"You will show me the path of life, in Your presence is fullness of joy;
at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Psalm 16:11
Happy New Year!
As we begin another year, it is time for a spiritual checkup.
I want to challenge you to answer these rhetorical questions for the beginning of each year:
Am I closer to the Lord right now than I was at the beginning of last year?
How did you answer that?
Can you see growth in your walk with God?
If not, set an actionable goal (In your LifePlan) to draw closer to Him throughout the new year.
Seek Him & You Will Find Him
God wants to show us His path and purpose, it is up to us to seek diligently seek Him.
Our primary purpose as a part of His creation is to do His will. As we do His will, the promise of Psalm 16:11 is that we will have fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. Notice the conditions and formula to receive the promise; we must follow God’s will for our lives.
Step one in the formula is to know Him, to have a saving knowledge of Him. It is impossible to find direction without a saving knowledge of Jesus. Once we trust in Christ, God sends the Holy Spirit to live in us.
Step two in finding direction and seeking God’s path is to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. The apostle Paul shared with the Ephesians to “not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is…be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:17-18).
The next part of the formula in following God’s plan and path in the new year is finding direction through a knowledge of biblical truth. Paul admonished the believers in Colossae to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).
Step three is abiding in His Word. When we know Him as our personal savior and are controlled by His Spirit, abiding in His Word, we can know that He “will make known to us the path of life.”
Are You Closer?
According to His Holy Word, God desires for us to enjoy each year with “fullness of joy” as we live in His presence. God never changes and his presence is steadfast. Our proximity to Him is our choice.
Are we closer than we were last year?
Jeff Riddle
MD5 Facilitator