HAPPY NEW YEAR! God Has Plans for YOU!

"For I know the plans I have for you...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

What a joy and relief it is to know that God Himself has a plan for us, plans with faith and a future. Here God gives us a firm foundation simply because God tells us that it is so. We may have days this year when we won't believe this. After all, we are smart enough to handle our own lives--until something unexpected breaks our hearts and the hearts of those we cherish.

Imagine knowing that our loving Father God has us in His thoughts constantly; that they are thoughts of harmony. It hurts Him to know that our life is full of commotion and competition. He never meant for it to be that way, for He is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33). If life is wrong, perhaps we are doing or thinking something that interrupts His purpose of goodness for us.

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace" (Isaiah 55:12); "Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare" (Psalm 40:5); "Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be" (Job 8:7).

Father, forgive our unbelief, our prejudices, and our fragmentations that put blinders on our understanding of your truth and purity and loveliness. They are praiseworthy and excellent! And thank You for Your plans for this day and this year.  May we come to see ourselves as God sees us -- through the eyes of faith and hope, with good plans for us, of a future with Him!

I pray that as each of you leave this posting today you will no longer see yourself through your husband's eyes, your children's eyes, your friends' eyes, your parent's eyes, the world's eyes, or even your own eyes....but you will see yourself through your Father's eyes, as His child:

Make this your daily declaration of His power and grace in your life and His might in the world.....

I am Loved by God
Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:4

I am Forgiven
John 3:16; Acts 13:38-39

I am a New Creation in God
2 Corinthians 5:17

I belong to God – I am His Child through Christ
2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 1John 3:1-2

I am Holy through Jesus Christ’s work in my life
Hebrews 10:10; 2 Timothy 2:21

I am Set Apart by God
 Jeremiah 1:5

I am Made with a Purpose that is Special to God
Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Peter 4:10

I am Protected by God and His angels
Psalm 28:7; Isaiah 41:10; Ps. 91

I am a Temple of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I am an ambassador and prayer warrior for Jesus
2 Corinthians 5:20 Ephesians 6:10-19