Promises For The New Year 2017

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  Deuteronomy 31:8

Greetings to you in the matchless Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May the good LORD be with you throughout this New Year, bless you and your family.

Those words were spoken by Joshua to God’s people as they prepared to march across the Jordan into Canaan, which is a type of heaven in Scripture. What God told them, however, is clearly repeated in different words in several different passages.

If you believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, as the New Testament book of Hebrew states, then there are three promises and two commands which follow. Notice:

Promise #1: The Lord goes before you. This simplifies things greatly. All you have to do is stay close enough to Him to walk in His footsteps, and when He goes to the left or to the right, you change directions quickly. Following Him, though, is like following someone who carries a torch in a dungeon. Stay close enough and you have light to walk, but lag behind and you are quickly engulfed in darkness.

The wise men from the east followed the star to go and worship the new born King Jesus. But when they came to the end of their journey, they began to use their knowledge. Instead of waiting for the star, they went to the King Herod. The result was disaster – Herod passed orders that all the Jewish boys below 2 years old should be killed. So walking with Jesus is praying, meditating (and not just reading) His Word and listening to His Words every morning.

Promise #2: The Lord will be with you! Question: Would you hesitate to take on your enemies if you knew that the Lord was with you? Of course not! When you know that you walk together, there is no concern or fear about tomorrow. Who cares if you are a David taking on a Goliath, if you know that one plus God makes a majority any time, any place.

One day Elisha’s servant got up early in the morning and went out of the house, and saw the Syrian troops with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. He went back to Elisha and exclaimed, “We are doomed, sir! What shall we do?”. “Don’t be afraid,” Elisha answered. “We have more on our side than they have on theirs.” Then he prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD answered his prayer, and Elisha’s servant looked up and saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire all round Elisha. Do you believe that your family is surrounded by His glory?

Promise #3: The Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. That same promise is made twice in the New Testament to God’s children. As Jesus walked with the disciples up at the Mount of Olives for the last time, He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age,” and again the writer of the book of Hebrews quotes Him saying, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” and the structure of the sentence means, “not even for a moment!” That’s good news in a bad world.

Now there are two responses which you need to make in the light of what God says:

First–don’t be afraid. Then–don’t be discouraged. Those are God’s directive for you. We usually fear what we have not experienced or what we cannot understand, and, frankly, if I didn’t know that the Lord would go before me, and be with me, and never leave me, I would not only be afraid, I’d be scared senseless.

Discouragement, however, is often a grave danger than being afraid. Why? Because we get tired, and when we get tired, we get discouraged, and when we get discouraged, we forget that God is in control. So, where are you in relationship to this great passage which you will find in Deuteronomy 3:1? In need of encouragement? Open your Bible to that text, and write your name on the margin, and say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord who can be trusted no matter what this year holds for me.”

If only you knew the plan God has for you, how little would you trouble yourself with the worries that gnaw at your peace and contentment. Indeed at the beginning of this New Year, the LORD gives an assurance that He will go before you and with you every day. Things may not be smooth as expected, yet you’ll have to believe in the Father and in Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, give me the grace to cling to this promise so that I and my household will be blessed throughout this year. Amen