Thursday, January 04, 2007

got this in my email. it's really an encouragement for the new year. have a blessed new year! cheers.

FACING THE COMING YEAR WITH HOPE
by Helen Lescheid

"Show me the path where I should walk, O LORD; point out the right road for
me to follow" (Psalm 25:4 Life Application Study Bible ).
We are bombarded daily with relentless appeals to go in various directions.
Television advertising alone places hundreds of options before us. Numerous
organizations, including Christian organizations, seek to motivate us to
support a cause. Add to that the dozens of decisions we must make concerning
our job, our family, our money and our society, and we become desperate for
someone to show us the right way.
In Psalm 25 David is also standing at a crossroads needing guidance. "Which
is the right way?" he seems to be asking.
The first step is to want to be guided. David consults, not a horoscope, but
the LORD whom he's learned to trust as a reliable Guide.
How does God guide us? His primary method is his written Word, the Bible.
It's the lamp onto our feet and a map to show us the way. But what good is a
lamp if it is not being used? What help is a map if it isn't consulted?
If we want God to show us the right way to go we need to read the Word daily
and obey it. Do you have a consistent plan of Bible reading? May I suggest a
method that helps me? I take a book in the Bible like the Psalms, for
instance, and read one chapter slowly until a verse resonates with me. Then
I write out the verse on a card and paste it on my mirror or cupboard door
where I can read it often. I write the words on another card which I place
in my pocket so I can say the words while walking the dog or waiting at a
stop sign. There's power in repeating God's words. Faith grows. Hope shines
more brightly. Along with it ideas come as to what to do.
Sometimes we're tempted to demand specific answers from God, instead, he
gives us direction. And as we walk in his ways, concrete answers come.
As we enter a new year let us pray with David, "Lead me by your truth and
teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in
you."