A new year...Spurgeon style.

I found this old book in a bag in my grandmothers room. She reads like a crazy person and I go through her books when she's finished to see if there are any I want to read before she gives them away. I found a treasure in that bag Christmas Eve. It was a Charles Spurgeon devotion book. It looks old and smells old and is just full of things I cant wait to learn! Anyways, it's a year long book and starts on January 1st, but I was too excited so I went ahead and read the first days devotion. And boy am I glad I did. It gave me something to think about headed into this new year. Spurgeon starts off by saying,
"Isreal's weary wanderings were now at an end, and the rest that had been promised was at hand. There would be no more roving tents, poisonous snakes, fierce Amalekites, nor any howling windswept wilderness. They had come to "the land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. 3:8) and were able to eat of the grain aleady growing there."
New years can be scary. They are full of unknowns and sometimes you're still holding on to things from the past year. Maybe your 2010 was less than desirable. Maybe you went through a lot. Cried lots of tears. Lost lots of sleep. Maybe you are tired and weary of wandering around in the wilderness. Things like that make it scary to start a new year. How are we to know that this year won't be just as bad? Worse even. Well, unfortunately, we dont know. We have no idea what the future hold, but we DO know the one holding our future.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
--Jeremiah 29:11-13
That verse just fills up my heart. I dont know what's gonna happen to me this year. My 2010 was not a good year and I pray my 2011 is nothing like 2010, but it might be. I have no way of knowing, but I do know what God has promised me. He has promised me hope. He has promised me a future. He has promised that when I call on Him he will be there. He has promised me that if I seek Him with all my heart, I WILL find Him. I can't explain to you what that does to my heart. It overflows it with gratitude and love to a Savior who is good to me far beyond what I deserve. It gives me confidence going into this new year. I shouldn't be afraid. Being afraid to embark on this new adventure that is 2011, is almost insulting to my Creator who is in control of all things. It's almost as if I don't trust Him to fulfill His promises. So, I will go into this new year full of trust and reliance on my God to guide my steps and help me through whatever this year brings. I will not be afraid of what it brings, but I will be excited to find out where God takes me. What He teaches me and how He uses me for His Kingdom's cause.

I see the King of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see His love and mercy
Washing over all our sins
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on out knees

Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

Heal my hearts and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from nothing to eternity

Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna, Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

--Hillsong