The few days before the New Year, I was contemplating over what I wanted and what needed to be changed for the New Year. So many things are beyond my control and my burden is not really for myself but for others.
I have to admit that my walk with Christ has not been the most regular in 2009 but during the moments when I did walk with Him, He would shower me with agape love and tell me that He is there for me. The Spirit would show Himself and would say that He cares and I should have faith. At those times, in my joy, I have faith, trust and love. But it wears off readily enough and the burdens come creeping back when I see others continue in apparent dire hopelessness and negativity. It hurts me and I worry.
So I was thinking what would be a suitable verse for the New Year and Psalm 23 came into mind. The first verse of this Psalm is,
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want (NIV)
It is a popular Psalm and I thought a lot about this first verse. I can’t help but feel that this should be the Psalm for the New Year and perhaps this is what God wants me to know, believe and grasp.
Yes this verse is normally associated with death. The weekend just before he passed, he brought back a DVD that my sister had bought for Him entitled, “The Lord in My Shepherd”. We watched it together and although he fell asleep watching it, since it was very boring, it was still the last verse we had paid attention to together. The truth was, it wasn’t planned that we should watch such things. We didn’t know he would pass away a day or two later. But God knew and He wanted us to remember that through it all, He is our Lord and our Saviour.
The 2nd last weekend before my father passed away, we spent the time watching Amazing Grace and Evan Almighty. It had to be the work of the Holy Spirit and the timing of the Lord.
But if you really want to know what the last thing my father watched, it was The Break-Up. Ha ha.
(Edit 04/01/10: I got the weeks mixed up but have changed it already)
It is true, we have all we need like what Psalm 23 says.
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
As I read through it last night as one of the verses for the New Year, it was affirmation from God that what He placed in my heart a couple of days before the New Year is what He wants me to bring into the new year and decade. To God be all the Glory.
New Years Eve, I was called to a friend’s house for a small gathering and to countdown the New Year. To be honest, I was reluctant to go at first but after the night was over, I believe it was Spirit inspired. My friend was telling me all that she had gone through over the year, the people she met, what God had put into her heart and she spoke so much about what essentially our faith should be and what it means to sacrifice our beings to God.
At the time I was thinking this was quite serious for a New Years Eve party but I suppose God had other ideas. Just before I left, it was probably 10 minutes into 2010 when she quoted Philippians 3:8. I spent the 1/2 hour after that relating my burdens to another trusted friend and she did provide some solutions to problems that I feel are dead-ended. I could not help feel that it was God’s timing that got me to say what had been on my heart for months and all in the first hour of 2010!
I arrived home pondering and winding down. The 2nd verse of “So You Would Come” came to mind,
Nothing you can do
Could make Him love you more
And nothing that you’ve done
Could make Him close the door
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come
I spent some time in prayer and reading Philippians 3:7-21 and Psalm 23.
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. – Philippians 3:7-21
It says it all. I really feel that this is what God wants me to hold on to. Or what He wants us to hold on to as we go into 2010. Let us re-focus on Him. Others may falter but who are we to judge?
“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. “And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. – Matthew 7:1-5
In Loving Memory: 2 Years 3 Months
The few days before the New Year, I was contemplating over what I wanted and what needed to be changed for the New Year. So many things are beyond my control and my burden is not really for myself but for others.
I have to admit that my walk with Christ has not been the most regular in 2009 but during the moments when I did walk with Him, He would shower me with agape love and tell me that He is there for me. The Spirit would show Himself and would say that He cares and I should have faith. At those times, in my joy, I have faith, trust and love. But it wears off readily enough and the burdens come creeping back when I see others continue in apparent dire hopelessness and negativity. It hurts me and I worry.
So I was thinking what would be a suitable verse for the New Year and Psalm 23 came into mind. The first verse of this Psalm is,
It is a popular Psalm and I thought a lot about this first verse. I can’t help but feel that this should be the Psalm for the New Year and perhaps this is what God wants me to know, believe and grasp.
Yes this verse is normally associated with death. The weekend just before he passed, he brought back a DVD that my sister had bought for Him entitled, “The Lord in My Shepherd”. We watched it together and although he fell asleep watching it, since it was very boring, it was still the last verse we had paid attention to together. The truth was, it wasn’t planned that we should watch such things. We didn’t know he would pass away a day or two later. But God knew and He wanted us to remember that through it all, He is our Lord and our Saviour.
The 2nd last weekend before my father passed away, we spent the time watching Amazing Grace and Evan Almighty. It had to be the work of the Holy Spirit and the timing of the Lord.
But if you really want to know what the last thing my father watched, it was The Break-Up. Ha ha.
(Edit 04/01/10: I got the weeks mixed up but have changed it already)
It is true, we have all we need like what Psalm 23 says.
As I read through it last night as one of the verses for the New Year, it was affirmation from God that what He placed in my heart a couple of days before the New Year is what He wants me to bring into the new year and decade. To God be all the Glory.
New Years Eve, I was called to a friend’s house for a small gathering and to countdown the New Year. To be honest, I was reluctant to go at first but after the night was over, I believe it was Spirit inspired. My friend was telling me all that she had gone through over the year, the people she met, what God had put into her heart and she spoke so much about what essentially our faith should be and what it means to sacrifice our beings to God.
At the time I was thinking this was quite serious for a New Years Eve party but I suppose God had other ideas. Just before I left, it was probably 10 minutes into 2010 when she quoted Philippians 3:8. I spent the 1/2 hour after that relating my burdens to another trusted friend and she did provide some solutions to problems that I feel are dead-ended. I could not help feel that it was God’s timing that got me to say what had been on my heart for months and all in the first hour of 2010!
I arrived home pondering and winding down. The 2nd verse of “So You Would Come” came to mind,
I spent some time in prayer and reading Philippians 3:7-21 and Psalm 23.
It says it all. I really feel that this is what God wants me to hold on to. Or what He wants us to hold on to as we go into 2010. Let us re-focus on Him. Others may falter but who are we to judge?