God’s New Year

“Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord…and they shall not sorrow any more.” Jeremiah 31:12

Dear Ones:

When we speak of the “New Year,” we invariably think of how if will affect our lives. Our point of reference is almost always ourselves with regard to what WE want to see occur. What is so very wrong with this assessment is the fact that God created us, and did so according to His purpose. Interwoven into the fabric of this whole scenario of Life as God sees it, is the revelation of His Son by His Spirit in and through our lives. Since God has loved us with an “ever-lasting love,” and has proven that love towards us in the giving of His Son, the question then becomes what the Apostle Paul asked: “And shall He not with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32) The Apostle Peter wrote: “His divine power has given unto us ALL things that pertain unto life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3) In his letter to the Colossians, which compliments what Peter wrote, Paul declared: “In Him (Christ) dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily…and ye are COMPLETE in Him.” (2:9,10) David, in the well-beloved Psalm 23 wrote: “The Lord IS my Shepherd, I shall not want.” How could he say that he did not want for any good thing? Because in Jesus Christ, all has been given, so that we might live lives that honor and glorify Him.

The New Year is an opportunity, a most extraordinary opportunity, to KNOW God, and to experience the reality of His fulness in our hearts and lives. It is a gift of God, which has only the bounds that God’s WILL dictates, or the limits that our unbelief or faithlessness, impose. The God which told Israel that she would be plucked up, broken up and thrown down, because of her rebellion is the One who declares with equal certainty, that He would watch over her, to build, and to plant. (Jer. 31:28) He is the One whose heart yearns to bless, heal, deliver, encourage and make alive. He is that One who, “…will rejoice over them to do them good,” declaring that He, “… will plant them ASSUREDLY in this land with My whole heart.” (Jer. 32:41) This is that One who said to Israel: “Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn thee.” (Jer. 31:3)

At the beginning of this new year, we need to grasp something of the greatness of the love and goodness of God, His purposes, and the extent to which He is willing to work and do wondrous things. Is He willing to show us the way, to give us wisdom, and inspire us by the revelation of Himself in His word? Is He willing to provide all that is needful for the fulfillment of His will and purposes in and through us? The answer is “yes.” And He will do so in behalf of the one who will truly trust Him fully.

Dear Father, take us by the hand today and lead us into this new year, with eyes upon Thee, believing Thee for all of Your blessed purposes to be realized. We thank You and praise You for Your great love, unceasing, and captivating. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Love, Dad