Happy New Year, 2015!

Happy New Year!

God is so Good!

God is so Good!

God is so Good!

He’s so Good to me!

We traveled to KY today to see Tim’s mom.  We wanted to go to his dad’s, too, but he and his wife have the flu!  We left early to spend time along the way stopping at thrift stores.  Our first stop was a Goodwill store in NC.  When we got back to the car, it hesitated and didn’t want to start.  Tim wanted to get to an Advanced Auto shop before we got back on the road to begin the long trip and have them check the battery.  We stopped at the Burger King and they directed us to the Advanced Auto right down the street!  YUP!  We needed a battery. Bought a new battery, they installed it (which was no easy task for the lady who did it!) and we were on our way again!  Ain’t God Good!  The battery cost like $131.  Tim said to them, “I guess the days of $55 batteries are gone!”  I’m sure they laughed!  This is the first battery we have had to put in this car since we bought the car in 2007 when we still lived in WV!  Ain’t God Good!

We didn’t want to arrive too early and cause Tim’s mom to miss her afternoon siesta, so we planned to arrive in time to eat dinner with her and visit for awhile.  We lost an hour with the battery problem.  Then we stopped at our usual stop in Princeton, WV for lunch and by the time we got back in the car to begin traveling again, we were going to be 20 minutes late to arrive at his moms!  Tim sent her a text to let her know.  No more thrifting today!

We are spending the night at a hotel near the airport and tomorrow we will head to WV to attend a pastor’s fellowship meeting with our WV friends who serve the lord in the eastern part of the state.

Today being January 1, I am thinking of goals for the New Year; spiritual goals and physical goals.  I want to beef up my spiritual muscles this year and at the same time tone up my physical muscles and lose some of this weight that is beginning to hinder me physically.  However, that being said, my spiritual muscles are more important than my physical ones, so I want to work on the spirit most of all.  That being said……..here are some thoughts I have for beginning the new year on the right foot spiritually………

Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Tim finished up the Wednesday evening Bible study of Joshua last night.  Several, if not all of the thoughts can be applied to us as we enter this new year of 2015.

Referencing the verse above, the Israelites are finally finished conquering the promised land and Joshua encourages the children of Israel to rest, but to continue serving the Lord by giving them five points of advice.

We have come through another year.  We have “conquered” or reached some of the goals we set for ourselves at the first of the year.  But, we have more than likely also NOT achieved some of our goals.  Isn’t God good to us, even when we “fail” in our own eyes?  I am here to tell you that God achieved everything HE set out to do in our lives last year!  And isn’t that what matters most?  Sometimes we forget that our God is the Sovereign of the universe and HE, too, has a plan for our lives.  His is an eternal view while ours is an earthly view set up in chunks of time we call a year.  So, if we did accomplish something we set out to do, it was because it was also, ultimately, part of God’s plan for our lives.

We would be less frustrated with ourselves if we would let God have the control of our lives from day to day, moment by moment, that He desires.  If we worked WITH Him instead of AGAINST Him, we would set goals that would please Him and we would achieve ALL of them!

Briefly, here are 5 things from the verse above to help us work God’s plan instead of our own.  Each one could be a sermon in itself!

1. Take DILIGENT heed to do the commandment and the law of God.  Mom and dad always taught us that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.  I think that is what the word, diligent, means in this verse.  With privilege comes responsibility.  If we own a Bible (and most of us as Christians in the US own at LEAST one, and there is NO excuse for NOT owning one) we are responsible to study it! That is how we will be able to do the commandment and the law of God ALL THE TIME!!!
2. Love the LORD your God.  If for no other reason, we should love Him because He first loved us and saved our wretched souls!  He didn’t have to come to earth to die for us!  We didn’t deserve His sacrifice and forgiveness AT ALL!!!  He would have been JUST in letting us all die in our sin and split hell wide open!
3. Walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments.  What are His ways?  We are commanded to “be holy because He is holy.”  1 Peter 1:16 and lots of verses in the OT.  Live a holy lifestyle.
4. Cleave unto him.  Cleave is the word for glue.  Stick to the Lord like you are glued to Him.  Put your FULL faith and trust in Him! Wherever you go, He goes.  Whatever you do, He does!  Whatever you say, He says!  THAT is a sobering thought!
5. Serve him with all our heart and with all our soul.  In order to serve Him properly, we’ve got to give Him those secret places in our hearts and lives!  Those places that we keep hidden from our family and friends.  They aren’t secret to Him, anyway!  We may have to do it EVERY DAY, but we need to do it!  Don’t serve Him with regret, but with rejoicing!  “Serve the Lord with gladness!” Psalm 100:2

As far as Bible reading, I plan to read one chapter a day, beginning with Genesis 1.  I’m not good at following a reading plan that will take me all the way through the Bible in one year.  I fail at that miserably EVERY year.  So, this year I am taking a different approach.  One chapter a day to read, meditate and study as the Lord leads.  I will post my readings to a private group I have on facebook.  That will keep me accountable!

So, there is how my year is beginning.  Day 1 is almost gone (will be Day 2 by the time most of you read this).  I’m looking forward to the many blessings the Lord has in store for this year.  And I wouldn’t even mind seeing eternity start sometime this year!  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!  Are YOU ready for His return to take His children to heaven?  I pray you are!