Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Happy New Year!

What......2010......a new year! Actually 5 days in to this new year. I have been busy taking down Christmas and packing it away, cleaning and trying to remember where everything goes or just redecorating. I have also been making soups and drinking tea because it is cold here in Florida and my family is fighting off the winter cold like so many other people.

During this first week of the "New Year" I like to reflect on this past year and then look ahead to the new year. I get out my new calendar and begin to fill in birthdays, anniversaries and special days....hopefully another family vacation or a mission trip.....it is a fresh new page....a clean slate. What will this year bring? I am ambivilent.....it is exciting but yet there is also the unknown.

My prayer is not to get so caught up in "the path or the plan or even the calendar event" but to keep my eyes focused on Christ. It is in Christ we have hope, peace, and life. As in every year there will be high points and low points, special moments, unforgetable memories made, new places to discover, dreams fulfilled and even some painful days. No matter what life brings if I can hold on to the one truth remains the same.....It is Jesus He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He never changes, He is my constant, the anchor that sustains any wind damage and holds secure in every storm. He is faithful! He is who not what I can hold on to with great confidence because He has always been and he will always be. He not only knows the plan for my life - He wrote the plan for my life and for yours!

Lord, help me to keep my eyes focused on YOU, help me to trust you in every situation, love people and invest my life for your glory. Help me to help others discover that in You we have hope!

1 Peter 3:15 - "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,"

Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Lamentations 3:22-26 - "The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord."

Proverbs 30:5 - "Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection."

Psalm 119:74 - "May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word."

Psalm 119:81 - "My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word."

Psalm 119: 89-90 - "Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens. Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures."

Psalm 119:103-105 - "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."

Psalm 119:114 - "You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word."

Psalm 119:130 - "The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."

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