With God, at the threshold of yet a new blessed year!

"Who knows what the coming year may bring?" asked Charles Stanley in the January 2 entry of his book, " Enter His Gates." He continued this sharing

"But herein lies our confidence - God knows! He is carefully, wisely, deliberately orchestrating all things according to His schedule and eternal design. We can be secure because God is in full control of what the year brings forth. Our confidence is not in our abilities, but in His omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. What seems perplexing and puzzling to us is perfectly rational and plain to our all-seeing, all caring Father. Nothing catches Him by surprise. Nothing thwarts His purposes. Nothing foils His plan

Do not worry about tomorrow. God is already there. He will guide you through the fog, lift you above the pain, and clarify your uncertainty. Be confident. Just proceed to ' seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you' (Matt. 6:33)."

Allow us also to share with you this beautiful message for January 1 written by L. B. Cowman in her book " Streams in the Desert." This particular book is edited by James Reimann, the same editor for yet another famous inspirational book of Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest!"

" The land you are to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end." ( Deuteronomy 11:11-12).

"Today we stand at the threshold of the unknown. Before us lies a new year, and we are going forward to take possession of it. Who knows what we will find? What new experiences or changes will come our way? What new needs will arise? In spite of the uncertainty before us, we have a cheerful and comforting message from our heavenly Father: ' The Lord your God cares for (it); the eyes of the Lord are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.'

The Lord is to be our Source of supply. In Him are springs, fountains, and streams that will never be cut off or run dry. To those who are anxious comes the gracious promise of our heavenly Father. If He is the Source of our mercies, mercy will never fail us. No heat or drought can dry the ' river whose streams make glad the city of God.' (Ps. 46:4).

Yet the land we are to possess is a land of valleys and hills. It is not all flat or downhill. If life were always smooth and level, the boring sameness would weigh us down. We need the valleys and the hills. The hills collect the rain for hundreds of fruitful valleys. And so it is with us! It is the difficulty encountered on the hills that drives us to the throne of grace and brings the showers of blessing. Yes, it is the hills, the cold and seemingly barren hills of life that we question and complain about, that bring down the showers.

How many people have perished in the wilderness valley, buried under its golden sand, who would have thrived in the hills? And how many would have been killed by the cold, destroyed or swept desolate of their fruitfulness by the wind, if not for the hills - stern, hard, rugged, and so steep to climb? God's hills are a gracious protection for His people against their foes!

We cannot see what loss, sorrow, and trials are accomplishing. We need only to trust. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It will be a good and blessed New Year!

(Let us be heartened by these words of Nicholaus Ludwig Zinzendorf in the same article by L.B. Cowman ):

He leads us on by paths we did not know;

Upward He leads us, though our steps be slow,

Though oft we faint and falter on our way,

Though storms and darkness oft obscure the day;

Yet when the clouds are gone,

We know He leads us on.

He leads us on through all the unquiet years;

Past all our dreamland hopes, and doubts, and fears,

He guides our steps, through all the tangled maze

Of losses, sorrows, and o'er clouded days;

We know His will is done;

And still He leads us on.