New Years Eve

I would like to share these thoughts with you on the morning of this last day of 2015!! Where has the year gone? We have seen the presence of God in our lives on a daily basis. We have recognized the goodness of God in so many ways. We have offered our praises to Him and now we look forward to those opportunities that are awaiting us in the future. Let us prepare our hearts to follow God into 2016 full of hope, faith and expectation. 

Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." (NIV)

Later this evening there will be people all around the world who will begin a "countdown" which will take them from 2015 into 2016. This has become a common practice among people for many years. This countdown will be broadcast through various media sources all across the world as people prepare to celebrate the arrival of a New Year.

This passage of scripture in Isaiah reminds me of a "spiritual countdown" of sorts. God is moving His people from the past into the present and on into the future. He does not want them dwelling on the past but He wants them to realize that God is doing something fresh and new. And then God asks a startling question; "Do you not perceive it?" 

I must be willing to ask myself that same question; "Do I truly perceive what God is wanting to do in my life this coming year?" But once I perceive that God is preparing something fresh and new I have to be willing and ready to receive those blessings that God has prepared for me. We can and we should celebrate the victories of the past but we should never live in the past. We can not afford to be captured by our failures and neither can we afford to rest on our spiritual laurels. 

2016 will offer us a fresh start, full of new opportunities, a new day, new spiritual adventures and a fresh desire to please God. Will we be willing to join with God in that process?