A New Year, A New Day

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22-23

Every day is a new day. Every morning we have new mercy from the Lord. Each year is the same. God will forgive us every time we ask Him and will never stop loving us and guiding us.  Our responsibility is to avoid temptations, to refrain from what we know is sin. It is not right to go on sinning thinking that God will forgive us if we do not have a penitent heart, that is if we do not sincerely repent of our sins.

When we are struggling in life, we may believe things will never change.  When we are sick, we may feel that we will be sick forever.  When we see what others have, we may think that we will never have a life like them.  But things can change in an instant.  Our past is not necessarily our future.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. Jeremiah 29:11-12

God does not want us to suffer.  He was heartbroken when Satan and his followers fell from heaven.  He was heartbroken when Adam and Eve chose disobedience.  He is heartbroken that we are now suffering the consequences, but He did make a way of escape.  He wants us to be faithful. 

Through belief in Jesus Christ, His death on the cross for our sins, and His resurrection, we can be returned to a right relationship with God.  Still we must live in this world having been sent in this world by Christ to spread His word which the world hates. 

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world...As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.  John 17:14-18

We don't know when it will be our time to leave this world. What we do know is that Christ prayed that God would keep us from the evil one.  But, just as Adam and Eve had a choice, so do we.  We may choose sin but that will separate us from God.  We can also rejoice, knowing that if we have chosen sin and repent of the sin, God will be faithful to forgive us of those sins and give us new life in Him.  There is no limit to the forgiveness of God.  



He never gives up on us and we should never give up on Him or on this life.  When it seems that all is lost and we want to leave this world, we must remember His promises and that each new day, each new year brings more mercy and grace from God.  Things can change in and instant.  One phone call, one person, one meal, one hug can make a difference.  

When we need these, God will provide them.  When we are doing well, God can use us to give them to others.  The world is selfish and greedy, but we are not of the world.  We can show God's love and mercy to others each and every new day.

Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:78-79

Look toward the sunrise and the light that will chase away the darkness from our lives.  



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