Welcome

Isaiah 26:4 states, Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. A friend texted me this passage from his devotional time this past week. The passage got me to thinking about the beginning of a new year. The calendar has whirred by and we are moving over to the first days of the year when the next Christmas seems SO far away, but we know that it will be here sooner rather than later. We begin to ask questions through the changes of life, where do we put our trust?

With a New Year beginning, what are your goals? Do you have any? Many times they revolve around health. “This year I will fit into the pants I wore to the homecoming dance my junior year,” or “this year I will work up to running a 5k,” or “this year I will walk down the street without getting winded.” All of these are admirable because they are personal challenges to better ourselves. Often physical pursuits can help us in our spiritual lives. How so? In forcing care on our bodies, it begins to change the mindset and heart for other areas including our understanding of creation and our own mortality. I know that exercising three to five times a week going on five years has really done a lot for my spiritual walk. Maybe your goals lie in working harder to make more money or putting more effort into your marriage and kids?

Goals are wonderful, but they seem to tire us out, don’t they? What if a new resolution had to do with sitting back and trusting God with your life? We all know that the time will come when we can’t trust ourselves to control everything and we realize how fragile life is, but is the solution easier than we think? I found a wonderful poem that sums up a way we can ALL begin our year and grow closer to God and not have to work hard at it! It can be easy, we just need to trust, and as John Piper says, “fall upon the grace of God.”

A New Year With The Lord

A new year is about to unfold
With new opportunities to explore
Doors will open for new experiences
New adventures with the Lord

Remember not the former things
The things of this past year
The Lord will do new things in us
Much more than we are aware

For He will make a way for us
As we put our trust in Him
And He will guide our every step
By His presence we have within

What God has placed within our hearts
We find we’ll be able to do
If we look for the opportunities
We’ll see the door to go through

We mustn’t let anything hold us back
But rise up and take our place
And be all that God wants us to be
With a fresh touch of His grace
© By M.S.Lowndes

May God bless you as you’re a blessing to others in the New Year,

Pastor Ben