I hope so.
Anyway, life is glorious -- another quiet morning for me. I'm thankful, so very thankful for it.
What am I going to read in this New Year and new month?
Isaiah is what I chose. I've read it many times before, but the thing about scripture is that it isn't just words like words in a favorite novel or nonfiction book. Words in scripture are alive.
The writer of Hebrews says, "For the word of God is living and active."
So, I open up to Isaiah and read my Bible's introduction to the book and the first chapter.
And a gem was waiting for me.
I'd read it before but it never spoke to me like it did today. The verse is Isaiah 1:29. This is what it says:
"Surely you will be ashamed (of what) you have desired . . . you will be embarrassed (at what) you have chosen."
I thought of things I'd desired in the past that I told myself could be God's will when in fact they weren't at all.
What if all those things were put on a big screen for everyone to see -- things I said I wanted so I could do God's work -- when really they were just to feed my own fear, lack of faith, lust for comfort, etc.
A passage in 1 John 2 came to mind:
"Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
We can talk ourselves into anything. We can take something that is not from God (and we'd see this if we were thinking clearly) and tell ourselves that it is from Him.
I've wasted so much time focusing on things other than God.
We can't get time back.
Wait, wait, wait!
Don't waste time putting yourself down either. We're told in Romans 8:1 there is no condemnation Christ.
It is a new day.
It is a new year.
God gives fresh mercy and love every morning (you can find that in Lamentations 3).
I'm not going to fool myself anymore (I'll try not to anyway). I just don't have the time. Let's do what Jesus said in John 9:4:
"We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work."