The End of the Old=The Beginning of the New

For those of you who haven't been enlightened, the world is going to end in 2012. December 21, as a matter of fact. 

Be scared, world! 

   
     But seriously, this could be the year that the Lord comes back!

     As the end of 2011 speeds up to make it's final lap and on to the finish line, I am so thankful for a God that is faithful. Lamentations 3:22-23 says,

     I'm sure we can all look back over 2011 and see the times when we went through hard trials, and we seemed to have failed. Hard times seem to stick out with us, don't they? They seem to block out the victories we have gained in Christ, and the times He has refreshed us with His Spirit.

     In Lamentations 22-23, you'll see that Jeremiah sounds pretty torn up. He says in  verses 18-20, "And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD: Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me." God called Jeremiah to speak to a people that would not listen to Him. He had been persecuted, and now the bitterness of his soul is poured out.


     December 31, 2011 marks the end of the old year, and the beginning of the new year, 2012. But, like every other year, it won't be perfect. 2012 will come with its own set of trials, temptations, and hard times. You can count on it.

     In verse 21, he says, "This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
     
    As we step into 2012, remember, God is merciful, and He is faithful! His mercies are new every morning! It's because of His mercy that we are even still here! Boy, with that promise, who's to worry about Doomsday?

   Have a Joyful New Year!
     

So Blessed

I was just sitting here thinking how much the Lord has blessed me lately. I'm almost done with school; I have 1 english pace to go and I'm done. I just got a job at Walgreens, which is a really good place to start out as a first job! I have't started yet, but I'm sure I'll really enjoy it.
I am blessed to be healthy, and not handicapped, able to get up out of bed in the morning and praise Him with my mouth. To be able to get down on my knees (and be able to get up again), and pray.
I'm thankful to have a family who loves me and supports me and who know the Lord.
I'm thankful to know the Lord myself, and to know I can go to Him anytime with my problems and issues, or even, just to talk to Him. I know I don't do that often enough, really, none of us do. We get so caught up in our situations that we often forget that telling God about our problems and praying about them is only a small part of prayer. But too often it's all of our prayer! It's sad. I say Jesus is my best friend, but I'm not a very good friend to Him if I only take and never give. Have you ever had a "friendship" like that? Have you ever had a friend that constantly took but never gave anything in return? I know I have. And I never could really get close to that friend. I often say and plead with God that I really want to get closer to Him. But what if He's looking down at me, and thinking, "Now what will I get out of it? I've seen how you are, you take but never give."
Now I know I'm looking at this from a human point of view. I know God is full of mercy and grace, and He so often blesses us so much even though we don't deserve it! But, what are we doing to bless the Lord Himself? I think He deserves it, don't you? Isn't He worthy of more praise than we could ever give Him?
I think this is something I'm going to be meditating on. What can I do to bless the Lord?