Artist Christine Garwood 

http://www.christinegarwoodartist.co.uk/

Season

Key Themes