Your Year of Grace and Favour
"The Lord longs to be gracious to you." Isaiah 30:18 NIV

On December 31st the clock strikes midnight, ushering in another New Year. Three hundred and sixty-five days to fan the flames of your unfilled hopes and dreams. A new beginning. A gift full of promise. But you must accept it, unwrap it and use it. Not everybody does. Maybe you dread what the New Year holds; retirement, the empty nest, chronic illness, unemployment, life without a loved one. Well, God loves to take people at the end of their rope and set them on the road to peace, joy and victory. He’s the expert at drying tears, calming fears, injecting courage into anxious hearts and removing the sting of old memories. He "make(s) all things new" (Rev. 21:5). But He never leads you back, just forward.

Listen: "The Lord longs to be gracious to you." What do you want to see happen this year? Does it include owning your own business? Losing some weight? Reuniting with your family? Only you can complete the question "What if I could...?" because you alone know what makes your heart leap. Stephen Covey says, "Begin... with the image of the end of your life as your frame of reference... Each day will then contribute to the vision you have of your life as a whole." Seek God. Determine your goals. Write them down, then release the outcome to Him who "longs to be gracious to you." To be gracious means "to show favour." The desire of God’s heart is that you walk in His grace and favour every day of this year.

From "The Word for you Today" Dec - Feb 2005/2006