Beloved OFRH family member,
While you delight yourself in the Lord, let me wish you a happy 2025. I rejoice with you in all that our precious Lord Jesus has accomplished for us, providing us peace (Philippians 4:7), faith (Galatians 2:20), joy (Galatians 5:22), empowerment (Ephesians 1:19) and so many other gifts and provisions. When those fruits of the Spirit are all ripening within you, He will use and bless you in this ever-changing world. As Dr. Fuller will remind us this month from Hebrews 2:14-15, we have been totally freed (delivered) through our Lord’s coming to this earth and experiencing death for us….AND now He lives for us!
The 53rd chapter of Isaiah, penned some 700 years before Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem, tells us: “But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, and He has carried our sorrows and pains; yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]. The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5 Amplified Version).
Let the words of “Hallelujah, What a Savior penned by Philip P. Bliss in 1875 (and often sung by the OFRH men’s quartet) put a song in your heart:
“Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! Can it be?
Hallelujah, what a Savior!”
You’ll find that song (plus 14 others by the quartet) on “The Solid Rock” which is the CD we are offering as we enter 2025. It can be yours for just $16.50 which includes shipping ($18.00 if you live in California due to tax).
Rejoicing in the New Year,
Michael Khanchalian, D.D.S.