Dear Family

Well, another year flew past and another year started and if you are spinning as you watch them come and go, welcome to the club! The saying “time flies” seems to take on a deeper meaning every year I grow a little younger inside and a bit older outside. Fly it does indeed, at hypersonic speed!

I don’t know what your year was like last year, but I do know that many people, including my own family, experienced a year of monumental trial. It is never fun when the storm is raging, but it is always good to know that in the midst of the storm, He is there. He has promised He will never leave us and never forsake us and that in ALL things He is working stuff to our good. Wow! What absolute assurance of Divine commitment to us irrespective of how noisy the elements are.

Perhaps you lost sight of His goodness due to a difficult time in 2013? Perhaps the bad stuff seemed just too bad? Perhaps He seemed far away and disinterested in what you were going through? Well, we know that He never changes and His word is completely true and secure, so maybe the problem is on our side. As we launch into this new year, let us not drag with us all the scars and negativity of last year, but rather position ourselves again squarely in His will for us. The psalmist points us to an encouraging promise of God in Psalm 65:11 regarding 2014: “You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.” Whoop! Whoop!

I have the distinct impression that this year is going be a time of “getting the inside out”. For some, it will mean an overflow of the heart in a positive sense – gushing my faith all over people, situations and circumstances. For others, it will mean an exposure of hidden wickedness. Getting rid of that secret sin of unbelief, of trust in man, or loving the things of the earth. God’s heart is set on conforming us to His image and He has promised to finish what He started.

Let us embrace His peace as we navigate His will in 2014 – crowned with bounty and abundance!

Paul