New Year Blessings
Rev. Sudha Mehta©
Here we are at the beginning of the Year 2020.
I wish you a very happy New Year!
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com
Have you made New Year Resolutions as many do? Funny, I don’t recall making “New Year Resolutions” and succeeding!
Every New Year Resolution started fading by the end of January, and by end of February it was becoming pretty much a distant memory. March through the beginning of November I didn’t even think about it. December was planning month for what I would resolve for the following year. Most resolutions had to do with things that go in the mouth . . . food and drink. New diet plans . . . you get it . . . don’t you?!
In the USA it seems “plan-to-diet” resolutions begin forming around Thanksgiving which is at the end of November. Every resolution for the food-lovers begins with, “After the New Year on January 2nd, I will . . . .” For some, like myself, it starts a little later than that for there are still delicious leftovers that can’t be wasted, so they are added to the waist!!
And so it goes . . . !
Looking back, failure was easy and success difficult to achieve when I set my own goals. I use food as one example, but it could be anything else just as well. It could have to do with personal relationships, or working on my own issues such as insecurity, unforgiveness, bitterness etc. It could be a goal set to achieve more in study, be a better mother, or wife. It was like setting my sights on a distant goalpost, running toward it, losing steam midway and not making it to the goal. Often the goals were unrealistic and no one expected me to reach them in my own strength but myself. When I failed, it was generally because I set myself to fail, and it was upsetting.
Since my own New Year Resolutions were such an abysmal failure, I changed course and decided that each New Year I would ask the Lord what task He would appoint me. There have been years when He called me to study and gave me specific topics to focus on, as well as years when He asked me to teach and gave me the topics to expound. Some years He asked me to continue on the path I had been on.
Whatever it be, it has been my pattern for many years now to ask Him His will and purpose for me in each coming New Year. He sets the goal, I move toward it and I see success after success . . . for when He sets the goal, He also gives the help to get it done. I know He is the only One I give account to and any goal set by Him is inherently doable, for He knows me and my ability, and He promises to be there to help every step of the way.
This way, I move from success to success, and have a better track record with Him. When He is pleased with me, it builds my confidence, and in process, I move in the direction of holiness, which is His desire for me.
1 Peter 1: 15 But as he which has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be you holy; for I am holy.(AKJV)
This New Year, my friend, I send you this blessing and prayer as per His instruction:
For those that are in good circumstances in life:
If you are in a great and happy place may you find more of it this New Year. Remember God in your happiness.
Did you get a new job? Are you looking for one?? May you find the right one and prosper! May your job bring you fulfillment and blessing from God. In all your prosperity, remember God who has blessed you.
Are you getting married? May your years be filled with love, peace and joy. May you find true companionship with each other, and may your rest be in each other’s arms. May all of life’s struggles become light as you share the load with each other. Remember God wants to give you rest!
Had a new baby or expecting one? May your family prosper in spirit, soul and body, may your children be healthy and happy. May your life be filled with the laughter of children, even as you spend some sleepless nights of diaper changes and cries of hunger. May the sweet smiles and sounds of your children outweigh all the rest of struggles, and may you fully realize the outstanding blessings of being a mother and father. Remember it is God who gives you children.
Whatever your life brings, may you see success and fulfillment in doing right, and may you commit to doing that which is right and following Him with all your heart. Then you will see God, know His blessing in your life for He will remember you!
May all of life’s challenging decisions come easy to you this New Year . . . May you find the peace you crave in Christ our Lord! May your dreams be fulfilled, and may you rise to new heights.
In Jesus Name, Amen!
A word to those discouraged by the storms of life, and those who look at the New Year with fear and trepidation:
In all your fears, anxiety and disappointments Christ is your hope.
When sorrow fills your heart, there is no greater Comforter than Christ and His Holy Spirit:
John 14: 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (AJKV)
When life seems dreary, and hope runs low, He is The Friend who never disappoints:
John 15: 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you. (AKJV)
Fearful, anxious, doubtful, rejected, hated, discarded, cast away? Feel like an absolute and abject failure? Feel hateful, bitter, filled with rage? Feel like you have messed up your life? Unloved? Unwanted? All Alone? Lonely? Without hope?
Isaiah 41: 10 Fear you not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.(AKJV)
Photos from Pexel
Looking for answers? The answers lie not in alcohol or pills or any other drugs, rather Jesus is The Answer! He is stronger, higher, bigger than all your problems.
Psalm 34: 4 I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to Him are radiant with joy; their faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles. 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and he delivers them. 8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!(BSB)
Have you been robbed of all your dreams? Is your heart broken in a thousand pieces?
Psalm 34: 18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.(BSB)
Looking for a way out? You will discover the only Way is Jesus! He has a plan that is filled with promise for you:
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.(BSB)
John 14: 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (BSB)
I promise you, I do not speak empty words, I do not speak to you in some ethereal sense of a God who does not know or understand. He Himself has said:
Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior. 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore you are my witnesses, said the LORD, that I am God. 13 Yes, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?(AKJV)
I speak of a Messiah who suffered as prophesied in Isaiah 53 and 53 for the sins of us all. He was tried in all ways just as you and I:
Hebrews 4: 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (AKJV)
He is the One who loved you enough to give His own life on the cross in your stead.
Photos on Pixabey and Public Domain.
He found me at the lowest point in my life, and has been there through every life challenge, every hardship, every tough decision. He is the one who has steadied, comforted, guided and steered me. He has been a Father, Brother, Counselor, Friend and so much more.
This New Year, let it be a new beginning for you:
Isaiah 43: 18 Remember you not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.(AKJV)
This New Year, find your hope in Him. This New Year I send this blessing to you in Jesus Holy Name:
May His face Shine upon you in your comings and your goings.
May He direct your path out of the muck and mire, and lead you to the Solid Rock.
May He increase many fold your joys and decrease your sorrows to nothing.
May He multiply your peace and give you rest.
May He bring you love and laughter, and wipe away your tears of pain and sorrow.
May He make your friends many and your enemies few.
May you remember God in all things!
In His Holy Name . . . Amen!!
I will get back to my series on trip to the Holy Land in the next post. Stay with me, Follow me on my Website, this will be a good year of blessings and a great start to a New Decade! God is with us!!
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