Malachi 4:5 (NASB)
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.

Matthew 11:14 (NASB)
14 “And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.

Matthew 17:11-13 (NASB)
11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;
12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
13 Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

The prophet Malachi was the last prophet in the Old Testament and he prophesized that Elijah would return. What is amazing about this is that 400 years pass between Malachi and John the Baptist. To put that in perspective, 400 years ago in 1616 is the year that Shakespeare died. 400 years elapsed where the prophets of God were silent until the coming of Christ.

As I thought about the magnitude of that time period, I realized how thankful I should be that I live in a point of history after the first coming of Jesus. I’m thankful that I didn’t live in times where the prophets of God were silent. I’m thankful that the Holy Spirit now lives in the hearts of all the saints.

It’s easy to focus on the forces of evil and all of the challenges that we are faced with in our current times. However, we are truly blessed to live in 2017. As we start this New Year, may our praises and thanksgiving to God be the foundation of our prayers. We have much to praise God, for He is truly worthy and we can live a life of gratitude for knowing Jesus as our Savior.

If you would like to praise God and express your thankfulness to Him with other Christians, come to prayer this Tuesday at 7pm.

Always praying for the glory of God,