Great is Thy Faithfulness!

By Patricia Newman

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57

Ebenezer! The Lord has helped us thus far! Another year is gone. The new year has come. The Lord has seen me and my family through the past year and into the new year.  His blessings and comforts abound. Great is Thy faithfulness! Through every trial, difficulty and affliction, the Lord God has proved faithful again and again. For every blessing, counsel and comfort, I thank You from the depths of my being. 

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Psalm 103:1

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
Psalm 73:25

For the new year, I have resolved, by His grace:

• To remember all His benefits: the One Who forgives all my sins, heals all my diseases, the Bestower of loving-kindness and mercies, the Satisfier of my soul's longings, my Renewer and my blessed Redeemer (Psalm 103:2-5). I must overflow in thanksgiving for all blessings and bestowments and all the strength received from His hand.
• To press on in fervent pursuit of God's will. The "one thing" (Philippians 3:13) that I must do is focus on and press on with the will of God. My "meat" (John 4:34) as I follow my Lord and Saviour must be to do the Father's will. Oh that I might follow my perfect Example steadfastly. How WORTHY He is!
• To be increasingly saturated by the word of God in obedience to God's exhortation to His Church corporately and to me personally as a member of His Church (Colossians 3:16).
• To be filled and continue being filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).
• To abide in the Vine continually (John 15:4).
• To be constant in prayer (Romans 12:12).
• To evangelise more (Matthew 28:19-20) and pray for more evangelistic opportunities (Colossians 4:3).

My prayer for the new year: Most gracious Father, I pray for grace to fulfil Your assignment for me this new year. I pray that You will guide all my steps and the steps of every member of my family. Cause us to trust in You always and not to lean on our own understanding. Deliver from blindness those that are not walking with You. Grant them, O Lord, the grace to repent and put their trust in our only Saviour, Jesus Christ. I pray that we acknowledge You in all our ways, that we might know Your promised direction continually. Grant us all an abiding love of Your word.  May we be doers of Your word and not hearers only. I pray that we might grow all the more in holiness and sanctification in accordance with Your holy will. 

I pray that the Church will be purified more and more, and strengthened to be what You have ordained for us in holiness and all godliness. I pray that you would raise up more Godly leaders, true and holy men, who preach the whole counsel of God and whose only agenda is the glory of Jesus Christ. I pray Your name, O Lord, be hallowed and reverenced continually in the church as is fitting. I pray that holiness may be seen among Christians as the only excellent life, Your very ordination and the only way to walk worthy of our high calling in Christ. I pray that the Church will be uncompromising, bold in declaring the truth of the Gospel, despite the tidal wave of lies that come against it. May the Church be faithful and steadfast in declaring the truth of the Gospel and in discipling converts. I pray that the Church will continuosly walk in truth, love and power.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1 Peter 2:9-13