Bible Verse of the Day Saturday January 1st, 2022 (New Year's Day)

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Annually God provides a short period to reflect on what has occurred during the past year and make some adjustments. Most people refer to this rectification period as New Year's resolutions. To say that 2021 has been a challenging year for all of us would be an enormous understatement. We have seen our lives restricted to the point that we have not experienced in most of our lifetimes.

The great news is that God has a plan for all of our lives. He wants us to move forward with a life filled with hope for the New Year and beyond. I know that I might be preaching to the choir, but God's definition of hope is not the way the world sees hope. Biblical hope's foundation is on our faith that Jesus nailed our sins to the Cross. Moreover, because of Jesus' sacrifice, our sins are forgiven when we surrender our lives to God. Aren't you glad that God wants to do something new in your life? Doesn't it bring contentment and serenity to know that God desires that we all get a fresh new start?

Last year about this time, some of us made commitments to God. We resolved that we would read and study our Bibles more this year than last year. We assured God that we would attend more group Bible Studies than the previous year. Maybe we said something about being a better witness for the Gospel of Christ Jesus in 2021 than we were in 2020. There might have been some mention of us getting more involved with our local church. Well. Here we are in the dawning hours of 2022, and we must ask ourselves how we did with the resolutions from 2021. 

The failure to keep any resolution we made the previous New Year is unimportant. We must learn from our missteps and know that God has forgiven our sins. Again, probably preaching to the choir, but God's mercy and grace is not a license to sin. If we desire 2022 to be a better year in our walk with God, we must redirect our thoughts. Repentance is not a change of actions; it is a change of mind. We must shun Satan when he lies to us and says that God is finished with us, and we might as well throw in the towel. God has promised us that there will never be one heartbeat that He is not right there with us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5). 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your continued support and kind words of encouragement.  If any of you have any comments or bible questions, please never hesitate to call on me. On behalf of Linda and Myself, we pray that you all have a wonderful and prosperous New Year in Christ Jesus.

Pastor Ron