Happy New Year!

     We have survived another year. 2012 is behind us now and I wonder whether we will always think of it as the year the world was supposed to end. Will it go down in history with that handle?
     Considering all the hoopla about 2012, maybe we should look on 2013 as a gift. In fact, I really think we should consider every new day of life a gift. If you're alive, it's a gift. Nobody can give you life without God's intervention. If you almost died and were brought back to life, God had a hand in it. Your times are in His hands.
     Whether we know it or not, whether we believe it or not, our lives are in God's hands. We don't know what tomorrow will bring. We don't know whether we'll be able to carry out our plans and dreams. There are lots of obstacles and possible events we haven't even imagined that may or may not hinder us from accomplishing our goals.
     My prayer for the new year is that I will not go through each day merely on a physical level, focusing only on this material world. (Luke 12:15 "And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man/woman's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.") We live in a material world. But, we also simultaneously live in the spiritual world. The physical world and how we live in the physical world is a manifestation of that spiritual world.
     One thing for sure is that I would never want to consider communicating with the spiritual world without my Mediator. I don't want anyone or anything influencing me that isn't of Jesus Christ.
  
      I John 4:1-3 "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
     2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
     3. And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, where of ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."

     This year, may we all discover the true meaning of happiness. May we find happiness in each other and the wonderful creation put on this planet. All these can be enjoyed for free. May we take time to lift our noses up from the grindstone (or computer screen, as the case may be) and smell the roses of our lives. -The lives God has given to us.