Facing the Future 2007

I was challenged by a sermon entitled 'Facing the Future with God' and particularly by a couple of verses from Deuteronomy chapter 11 verses 10 to 12. Was reminded of this sermon when visiting www.slimmingwhirledandstuff.blogspot.com about the New Year. God's way for us is straight BUT the terrain is undulating: up hills and down dales - the ups and downs of life. When in the valleys and oppressed we should remember that God is the God of the hills and the valleys. We learn lessons in both - and prove the love and faithfulness of God. And here's a lovely verse:'..a land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyesof the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of it'. Remember that God cares always and His eyes are upon you from the beginning to the end of the year 2007. Courage then .. and onward!
Since He is outside time He knows what time will bring to us, but He is also intimately connected to us, knows every atom, if you like- then what have we to fear. 'God is all sufficient for the coming year'. Picture above is Anne Frank's room with her pasted pictures

Standing at the portal
Of the opening year,
Words of comfort meet us,
Hushing every fear;
Spoken through the silence
By our Father's voice,
Tender, strong and faithful,
Making us rejoice.

Onward then, and fear not,
Children of the day!
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away!

'I, the Lord, am with thee,
Be thou not afraid,
I will help and strengthen,
Be thou not dismayed!
Yea, I will uphold thee
With My own right hand;
Thou art called and chosen

In my sight to stand.'

For the year before us,
O what rich supplies!
For the poor and needy
Living streams shall rise;
For the sad and sinful
Shall His grace abound;
For the faint and feeble
Perfect strength be found.

He will never fail us,
He will not forsake;
His eternal covenant
He will never break.
Resting on His promise,
What have we to fear?
God is all-sufficient
For the coming year.
FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL, 1836-79

Have just read an awesome, old, (published 1969) book called: 'Selected to Live' by Johanna-Ruth Dobschiner (ISBN 0 7208 0212 1) - while feeling pretty droopy with some passing bug. It is remarkable that this Dutch, Jewish teenager was spared the concentration camps suffered by many and hidden during the Dutch occupation. The only one of her family to be preserved. More than that, she found Messiah through reading the Christian scriptures as a time filler, while hidden and maintaining silence during many months. The witness of her rescuer and his family made a deep impression. They lived through terrible times of cruelty but their testimony was great. There is an abiding sense of man's sin but God's sovereignty in this book.
Having visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam (see pictures above from October 2004) this book brought back some of the sombre impressions that that trip made. But it was wonderful to see how Johanna-Ruth Dobschiner came to know the Lord as her Saviour despite the dreadful events of 1940-5 in Holland.

Second picture: house on left is where the Frank family hid