Joy and Strength (Christian life and music)

A New Year!  A fresh start!  That is what we feel each January 1st.  We praise God for another year of life! As I read from one of my favorite devotionals this morning, "Joy and Strength," a compilation of writings from some of the greatest saints gone by (compiled by Mary Wilder Tileston), I thought that I would share with you today's reading.  The writer puts it so well and beautifully what we all need to hear today. "The year begins; and all its pages are as blank as the silent years of the life of Jesus Christ.  Let us begin it with high resolution; then let us take all its limitations, all its hindrances, its disappointments, its narrow and commonplace conditions, and meet them as the Master did in Nazareth, with patience, with obedience, putting ourselves in cheerful subjection, serving our apprenticeship.  Who knows that opportunity may come to us this year?  Let us live in a great spirit, then we shall be ready for a great occasion."  George Hodges Yes! 

Sometimes, the Lord removes people from your life you thought were going to "be there for you" for life.  Not everyone in your life is a keeper. When God detaches them - when He has acted on your behalf - it is easy.  When the other person decides or when we decide to move on, it may not be so easy.  But when the detaching is from God, His peace is in your spirit. It's like you want to miss them, you think you should miss them, but you are alright with it.  This is a grace from God.  Don't fight it!  Relax into it. In these last days, the Lord knows who's who and who is a detriment to His work in and through us and who is a help.  Let Him remove whom He will.   We must stay closer to Christ than ever before in these last days.  To say the days are evil is the understatement of all time!  The Word clearly states that things heat up more in the end. How will we stand?  How can we endure? We must lean into the Presence of Christ more deeply.  This has always been the