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Welcome to 2021! So many people say I am so glad to say goodbye to 2020 with a pandemic. But I do need to ask you very candidly, do we have any assurance that 2021 is going to be better? We don’t know that; do we? Frankly, we have no idea what’s going to happen. We could face brand-new troubles, personally and nationally, that none of us are able to predict. How will we cope?
I’m going to introduce you to two words. You don’t even have to write them down, though you can if you wish. And I want those words to guide you as we think about the unknown future. The first word comes to us from Joshua 3 (verses 3-4). Here’s what happens. God is saying to the nation of Israel, “now you have not traveled this way before.” How do you face that unknown future and in the very next verse, God says, “I want you to consecrate yourselves.”
What does it mean to “consecrate” yourself? It means to set yourself apart for God. As a matter of fact, Jesus even did this when He said, “I sanctify myself.” In other words, He was affirming the fact that He was set apart for God and for God’s purposes. Just the other day I was reading in my devotions from the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, where the Bible says, “Lay aside every weight and the sin which easily entangles us.” And God really spoke to me about some weights in my own life, even things that may not be sinful, but they are hindrances. They stand in the way of my worship and my fellowship with God.
Ask yourself that question. What does it mean for us to get rid of sin—to consecrate ourselves to God? That’s what the Lord told Joshua that the people should do because they were travelling a way they had never been before.
But there’s a second related word that I want to introduce you to. At least the word sounds the same, and that is to “concentrate”—to concentrate means to focus. Now, in that passage of Scripture, God says the Ark is going to go ahead of you 2,000 cubits—a cubit is more than a foot. That means 3000 feet, which is a half mile—just a bit more than a half mile. Why? Because God says. “As you go across the path that you’ve never gone before, I want you to look at the presence of God that the ark represents.”
And that’s what you and I have to do. We need to look beyond the present to the future and there’s no passage of Scripture that helps us do that more than the sixth chapter of the book of Hebrews and I was going to read the passage, but I’m going to invite you to read it on your own. As you get to the end of the passage, it says this: “we have fled for refuge and we have a hope that is sure and steadfast that goes behind the veil where Jesus is as our fore-runner.” That’s a summary of what he says.
Let’s not miss the point. 2021 is coming, yes, but Jesus says—I’ve already been there. I’m ahead of you. I’m waiting for you here in heaven and the hope that you have lies beyond this world, it lies beyond the presidential election that we had last year, it lies beyond the pandemic, it lies beyond all of the sorrow that this world engulfs and takes, oftentimes, so much time to overcome. You and I know what we’re talking about here. So we look to Christ.
Let me review those words again. First of all the word “consecrate.” Let us set ourselves apart for God and then “concentrate” on the future—on the victory of Jesus. And I end with the words of Corrie ten Boom who said this, “we entrust an unknown future into the hands of a known God.” And that’s how we enter 2021.
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer is Pastor Emeritus of The Moody Church where he served as the Senior Pastor for 36 years. He is author of many books including his latest, “We Will Not Be Silenced: Responding Courageously to Our Culture’s Assault on Christianity.”
COVID-19 lockdowns are taking down an independent news outlet
Nobody said running a media site would be easy. We could use some help keeping this site afloat.
Colleagues have called me the worst fundraiser ever. My skills are squarely rooted on the journalistic side of running a news outlet. Paying the bills has never been my forte, but we’ve survived. We have ads on the site that help, but since the site’s inception this has been a labor of love that otherwise doesn’t bring in the level of revenue necessary to justify it.
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When I left a nice, corporate career in 2017, I did so knowing I wouldn’t make nearly as much money. But what we do at NOQ Report to deliver the truth and fight the progressive mainstream media narrative that has plagued this nation is too important for me to sacrifice it for the sake of wealth. We know we’ll never make a ton of money this way, and we’re okay with that.
Things have become harder with the coronavirus lockdowns. Both ad money and donations that have kept us afloat for a while have dropped dramatically. We thought we could weather the storm, but the resurgence of lockdowns that mainstream media and Democrats are pushing has put our prospects in jeopardy. In short, we are now in desperate need of financial assistance.
The best way NOQ Report readers can help is to donate. Our Giving Fuel page makes it easy to donate one-time or monthly. Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal as well. We need approximately $17,300 to stay afloat through March when we hope the economy will be more open, but more would be wonderful and any amount that brings us closer to our goal is greatly appreciated.
The second way to help is to become a partner. We’ve strongly considered seeking angel investors in the past but because we were paying the bills, it didn’t seem necessary. Now, we’re struggling to pay the bills. This shouldn’t be the case as our traffic the last year has been going up dramatically. June, 2018, we had 11,678 visitors. A year later in June, 2019, we were up to 116,194. In June, 2020, we had 614,192. In November, 2020, we hit 1.2 million visitors.
We’re heading in the right direction and we believe we’re ready talk to patriotic investors who want to not only “get in on the action” but more importantly who want to help America hear the truth. Interested investors should contact me directly with the contact button above.
As the world spirals towards radical progressivism, the need for truthful journalism has never been greater. But in these times, we need as many conservative media voices as possible. Please help keep NOQ Report going.
American Conservative Movement
Join fellow patriots as we form a grassroots movement to advance the cause of conservatism. The coronavirus crisis has prompted many, even some conservatives, to promote authoritarianism. It’s understandable to some extent now, but it must not be allowed to embed itself in American life. We currently have 8000+ patriots with us in a very short time. If you are interested, please join us to receive updates.
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