Monday
This is what the Lord says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
-- Isaiah 43:16 and Isaiah 43:18-19
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
The year is gone, finished, past. We cannot reclaim it or undo it. We cannot rest on the things it has brought us. If tomorrow dawns, it will be another day, a new opportunity, and the time to show our faith in Jesus as Lord. Let's journey forward, knowing that God already inhabits the future and promises to provide us refreshment.
MY PRAYER ...
Lord of all eternity, please help me to learn from my mistakes but not dwell on them. Please help me not rest on my accomplishments in this past year, but use them to further your work in me and through me. Please help me not quarrel with those who injured me yesterday, or last month. Instead, O Father, lead me in your paths and help me see your mighty works this next year. In Jesus name and by his power I ask it. Amen.
Tuesday
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
We all like "do-overs" or second chances. God does much better than that! He allows us to become new again. Being the "God of new things" he can even make us new. Beyond forgiveness, beyond cleansing, he makes us holy through Jesus. Let's use the opportunity of a New Year as a springboard to living a life fresh and new and alive to God!
MY PRAYER ...
O LORD, thank you for a New Year and a fresh start. Please give me wisdom and strength to serve you with integrity and faithfulness in this coming year. I pray that your work be done in my life as I offer myself, my plans, and my future to you. I pray this through Jesus, my intercessor and Lord. Amen.
Wednesday
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
-- Psalms 90:12
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
So often we look up and time has passed us by. The things we promised ourselves we'd accomplish and the deeds we told others we'd do get left undone. Before we know it, days have become weeks, and weeks months, and months years. We find ourselves unable to do what we once assumed we could do any time we want. We must ask the Spirit of God to help us see and seize the opportunities the LORD places in our path.
MY PRAYER ...
Father, I confess that so often I leave undone what needs to be done. Please help me see your plans in each of my days and live in a way which not only honors you, but also blesses those you want me to reach. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Thursday
While [Joseph and Mary] were [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
-- Luke 2:6-7
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
I've always been amazed at how God chose to place his Son into our world. He could have done it any way he wanted. But he chose this way – to enter the world in difficult times under difficult circumstances as a helpless infant who must be cared for by parents who were vulnerable to so many frailties. Yet in spite of the challenges that lay ahead and the bewildering mystery that confronted them: Joseph and Mary, along with everyone around them, were caught up in the great joy this new child gave.
MY PRAYER ...
Give me a heart of faith, O God, so that I might always see your sovereignty and grace being poured out on me in special ways. I am thrilled that you, the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe, chose to enter my world as a child. Thank you for trusting your wonderful salvation to human flesh so we could know that you deemed us worthy of entering our world to make us right for yours. Through Jesus. Amen.
Friday
[God] has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
-- Micah 6:8
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
God's desires for us are not hard to discern. He wants to bless us with salvation. The incredible gift of his Son is powerful testimony to this truth. But salvation from sin and death is not something he wants to happen in our lives only once. He wants our lives to daily reflect his salvation and to share it with others. We should act justly and pursue mercy in our relationships, and honor him with our worship from a humble heart.
MY PRAYER ...
Almighty and compassionate Father, as I embrace this New Year, help my eyes see what your heart sees. Teach me to hate sin and be merciful to the repentant. Teach me to know truth and act fairly, while hating abuse and exploitation. Through your Spirit, stir me to reflect on the great distance between your holy majesty and my inconsistent character. Make me more your child, I pray, in Jesus name. Amen.
Saturday
Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless.
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
Do you find it easy to replace service to those in need with religious rituals? I know I do! But God wants us to not get so caught up in talking about him and celebrating his deeds, that we forget we're supposed to care for others like he does. Whether it is Jesus defining his ministry in Luke 4:18-19 or James talking about the kind of piety that pleases God (1:26-27), we must realize true faith is treating others as God would. Today's verse defines what God does and asks us to live the same.
MY PRAYER ...
O Great God of all comfort, open my eyes today to see those who need your love and give me the attentiveness, time, and compassion to serve them. May Jesus' work be seen in my life today. Amen.
Sunday
Prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
-- 1 Peter 1:13
New International Version
THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY'S VERSE ...
When Jesus came the first time, he came to reveal God (John 1:18). As wonderful, powerful, and gracious as he was in his earthly ministry, it did not fully reveal Jesus our Lord. Our hope is tied to his return. When he comes this time, he won't come to reveal God, but to reveal himself – the conquering Lord, the Rider on the white horse. Every knee will bow. And we will see him as he really and fully is, Immanuel in power and grace. With this as our hope, we can be ready for active service to our king as people who live their lives under his leadership and control.
MY PRAYER ...
O Almighty God, I long for the day when I get to see Jesus face to face coming with the angels in power. Until that time, fasten my heart in hope to the glory Jesus will share with me on that day, and please empower me to live as one who knows that victory is mine in Jesus. Jesus, through your powerful name I pray. Amen.