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There are just a few more days left in this year! Runners train themselves to be focused on only one thing – The finish line! They have one desire! And they are not going to let who is lagging behind... or what is going on in the stands to distract them! Paul had the same sense. He, too, believed that you could not win a race by looking over your shoulder or glancing to the right or the left. You can't see what is ahead when you've got your headlight on the rear bumper.

Paul forgot his past glory, past mistakes, past grief, past everything. Paul refused to let his past keep him from reaching his goal. "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

What are you doing in your race to claim the prize of a closer walk with God? Take a few minutes over the next couple of days to analyze how you ran the race this year. What changes do you want to make in the coming year to better run the race? What are you going to forsake? What are you going to follow?

The finish line for 2007 is just ahead. How will you run the race of 2008?

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 7.52. Live for God, on purpose, reaching toward the prize of the high calling in Jesus Christ!

Ready For Something New

From my perspective, the older that I get, the faster time seems to go. As a young man, especially when I was a student in college, each semester seemed to be like an eternity. But now, at this time in my life, as we are ready to close out the year, it seems like it was only yesterday that we started 2007!

As the years seem to fly by now like minutes, it's all too easy for the events of our life to blur into one continuous stream. We become accustomed to the rhythm and activity of our life. If we aren't careful, we will find ourselves missing the many opportunities that the Lord has for us in the year to come.

Are you ready for something new? In Joshua 3, God's people were about to embark upon something brand new. And, as we prepare to begin a new year, it will be good for us to heed the same directives that Joshua shares with the people. This Sunday morning, the last Sunday of 2007, we will look at Joshua 3:1-5 and discover three new things for a brand new year! Don't miss my message "Ready for Something New!"

The New Year: A Time for Change

New Year's is usually not thought of as a Christian feast. In fact, it has the opposite reputation as an excuse for drunken revelry and excess.

But this holiday shares a biblical sense as well. That old standby, the New Year's resolution, is echoed in the Scriptures. The Bible can be said to be the stories of sin and repentance.

For example, the third chapter of Matthew describes the ministry of John the Baptist, who proclaimed a mission of repentance and personal conversion. In Matthew 11, Jesus praises entire towns that repent, and warns about villages that see no need for conversion. Still God is not a wrathful judge, says Jesus. Instead God is more like a father who welcomes a lost son (Luke 15.11-31) by killing a fatted calf and celebrating his return.

Even the heroes of the Bible are both great sinners as well as saints, from Peter, the apostle who denies Jesus (Luke 22.54-61), to King David, who arranges for the killing of the husband of the beautiful Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11, 12), and is brought down by the grief caused by his own wicked deeds.

If biblical figures such as Peter, whose cowardice causes him to not even acknowledge knowing his Lord and Savior, and King David, whose lust results in a cascade of evil deeds and consequences, can resolve to do better, the new year gives hope to those of us with "lesser sins." Through the Bible we learn that God can transform great sinners into holy leaders of zealous faith and rectitude. Those who love Scripture can encounter a new year as another fresh opportunity to move closer to a loving Father who forgives our sins.

as seen in "The Good News News," Vol. 3 No. 8, from the American Bible Society

A Year of Time

by Steven B. Cloud

Though even thinking on the subject of time may prove discomforting, it is not a bad idea-especially at the beginning of a new year.

As we look into the coming year we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. And all is a gift from God. We have done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or purchased it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.

The gift of time is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, strong and weak-every man, woman and child has the same twenty-four hours every day.

Another important thing about time is that you cannot stop it. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it. Time marches on.

And you cannot bring back time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, tomorrow is uncertain. We may look ahead at a full year's block of time, but we really have no guarantee that we will experience any of it.

Obviously, time is one of our most precious possessions. We can waste it. We can worry over it. We can spend it on ourselves. Or, as good stewards, we can invest it in the kingdom of God.

The new year is full of time. As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window, or will you make every minute count?

I Am the New Year

I am the New Year. I am an unspoiled page in your book of time.

I am your next chance at the art of living. I am your opportunity to practice what you have learned about life during the last twelve months.

All that you sought and didn't find is hidden in me, waiting for you to search it but with more determination.

All the good that you tried for and didn't achieve is mine to grant when you have fewer conflicting desires.

All that you dreamed but didn't dare to do, all that you hoped but did not will, all the faith that you claimed but did not have-these slumber lightly, waiting to be awakened by the touch of a strong purpose.

I am your opportunity to renew your allegiance to Him who said, "Behold, I make all things new."

Recipe for a Happy New Year

Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past-have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time.

Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way) but prepare one day at a time.

Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, prayer, meditation, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing-don't do it), and one well-selected resolution.

Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.

A New Year

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:4-7, NIV).

"A legend tells the story of a fisherman called Aaron. Aaron lived on the banks of a river. Walking home with his eyes half-closed one evening after a hard day's work, he was dreaming of what he could do if he were rich. As he walked his foot struck against a leather pouch filled with what seemed to him to be small stones.

"Absentmindedly he picked up the pouch and began throwing the pebbles into the water. ‘When I am a rich man,' he said to himself, ‘I'll have a large house.' And he threw another pebble into the river. He threw another one and thought, 'my wife and I will have servants and rich food, and many fine things.' And this went on until just one stone was left. As Aaron held it in his hand, a ray of light caught it and made it sparkle. He then realized that it was a valuable gem. He had been throwing away the real riches in his hand, while he dreamed of unreal riches in the future."

As we start a fresh New Year, let us remember all the riches we have in Christ Jesus, and all the blessings from God that we do have and not overlook these because of all the things we don't have-many of which for many of us we don't even need in order to live a contented and happy life.

As Charles Dickens once said, "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

Contentment and happiness come from within and not from circumstances without. They come from changing the things we can and need to change, from accepting and learning to live with the things we cannot change-and having the wisdom to know the difference. They come from the attitude of one's heart and mind, and learning to trust God in everything.

A New Year's Prayer

May God make your year a happy one!

Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain, But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes;

Not by making your path easy, But by making you sturdy to travel any path;

Not by taking hardships from you, But by taking fear from your heart;

Not by granting you unbroken sunshine, But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows;

Not by making your life always pleasant, But by showing you when people and their causes need you most, and by making you anxious to be there to help.

God's love, peace, hope and joy to you for the year ahead.

The Last Impression

A husband looking through the paper came upon a study that said women use more words than men.

It read, "Men use about 15,000 words per day, but women use 30,000."

Excited to prove to his wife that he had been right all along when he accused her of talking too much, he showed her the study results.

The wife thought for a while, then finally she said to her husband, "It's because we have to repeat everything we say."

The husband said, "What?"

What a wonderful year this has been in the Lord! This Sunday, we will conclude 2007, and together look forward to the New Year. Come prepared to be touched by the Lord as we worship Him together on this last Lord's Day of the year!