Psalm 65:11
Thou crownest the year with goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. - Psalm 65:11
January is always a good time to evaluate priorities and decide what goals you have for the year. This quote from a sweet missionary wife named Elisabeth Elliott is a great way to introduce our thought for today’s blog post. She said, “The start of a new year is the perfect time to fix our eyes upon the only One who knows what the new year will hold.”
If living through a pandemic and the crazy things it has brought us has taught anything, it’s that no matter what happens, God is in control. He is still good even in uncertain times. We have seen things that are unprecedented. Our government, our health organizations, and our judicial branches have never seen the things we’ve experienced in 2020. They say one thing and we all believe that. Then they say another thing and we believe that. When will all this go back to normal or be a “new” day?
It may not. Sometimes life changes and we have what’s called a “new” normal. This happened even in Bible days. The prophet Isaiah experienced days like this when his country turned away from God. He is called the “weeping prophet” because of all that he went through. He wrote this by inspiration of the Holy Ghost:
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. - Isaiah 43:19
He challenged people to find the good even in the wilderness and to find rest and refreshment even when in the desert. I don’t know what our future holds concerning our way of life as Christians or as Americans but I do know I don’t want to miss how God is working. Isaiah went on to say:
Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. - Isaiah 48:6
May it never be said of us as Daughters that God was working and even revealed the hidden things from His unseen hand, yet we did not acknowledge it or praise Him for it.
Christian women, God is at work. Even in the difficult days, He is using testing and trials to make us new and to give us the victory over it all.
O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. - Psalm 98:1
If we are going to be used of God and help others to see they can have victory in their lives as well, we must reflect Christ. We must become new this year ourselves first. That’s what the “Jan-You-ary” emphasis means. We who are saved have the Bible promise that says old things are passed away and God makes everything new for us. Amen!
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17
As we go through challenges in this new year, may we not get discouraged or fall back into “old” patterns but may we continually ask the Lord to help us, to guide us, to empower us to be what He’d have us to be. But how?
We must remind ourselves of Who God is. The Bible says we are to speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We, like David in God’s Word, are to encourage ourselves in the Lord. Here are some great verses to do just that:
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23
God has a plan for every life! We have no idea how long we have to live. May we not take for granted the health and strength we have today, this month or this new year. Make a list of the things you want God to use you to do this year and pray through that list daily. Include things like:
Have faith instead of fear
Think before speaking
Be faithful in all things
Walk/talk with God in some way each day
Become the woman, friend, wife and mom you desire to be
Leave the rest with God
This month I read this quote which seems so fitting for our emphasis on “Jan-YOU-ary.” “Our hope is not in the new year but in the One Who makes all things new.”
I love that the Bible closes with this promise that is so relevant for today:
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. - Revelation 21:5
God shows us that when all is said and done, we win! Let us live our lives and navigate our difficulties from a place of victory and not defeat.
Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. - 1 John 4:4
You can be new this Jan-YOU-ary! Ask the Lord to give you the desires of your heart.
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. - Psalms 37:4
Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill (control) you and enable you to be all that God saved you to be!
Be a new you this “Jan-YOU-ary” through Christ.
We are praying for you here at the Daughters of the King Ministry. To begin this journey of victory, CLICK HERE for resources and tools to start fresh on your daily walk with the Lord.