DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 1, 2018
Dear God, help us to remember that we are your beloved children and that we can spread that love to all your children. Amen.
The psalmist wrote, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works.” (Psalm 139:14 (NRSV))
It’s that time again, and I am ready to begin another new year. I have the same hopes for this year as I did for the last one: exercise more, get more sleep, eat healthier food, work more when needed and work less when I can.
Yes, this year will be the year that I make all these changes to improve my life!
But instead of jumping ahead too quickly, I have decided to take some time to look back on this past year and celebrate my accomplishments. I suffered some real hardships and disappointments, but I made it through another year and grew from my adversities. Of course I can always improve, and each year I make resolutions to be better. But I also know that I am a beloved child of God, who loves unconditionally. Nothing I can do will make God love me more or less.
So, as I look forward to the beginning of a new year, I am filled with new hope, expectations — and resolutions. And, as I look back on the past year, I celebrate my life and all that I have experienced, knowing that God has been with me through it all.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
It’s that time again, and I am ready to begin another new year. I have the same hopes for this year as I did for the last one: exercise more, get more sleep, eat healthier food, work more when needed and work less when I can.
Yes, this year will be the year that I make all these changes to improve my life!
But instead of jumping ahead too quickly, I have decided to take some time to look back on this past year and celebrate my accomplishments. I suffered some real hardships and disappointments, but I made it through another year and grew from my adversities. Of course I can always improve, and each year I make resolutions to be better. But I also know that I am a beloved child of God, who loves unconditionally. Nothing I can do will make God love me more or less.
So, as I look forward to the beginning of a new year, I am filled with new hope, expectations — and resolutions. And, as I look back on the past year, I celebrate my life and all that I have experienced, knowing that God has been with me through it all.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
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Psalms 139:7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn
and land beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Let darkness surround me,
let the light around me be night,”
12 even darkness like this
is not too dark for you;
rather, night is as clear as day,
darkness and light are the same.
13 For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
17 God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.
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God’s love frees me to celebrate life with gratitude.
To love myself more completely
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The Upper Room®
Copyright © The Upper Room 2017, All rights reserved.
Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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