January 2018 Articles

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Spiritual Corner: Noticing the Good and our God

Spiritual Corner: Noticing the Good and our God As I scrolled through my Facebook newsfeed earlier this week, I couldn’t help but notice all of the “New Year” posts. I enjoy looking at many of them, for often they are posts of wonderful things that have happened to my friends this past year. However, I vividly remember one post that read, “Bye 2017. You won’t be missed.” I saw a few other posts that were similar to that one, alluding to the fact that there were some people who couldn’t wait for a new year to begin so that they could leave this past year trampled in the dust. I don’t see anything wrong with looking forward to a new year and I know that there are probably many people who suffered trials during 2017. However, if the only thing you can remember from the past 365 days is negative, I believe there may be something wrong with the eyes and heart that you’re viewing the year through. I promise you, friends, no matter how bad you think your past year has been, there has been good as well. There is good spread across the sky with every morning sunrise. There is a surplus of good if you are fortunate enough to wake up in your own home, or even a home you are leasing. There is good if you’re blessed enough to own a car, a boat, a trailer, cattle, horses, dogs or cats. If you have a spouse or beautiful children, there is good wrapped up in each of those. There are so many good, beautiful, blessings in this world that God gives us and yet, why is it that we always seem to remember the not so good of the world? I promise y’all, I am just as guilty of this, but let’s remember what Job says in Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised”. Basically, we have nothing to complain about because everything we have in this life is a blessing from God. If God chooses to take it away for whatever reason, we have no reason to be angry or hurt because God is the very reason we had it in the first place. We should simply be honored that we had that blessing for the time that God allowed us to. I feel like this Job perspective could really help our attitude if we continue to remember it. As we move into this new year, the year of 2018, I hope we can all remember the following scripture: “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23). No matter how hard your past year has been, there is always good there. And the LORD will not let us be consumed by grief, pain or heartache for He loves us too much for that. The LORD’s love and compassions never fail us, but we must trust in Him. We must obey the Gospel, surrender to Jesus, be buried with Him through baptism, and make Him LORD of our life. Every year feels like a fresh start, a new beginning, but I’m here to tell you my friends, the LORD’s compassions are “new every morning”. The even better news is that God gives us a fresh start with each and every passing MOMENT, not YEAR. We simply must be obedient to Him and set our minds on things above, striving to live each moment for Him. Wishing you all the best for this new year! –Dana Alexander P.S. Here are a few ideas on making the most of your new year; I’ll definitely be doing some of these! -Keep a prayer/praise journal – this will help you keep up with those needing prayer, prayers you’ve prayed, and it will highlight all the blessings in your life! -At the end of every week, write down one (or more) good things that happened that week. Keep up with them some place (a jar or drawer, perhaps) and at the end of the year (or as frequently as you’d like) take them out and read over your blessings. -Read a daily devotional book this year. Most of these take only a few minutes so they’re ideal for the busy person, but they are packed with uplifting words and scriptures that can really impact your day.