Thursday, December 26, 2013

New Year 2014

The following is a quote from Norman Vincent Peale.  I've heard that when Jews assemble for the New Year's celebration, they often recite a prayer which begins, "Today  is the birthday of the world."  And a Jewish educator says:  "Whatever was our yesterday, today as every day, we start a new."
A new start, a new beginning   - the past is in the past. What a motivation for a new year.

Dr. Pearle went on to say that when he was a young boy at home, his father would bring a Bible to the dinner table on every New Year's Eve and he would read the first four words of the first chapter of Genesis  - "In beginning God." That was all - just those four words.  That they were remembered shows that they registered. With such reliance on God you can be victorious over any difficulty the new year hands you.  His power activates a new start and with it the belief that you can forget yesterday and go forward confidently into the future. 

The Bible is filled with new start and fresh beginnings.  Such words as:  "Forgetting those thing which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark."  And again, "Old things are passed away, all things are become new."  And still again, "Behold, I make all things new."

Yes, we can leave the sins and failings of the past year behind us, accept His forgiveness, wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start.

Remember that New Year's Day can be the first day of the rest of your life.  And don't forget "in the beginning God."

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