Happy New Year!  Here we are again, starting out a brand new year . . . with a handful of brand new weeks and days and months ahead, that hold a myriad of events and experiences, that are destined to shape our year, and the rest of our life that follows.  So I’m thinking about the new beginning . . . doors will open to me in this new year . . . possibilities that I can’t even put my finger on . . . and how am I going to deal with these new life events?  Joy will come to me – how will I receive it and savor it?  Difficulty, and perhaps harshness, will come to me – how will I face it and deal with it and leverage it into an advantage?  Situations will come up and I’ll have to make decisions . . . there will be options involved and I’ll have to make a choice . . . or two or three – and the question isn’t necessarily what I’m gonna choose, but how I’m gonna make my choices – what will my choosing process be?  And, what will I trust to give me good advice and direction in my choosing process?
 
I’ve discovered that, while I live in my culture, and am bound to operate my life within the common cultural strictures, that this world order does not prepare me to make good choices.  I’m more convinced than ever that I need God’s understanding and wisdom to negotiate our culture and live the life that’s pleasing and honoring to Him.  I’ve already made my decision that God’s written Word, opened up to me by the Holy Spirit, and made more clear to me by my Godly, Spirit-filled friends, will be my go-to for direction and advice in my choosing process.  And to make that a reliable process, I must spend time in this Word, to give my heart something to go back to when the choices must be made.  I’m starting off the new year with my favorite book of wisdom teaching, and I’m gonna meditate my way through it, just one more time.  I invite you to join me in Proverbs again, starting the year off on good footing, listening to and personalizing what King Solomon penned for us nearly 3000 years ago.  Make some notes, and ask yourself things like, “What am I gonna do with this stuff?”
 
So I’m gonna read, and listen to what the Holy Spirit is whispering to me, and I hope you’re joining me . . . for a happier New Year!
 
Shalom,
D.P.
 

Devotional Reading Calendar – January 2019