'....remember the way the LORD God has led you' Deuteronomy 8:2
Yesterday, today and tomorrow...His way never changes. With each new year I am reminded of the faithfulness of our Lord in the past. I am reminded to remember the way the LORD has led me and to continue in the way today...and in walking each new day with Him promises to take care of my tomorrows. My todays and tomorrows are lived with a greater hope as I remember how He heard each cry and how He delivered... and that through each act of deliverance He has prepared me yet again for what lies ahead....to remember His faithfulness is a vital piece in our walks as believers that enables us to press ahead in the Sovereignty of our God as we remind ourselves that all He says, He will always do.
As I continue to follow the Lord I hold tightly to the promises He has given me as I journey with Him 'and remember Deuteronomy 8:2, 'the way' which the LORD your God led you...in the wilderness….to humble you, to prove you, and to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments, or not" , "to Him who led His people through the wilderness; for His mercy endures forever" Psalm 136:16.
Just as He went before the Israelites, and all the saints who have gone before us...all the miraculous workings of the LORD in the lives of His people...so He desires to walk with us today. He has gone before us and made a way of salvation, He has made a way for us today, for us tomorrow and preparing for us his way through all eternity.
How blessed we are to have His promises in the valley of sorrows, in the desert places and to praise His name even in tribulations as we 'remain' in the land, and on the road, on that path that has been well traveled and proven true by many of the examples God has given us in His Word. Faithful men and woman who stood the test of time as they stood on the Word of God and not themselves...as they 'remained' in 'the land' God had given them despite what was coming, what they faced, and their faith that enabled them to endure.....being only faithful and obedient to the LORD. Pastor Chuck Smith once said, "Never let go of things you do know, because of the things you don't". Such truth, how we often 'don't know or understand' but how we holdfast to that which we do...God and His Word. In this dark and everchanging world here is only one thing that remains the same, one thing that is True and unchanging in a world that is constantly changing, God Himself. How we joy in the God of our salvation and the privilege we have been given to live in this age of grace and to be used of Him to bring salvation to others...as we remember and glory in the workings of the LORD in our own lives and allow Him to use us as He wills.
In 2020 I am praying that each of you have a great New Year in the LORD. We have entered a new year and a new decade and if we walk forward and continue to believe that the LORD is 'bringing us into a good land' He wants us to know that in this new and good land there is an endless supply of 'bread' through His promises He gives in His Word, as well as and abundance of 'oil' that He supplies through His Holy Spirit and the 'honey' He supplies through the sweetness of His unconditional love....this is a land where nothing will be scarce and we will lack nothing and only be given the richness of His favor upon us, the great blessings found in our relationship with Christ.
With each new year we have opportunities that are set before us to display His power to a world that is desperate for Him and in need of Truth and Hope...and even through our most trying times, as we have our flesh, an enemy and the world coming against us daily we can find the brilliance of His light, the Truth of His Word, the power He promises to give as we allow the Holy Spirit to have control over our hearts..by yielding to His ways...and supplying us with His peace...how He fans the flickering flame into a burning fire shining brightly in our hearts with all the world to see.
With each new year requires more endurance...to trust God in the unknown places before us, the places we are trusting Him in this day...as we walk and display our hope for the new year, always waiting and praying, believing ....'and God shall wipe away all tears" Revelation 21:4. What glorious hope we have been given...a hope that speaks that we have no need to fear our tomorrows...and endurance to walk in the ways in which we believe...not because of what we see....that we walk forward as we remember the faithfulness of God in the past and the faithfulness of God towards His people written in His Word. A faith that tells us we must continue to listen to God's voice and direction, obeying and never shying away from Truth....despite what each day brings. We have new opportunities before us, our lives used as opportunities our living epistles of His grace, to step out in faith for God to take us to places our faith has yet to see. The hardest places we are called to walk in are the most significant places that God is trusting us in to give us the greatest opportunities to experience His glory!
The way to Bethlehem was not walked with great ease, nor the road to Calvary, nor the road that God trusts us to walk on with Him....I thought much about this as the year ended and I went to Florida after Christmas. The last week in December was quiet in Virginia, at our church, and with our family so it was a time God led me to go. I thought much of the past year and all that God did in my heart...how He helped me review the highlights of 2019, highlights of the work He showed me of His glory in my life. To surrender this new year to Him, my life for Him to take as I am more convinced each year that it is not my own, but a gift He has given me to give back to Him for His purposes. The fulfillment of promises, the faithfulness of His love to remember. The hard times and good. Only to experience the grace of God even more. He has been faithful every step of the way, shaping and molding my heart in the places that are naturally so hard but His Sovereignty I must trust far beyond my own opinions and my fleshly desire to think my way is best. The place of surrender through the unknowns are the places that He does His greatest work...bringing us to the place to use us even greater for what is yet appointed as He waits on us....places so perfectly fit for us to do. These thoughts carry me into this new year...into each new year...only to bring me to the place where joy then awaits because in acceptance lies peace.
May He continue to shine His light upon us and illuminate our path, "that the LORD our God may show us ' the way' in which we should walk and the thing that we should do." Jeremiah 42:3...…"If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and not pull you down, and I will plant you not pluck you up. For I resent the disaster That I have brought upon you. Do not be afraid....says the LORD, 'for I am with you, to save you and deliver you....and show you mercy.." Jeremiah 42:10-12
There is no other way, there is only one way...and we serve a God that does what He promises to do. "The land you are...to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from beginning of the year to it's end" Deuteronomy 11:11-12
Return...prepare your heart to seek God...let the fear of the LORD be upon you...take care and do it...for there is no iniquity with the LORD...act in the fear of the LORD, faithfully and with a loyal heart...
May we go forward with God's commands....remembering the way...trusting and obeying....obedience will always lead to more revelation of who God is in our lives...."Behave courageously and the LORD will be with the good" 2 Chronicles 19:19
Michelle A. Guerra
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