by David Brenneman
"You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Psalm 16:11.
Today, rejoice that God faces the coming days with you forevermore. He will move heaven and earth to show you His will. When others accuse you wrongly or treat you shamefully, He will vindicate you. When you sink in the mires of trouble, He will set your feet on a rock. When people reject you, He will sustain you with His everlasting love. When you fail, you can ask His forgiveness. When you grow weary, you can seek His strength. And when every other source of security and provision fails, He "will supply
all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 4:19).
So stay close to Him and put Him first in every area. There's
no life higher or better-with more complete fulfillment, contentment, and significance - save the one you'll receive when you arrive
at your eternal home in glory. And when you reach your destination
in heaven, you'll see His loving face and hear the wonderful words
that you've longed for: "Well done, My good and faithful servant.
Surely, that thought alone makes this journey of faith with Him
absolutely worthwhile. So trust Him for the coming year and praise
His holy name.
Jesus, exalt You! Thank You for always being with me every step of the way. Amen
- Trusting God with Today, Dr. Charles Stanley.
It's oddly enough easier to be alone in both this post-pandemic, highly technological world in which we truly live than we realize.
We are guided by a world view to think, indeed, more highly than we ought to concerning ourselves.
We are taught to downplay the things we actually crave in the world as just minor desires rather than what the word of God had defined as sin.
As one quote I have read often says "If the Word of God calls it sin, your opinion on it doesn't matter".
We drag along things we claim to 'love' that we say aren't 'bad' for us, yet it's these things that are a snare to us.
We lose sight of the will of God for us because of self. But agreeing with what God calls something and doing as He says concerning it...that's setting us on the path of righteousness.
We will, in this ironically connected yet disconnected world, find ourselves at odds with people, even people we know and perhaps love in order to obey God. Their worldview may not have them where the Spirit has you.
The key portion, as I understand it, in not judging others is that our own understanding gets in the way and what the Scriptures refer to as righteousness judgment is looking at things through the eyes of Christ.
Many look at people with the wrong perspective and utter words without wisdom accordingly.
Most of the written words of Job's friends and his Wife were words spoken from the wrong perspective without Godly wisdom.
"Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 1 Corinthians 1:20.
We can begin this year as we have other years before or we can step out into the path of obedience, the path of righteousness.
We don't need to listen to the words spoken by people who have shown that compromise has been their way of life to satisfy their own desires. We are to follow Jesus.
We aren't to listen to foolish people.
We aren't to dwell on the past.
We aren't to worry about tomorrow.
We aren’t to beat ourselves up over failings in our lives.
We are to put off the old self with its practices and put on Christ.
We are to shine our light in Christ in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. Even if we wonder why such people were put before us.
Part of my 2025 was indeed spent doing a job at an employer as unto the Lord, with all my heart, not as unto men. I befriended a brother in Christ and was fired for doing so. But in God's eyes I was guilty of nothing. In the world's view as well, I was exonerated by the State of Ohio. The rest of my year was spent adhering to the prospect of looking for a new job. Some understood what was the reason for my unemployment some still do not. My Savior knows exactly what happened and has been blessing us every step of the way. He's provided time for me to heal. Time for me to accomplish things around the house that I have yet to complete. I have had many opportunities to serve Him by serving others. Many 'fringe' things in my life have been refined. In a few ways I have downsized a little bit more while being more enabled to do more for My Savior.
I accomplished something that I had never been able to before. 365 straight days of devotional reading and pouring through 4 Study Bibles and their prospective notes. A year's worth of what I will call being in Bible School, trying to learn from the Spirit of God.
I have seen God work because I was looking for His work in my life.
Many times we don't see the hands of God because we aren't looking.
I have seen God reaching out to over 130 countries, 1.6 million views of the very blog you are reading. I have only handed out a business card or others have, with the rare occasional mentioning that it's there. God's handled the global distribution of it...what He's done and is doing...I never could have accomplished on my own.
Indeed I have seen people both for me and against me in the last year. Both in Believer's and the as yet unbelieving world. Have had some extremely incredulous advice given that certainly wasn't of God and the people giving it couldn't see that.
Opportunities came in the latter part of 2025 that could only have come from God's directing of our lives. There's no other explanation for them.
I look forward to the return of Jesus Christ because the Bible says that yes He is coming and yes we're to be expecting His coming. Living each day as if today were that day.
"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." Colossians 3:2.
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." Matthew 6:22-24.
"I will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways." Psalms 119:15.
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2.
"I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. [9] Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely." Psalms 16:8-9.
"For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many." 2 Corinthians 1:8-11.
Look back over 2025 in His eyes and not your own. Look into 2026 with the driving ambition to submit more of your life into what He would have of you. Truly take up your own cross and follow Him.
Sometimes His eyes were gentle
And filled with laughter,
And sometimes they cried;
Sometimes there was a fire
Of holy anger,
In Jesus eyes.
But the eyes that saw hope in the hopeless,
That saw through the fault to the need,
Are the same eyes that look down from heaven
Into the deepest part of you and me.
His eyes are always upon us;
His eyes never close in sleep.
And no matter where you go,
You will always be in His eyes, in His eyes.
Sometimes His voice comes calling
Like rolling thunder,
Or like driving rain;
And sometimes His voice is quiet,
And we start to wonder
If He knows our pain.
But He who spoke peace to the water
Cares more for our hearts than the waves,
And the voice that once said "you're forgiven",
Still says "you're forgiven" today.
Sometimes I look above me when stars are shining
And I feel so small;
How could the God of heaven and all creation
Know I'm here at all.
But then in silence He whispers,
"My child, I created you too
And you're my most precious creation;
I even gave my Son for you."
Sometimes His eyes were gentle, and filled with laughter.
- His Eyes, Steven Curtis Chapman 1988.
Reflect, don't dwell on the past.
Open your heart and mind to what Jesus wants to renovate in your life.
"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:5-8.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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