The Beginning of a New Year

Happy New Years Eve Eve! In the spirit of the New Year, I've been collecting my thoughts and trying to plan my hopes and dreams for 2012. Besides having a backspace key installed for my mouth, and no longer allowing “I don’t feel like it” to be an acceptable, no-questions-asked excuse for my laziness, I’m looking at my list of ways to shape up this next year and feeling a little overwhelmed by all the personal changes I'd like to see.

So, instead of making all sorts of grandiose attempts at trying to fool myself into being that “perfect” person He knows I’ll never be, God led me to some wonderful scriptures to reflect on during my planning for the new year. I love what G. K. Chesterton says - “The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul”.

So for now, I feel less overwhelmed in my preparations and planning for the New Year and much more assured in knowing God is going to provide me every tool I need to be everything He created me to be.

I hope you find these scriptures helpful in your planning. And may the giver of every good and perfect gift bless you with heaven's blessings this upcoming Year!

Looking for Hope in the Future
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

A New Creation
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

New Heart
Ezekiel 36:25-27
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

Forgetting the Past
Philippians 3:13-14
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Learning from Past Mistakes
Hebrews 12:10-11
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Wait on the Lord
Psalm 37:7
Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.

Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

God's Timing is Perfect
Ecclesiastes 3:11
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Each New Day is Special
Lamentations 3:22-24
The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

Isaiah 40:31
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

Philippians 3:13-14
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.