“…For you have not passed this way before.”  Joshua 3:4b
 
Here we are at the beginning of a new year.  We do not know what the days hold for each of us, but the one thing we do know is that God is in control of all things.  Whether sunny days or shadowed days, that assurance alone gives peace to our hearts for we know that His divine presence is always with us.
 
“Do not fear for I am with you:
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”  Isaiah 41:10   
 
Therefore we can look forward to each day with the great anticipation of enlarging our knowledge of Christ; to getting to know Him more intimately.  We also press forward to become that person God has purposed each of us to be.  So let us have the same desire and attitude as that of the Apostle Paul as he states in his letter to the Believers in Philippi.
 
“...I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus,  brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:12-14
 
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  Ephesians 2:10
 
So each is admonished to,
“…walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  Ephesians 4:1-3
 
We know many changes are ahead for all and especially in our nation, let us then do as Jesus says in Matthew 5:16,
“Let your light so shine before  men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Thank you Lord for what You have done and are doing in these lives that belong to You.  Thy will be done in each of us as Your glory fills the earth!
 
So we sing:
“I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day.
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith on heaven’s table land;
A higher plane than I have found.
Lord plant my feet on higher ground.”
 
And all praise to Holy God:
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Amen”
 
New Year blessings to all.