JOHN SHIRK -In the Year of Redemption, today’s Freedom Phrase is based on Lamentations 3:22 and 23.

“Because of the LORD’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

God’s faithful love for us is written in the sky each morning with the reliable appearance of the sunrise. Even as the sunrise breaks the darkness of the night, so the grace of God has the power to break the spiritual strongholds in our lives that keep us in the darkness.

While his people were living in captivity, the writer of Lamentations was comforted by the compassion of God to be their source of light and hope.

Through Jesus, we are set free to receive a new start for a brighter day.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Promise of Hope is based on Second Corinthians 5:17.

“If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”

Through faith in Jesus, we are made new. This is evident in various ways.

In relationship with Christ, we have a new mind with a new attitude. Ephesians 4:23 says that we were taught to put off our old self and be made new in the attitude of our minds.

In relationship with Christ, we have a new heart. Ezekiel 11:19 says, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them.”

In relationship with Christ, we have a new home. Philippians 3:20 reminds believers that our citizenship is in heaven.

And in relationship with Christ, we have a new start. According to First Peter 1:3, “In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Becoming a new creation is a promise of hope for those who follow Jesus in the Year of Trust.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com