Out With the Old...In With the New!

Well, here we are at the end of another year.

 

What kind of a year have you had?

Are you glad it's coming to an end?

 

What, of God, have you experienced this past year?

And what, of God, are you taking with you into the new year?

 

I usually try to take inventory at this time of the year; looking back and looking ahead.  God has done a great and lasting (I pray) work in my heart this past year and I suspect it will continue into the new year, because my heart is a "work in progress."

 

I am taking several Scriptures into the new year with me; Scriptures the Lord has put on my heart in the past few weeks:

 

"Thus says the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?  For all those things have my hand made, and all those things have been, says the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word."

Isaiah 66:1, 2

 

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 3:3

 

"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?"

Jeremiah 32:27

 

Only God knows what He will do with these Scriptures in my heart and life and I wait with great anticipation to unfold that work.

 

The greatest truth I am taking with me from 2013 into 2014 is:

 

God is always good and I am always loved.

 

Those of you who are regular readers of my blog, I'm sure, are not surprised by this for you have read it many times here in the past few months.

 

It's a life-changing truth and one I remind myself of every day.

 

Faith, trust, mercy, grace, goodness, truth, love, joy, comfort, thanksgiving have been big words for me in 2013; foundational words to build a life on, one I've been building on for almost 40 years!  Or maybe I should say, God's been building on for almost 40 years!

 

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:6

 

"Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it."

1 Thessalonians 5:24

 

"The Lord will perfect that which concerns me: thy mercy, O Lord, endures forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands."

Psalm 138:8

 

Unfortunately, I'm also taking some "unfinished business" into the new year with me, too.  Are you? 

 

Our messes, our pains, our disappointments, our illnesses, our hurts and losses, all of our imperfections don't just disappear at the stroke of midnight; wish they somehow would!  But as we take those messes with us, we also take the Lord with us, too.  He is Lord of all that pertains to us and we can rest assured, He will be with us in and through it all.

 

I pray that God will grant you a blessed, healthy and happy new year.  I pray that He will grant your hearts' desires as they line up with His Word and will for your life.  May you see and experience His hand in performing that "good work" in your life, fully knowing and believing by faith that He is faithful and He will do it!  In all the circumstances of your life, good and not so good,

 

acknowledge Him,

trust Him,

believe in Him and His goodness,

seek Him,

love Him, and above all else,

thank Him!

 

In happy moments - praise God!

In difficult moments - seek God!

In quiet moments - worship God!

In painful moments - trust God!

In every moment - thank God!