But we can begin anew each and every day! The Lord's mercies are new every morning! and His love is steadfast (Lamentations 3:22-24)! I will place my hope in the Lord, not in what this new year will bring.
This year, I will not strive for happiness. Nope. Happiness is a fleeting emotion that only lasts as long as the situation that made you happy lasts. I'm not saying I don't want to be happy, I do. Everyone does. It is a God-given emotion after all. Who coined the phrase "happy new year" anyway? The simple truth of the matter is, I don't think anyone will ever be completely and truly happy (in this life anyway).
I don't believe God ever promised us happiness. I believe He wanted us to be FILLED with JOY! In John 15:11 it is written, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete;" in Nehemiah 8:10 it is written,"...for the joy of the Lord is your strength." JOY!
This year I want to strive for joyfulness. Being joy-filled. Filled with JOY! Do you remember that acronym for j.o.y. ??? I do. It's "J.esus" "O.thers" "Y.ourself" This is what I will strive for in 2012.
There are many other "goals" I have for myself and my family. But I think this one is at the top of the list.
And what are goals anyway? Just guidelines really. Only God knows what His plan is for my family and I. All I can do is pray about the next step into life...and wait patiently for His answer.
In a recent post on her blog, Melissa K. Norris lists a few things we can do to grow closer to God in 2012:
"In order to grow closer to God there are three things we must do.
1. Find the Holy Spirit. When Jesus returned to Heaven, He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, we have no connection to God or Jesus while we’re still in a sin filled world. If you seek the Holy Spirit, God promises we will find Him.
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:8
2. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Once you’ve asked God to reveal His Holy Spirit to you, you must listen to Him.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you. John 16:13-15
Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit only speaks what He hears from God’s own mouth.
3. Spend time in God’s word. You must read your Bible. The Bible is God’s most precious gift to us other than the sacrifice of His son. It tells us how we are to find Him, how to live, everything about Him is inside the Bible. When we read it with the help of the Holy Spirit, verses will take on special meaning and relevance to things we are going through.
Have you ever been struggling with something, opened the Bible, and found a verse that fit your situation exactly? That is the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever been dealing with something and a snippet of verse came to mind? That is the Holy Spirit and God speaking to you through His living word. If you don’t know His word, or spend time in it, then you make it very difficult for God to speak to you. And you can’t know someone if you don’t converse with them."
Here's to a joy-filled new year!
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