Hope and Promise

"For the mountains shall depart

And the hills be removed,

But My kindness shall not depart from you,

Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”

Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

- Isaiah 54:10

Every new year is an opportunity to start all over again... A fresh start on a clean slate, as it were.

I see the wisdom of our heavenly Father in creating the seasons. Our life on earth runs on chronos time - sixty minutes, twenty-four hours, one day, one week, one month, one year... 

And each ending provides a closure, and a new beginning.

We do not need to live imprisoned in our past mistakes, failures, or poor choices. Each day the sun rises God's mercies are new, and His compassions never fail. That is the promise contained in His word.

Each new beginning is accompanied by a fresh word from the Father. He is always speaking life to us... breathing life.

So I grab this opportunity to close the door to my past fears and anxieties which burdened me in 2018, and go through the open door of 2019 with all its promises.

It is so refreshing that the rains have been gently falling ever since I arrived here in Metro Manila last Friday. It was raining in Bacolod City as well when I left.

To me, the gently falling rain is a beautiful harbinger of hope and promise.

There are two kinds of rains that every farmer hopes for: the early spring rains, and the latter autumn rains. Rains for the planting season, and rains for the harvest season.

I am looking at the rains as God-sent moisture to water the seeds of hope and promise being planted in my heart as 2019 begins.

Luke 1:45 goes this way: Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfil His promises to her.

What a timely word! 

Hope and promise. 

I had felt in my heart as the year was ending that these were the two words God was giving me for the coming year. The Luke 1:45 passage seals it. 

The following verses are worth meditating on:

Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; 

- Psalm 25:3

It is just as the Scripture says: 

"Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” 

- Romans 10:11

The new year has begun, and I am standing at the threshold of an open door. It is a new beginning.

Obedient One and I celebrated the year start with a sumptuous lunch at NIU at The Podium. I purposely requested her that we start the year with a feast. And indeed we feasted to our heart's content and delight.

It is a prophetic picture of all that Abba Father is preparing for me and my family this year.

So I receive all that God has prepared for me for 2019. 

"For the mountains shall depart

And the hills be removed,

But My kindness shall not depart from you,

Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”

Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

- Isaiah 54:10