Happy New Year! Blessed New Year! How blessed we are to have another year to love, worship and glorify God! The word blessed, means happy, prosperous, and to be envied! We are highly favored by God, and he has a great future for you this new year.
As we continue the 12 days of Christmas, the eight maids a-milking are the eight Beatitudes. As we get close to the end of the list, we can remember the eight beatitudes from Matt 5.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
There are some tremendous blessings available to those who are meek, who are merciful, who are peacemakers, who are poor in spirit and even for those who mourn. God’s kingdom is theirs. How amazing is that. The kingdom of God is within us, when we are born again as it says in Luke 17:21.
Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit listed in Gal 5:22.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The fruit of the Spirit are attributes of a person who is yielded to the Holy Spirit. They are evidence that a believer really is a new creation. That they have been changed from the inside out, and just like smoke from a chimney signifies that there is a fire in the fireplace, the evidence of fruit of the Spirit in our lives reveals that there really is the fire of the Holy Spirit on the inside!