Security from Yesterday. “. . . God requires an account of what is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15). At the end of the year we turn with eagerness to all that God has for the future, and yet anxiety is apt to arise when we remember our yesterdays. Our present enjoyment of God’s grace tends to be lessened by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual growth for our future. God reminds us of the past to protect us from a very shallow security in the present.

Security for Tomorrow. “. . . the Lord will go before you . . . .” This is a gracious revelation— that God will send His forces out where we have failed to do so. He will keep watch so that we will not be tripped up again by the same failures, as would undoubtedly happen if He were not our “rear guard.” And God’s hand reaches back to the past, settling all the claims against our conscience.

Security for Today. “You shall not go out with haste . . . .” As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, forgetful delight, nor with the quickness of impulsive thoughtlessness. But let us go out with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays hold broken and irreversible things for us. It is true that we have lost opportunities that will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Let the past rest, but let it rest in the sweet embrace of Christ.

Leave the broken, irreversible past in His hands, and step out into the invincible future with Him.

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December 31, 2010

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

The last day of the year and is it me or is God really organizing my thoughts and vision of a fresh look at life in the New Year? Is He sorting things so that I see and feel His hand on my past and on my future?

And God says…”Your culture and the pervasive communications around the New Year event have prepared your mind for the fertile seeds of hope for tomorrow. It is right inside this cultural field of hope that the Holy Spirit can operate inside your heart and mind and that of many, many others. Be aware that many are looking for the very hope that lives within you and shines on your face. Be sensitive and available to share your hope. The hope you have found in Christ Jesus.”