It shall be 

as a mark on your hand

or frontlets between your eyes;

for by a strong hand

     the LORD brought us

     out of Egypt.

                    Exodus 13. 16

(God makes it that obvious

       His strong hand in this,

and His change in us.

Do not miss

the significance

         of what God is doing,

even in what

we cannot fully understand.

May Your Presence 

  O LORD,

be tangibly evident to everyone.)

   

...and we do not know

with what

we must serve the LORD.

                   Exodus 10. 26

(You will be surprised

at what God will use

      and how He is using you.

How can I serve the LORD

        in this situation?

With a humble heart.)

...but for this purpose
have I let you live,
to show you My power,
so that
   My name may be declared
throughout all the earth.

                Exodus 9. 16

(Not anything that can be
       explained away.
What does it take to recognize
    God's love for you,
to realize His power in your life?
The plagues were not
          all about convincing Pharoah.
Moses needed to know
     beyond a shadow of a doubt
that "I am the LORD,"
for all that he was
          about to experience.)

Even though
    I walk through
the valley of deep darkness,
I fear no evil,
    for You are with me.
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
 in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil,
                my cup overflows.

                       Psalm 23. 4-5

(In the places of
       my greatest fear,
I am not alone.
The LORD leads,
the LORD heals,
the LORD redeems.
Even in this.)

"Now therefore go,
and I will be with your mouth
and teach you
   what you shall speak."
But Moses said,
"Oh my Lord,
 send, I pray,
      some other person."

              Exodus 4. 12-13

(And little do I realize
      that I was made for this,
that I would know Him more,
and that through this I would know
          that God is real.
It is not in my strengths
   but in my inabilities
that the power of God is revealed.
Not in me,
        but God.
Am I listening to Him
    or making excuses?
And God replies as He did to Moses,
       "No, but I want you.")
         

"Come,

I will send you to Pharoah

that you may bring forth

My people, the sons of Israel,

          out of Egypt."

But Moses said to God,

    "Who am I 

    that I should go to Pharoah,

and bring the sons of Israel

out of Egypt?"

He said,

   "But I will be with you."

               Exodus 3. 10-12

("You want me to do WHAT?"

There is always an excuse

        not to follow God.

But where God leads,

     there is always 

          His way through it,

          His deeper purposes in it.

Where God guides,

                   God provides,

that we would know it is not in us,

        but God Almighty who did this,

that we will know 

             that He is the LORD.)

As for you,
you meant evil against me,
but God
      meant it for good,
to bring it about
that many people should be
         kept alive,
as they are today.

                Genesis 50. 20

(God is at work in you,
God is using you
   far beyond what you can know,
   far beyond what you can
             ever imagine.
God's purposes are never singular.
Your faithfulness to God
          is always multiplied
    in ways you will never see.)

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations 

            of my heart

be acceptable in Your sight,

O LORD,

my rock and my redeemer.

 

                      Psalm 19. 14

(That is the most significant

            of all things today,

because it impacts everything else,

all I do,

what I see,

on what I dwell

and touches everyone around me.

Even in the hard places,

even in pain,

even among strangers

                   and foes,

God is at work

   profoundly through you.)

So it was not you
         who sent me here,
but God.

                 Genesis 45. 8

(But God
is what changes
even the most hopeless situation.
But God
     is the reality we live in.
There is always
something more,
something far profound
   in His divine placement.
Even here.
Even now.
God is never limited
       by dire circumstances,
even when we cannot yet see
the greater goodness
     He is multiplying in it.
But God
is not a variable in the equation.
        He is the reality.)

And He didn't do
      many mighty works there,
because of their unbelief.

                    Matthew 13. 58

(...and what if
      I trusted Him in this?
A radically different journey,
a completely different outcome,
a different heart.)

There was famine in all lands,
but in all the land of Egypt
          there was bread.

                    Genesis 41. 34

(Because of
   one man's faithfulness to God.
My own obedience to God
     profoundly impacts others,
even today,
even in this,
even when it doesn't
         appear to make sense,
even in what I may never see
                  the outcome.
Faithfulness to God
        always matters.)
   

Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt...

                           Genesis 39. 1

(Beyond his understanding,

but strategically 

      for God's deeper purposes.

Against his will,

      but clearly within God's will.

The LORD is able

to bear something incredible

through this.

What has God placed before me

today?

Be faithful to Him in it.)

I bless the LORD 

      who gives me counsel;

in the night also

      my heart instructs me.

I keep the LORD 

             always before me;

because He is at my right hand,

        I shall not be moved.

                    Psalm 16. 7-8

(Seek the LORD in this.

First response,

        not last resort.

You are not alone.

Set your mind.

Align your heart to His.

The LORD is guiding you,

no better place to be). 

Do not be afraid of sudden panic,

or of the storm of the wicked,

             when it comes,

for the LORD will be

             Your confidence

and will keep your foot

    from being caught.

                   Proverbs 3. 25-26

(On what do I count on,

    or in Whom do I dwell?

My strength is not dependent

                 on circumstances,

but in the LORD.

Knowing that "I am with you,"

I can be responsive to my situation,

      not paralyzed by fear.

Fear is too heavy to carry,

and worry blocks out the light.)

Come to Me,

all who labor

  and are heavy-laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you,

and learn from Me;

for I am gentle

      and lowly in heart,

and you will find rest

              for your souls.

For My yoke is easy,

and My burden is light.

                  Matthew 11. 28-30

(Whatever you are carrying,

wherever you are,

Jesus meets you in your

                   deepest need.

He never accuses,

      "you brought this on yourself,"

but speaks in a still small voice,

              "I will give you rest."

His peace is never dependent

                    on circumstances,

             or performance,

but only on His grace.

He never meant for you

          to do life without Him.)

Jacob went on his way
and the angels of God
               met him,
and when Jacob saw them
he said,
"This is God's army!"

            Genesis 32. 1-2

(God meets you 
     in your deepest need.
You are not alone.
Seek Him
and walk with Him through it.
Do not even try
          to go it alone.)

...now then,

whatever God has said to you,

                            do.

                   Genesis 31. 16

(Even what is unexpected,

even what may not make

              sense at all,

follow Him into it.

Faith is not 

knowing the destination 

           -- or the outcome --

but knowing Who is leading me.

"I am with you."

It is not that 

God will open doors.

      He has already opened them.

I just don't see them yet.)

Then Jacob awoke

from his sleep 

and said,

"Surely the LORD 

   is in this place,

and I did not know it."

               Genesis 28. 16

(Even here.

Even in this impossible thing.

Even in the most unexpected,

  His fingerprints all over it.

Make us, O LORD,

aware of Your Presence.

You are already with us

   even in what 

   we cannot understand).

They said,
"We can see plainly
that the LORD
      is with you."

        Genesis 26. 28

(Others are watching you
not to see if
you are successful
         or perfect,
not even to see if
God makes a difference,
but to know
   that God is real.
Walk with Him
       through this).

And He said to them,

"Why are you afraid,

       O men of little faith?"

Then He rose

and rebuked the winds and the sea,

       and there was great calm.

And the men marveled, saying,

"What sort of man is this,

that even the winds and sea

                           obey Him?"

                         Matthew 18. 26-27

(Jesus is bigger

      than any storm you face.)

Trust in the LORD

     with all your heart,

and do not rely 

   on your own insight.

In all your ways

          acknowledge Him,

and He will make straight

                     your paths.

                  Proverbs 3. 5-6

(This is how God works.

All I need to bring before Him

     is a whole heart and willing mind.

Take God up on it.

God works in bigger ways

              than ever expected

  and always against the odds.)

...because you have
        obeyed My voice.

                 Genesis 22. 18

(God brings something very different,
absolutely incredible,
beyond your imagination,
   that which He designed for you.
Don't miss this.
I may not know where I am going,
   or what God is doing in this,
but I can know
      God is leading me
if I seek to follow Him into it.)

Is anything too hard
        for the LORD?
At the appointed time....

              Genesis 18. 14

(God is at work,
even in those things
      I don't understand,
even in His divine timing,
even in His unexpected ways.
When we seek God
   rather than our narrow
   preconceived idea of
      what should happen,
       what God SHOULD do,
He aligns our hearts
with His created universe
           of possibility.
God's timing is always perfect.
God is never late.)

... at this season next year.

                      Genesis 17. 21

(And sometimes we must wait.

God's timing is always perfect.

It is not that God is not ready,

          but am I?

The waiting room

        is never a time of sitting around,

but of training 

               not for what "happens,"

but for the divine purposes

       God has already prepared.)

Lift up your eyes,

and look from the place

        where you are...

                     Genesis 13. 14

(Look where you are,

       not where you are not.

God is at work there

   even in ways you cannot see.

Be not so quick or anxious

           to be someplace else

    or the other side of the fence.

You are strategically placed

       for a reason,

       for a season,

for His purposes fulfilled.)

Now Sarai was barren;
       she had no child.

             Genesis 11. 30

(Despair is not the end of your story,
     but where Jesus
     meets you in your deepest need.
God had greater plans for Sarah
in unexpected ways.
Just as He does for you.)

But God....

           Genesis 8. 1

(God enters in
    and changes everything.
The LORD is neither a consideration
nor a distant variable in my day
but the very center of it
     upon which
     all things revolve.
Don't miss what He is doing.)

Bear fruit

   that befits repentance.

               Matthew 3. 8

(What does "redeemed" look like

             in this?

If I am forgiven,

          everything changes.

All that I do,

all that I choose,

all that I see

and say

and think

and pray.

God changes my heart.)

Blessed 

    are those who take refuge

    in Him.

   

                        Psalm 2. 11

(A place not to hide,

but a place of strengthening

        from which to go forth.

His blessings are far deeper

and more profound

than we can ever comprehend,

because they always impact

others as well

                  for generations

even those we do not know,

even in ways we cannot imagine.)

In the beginning

God created the heavens

                and the earth.

The earth was without form 

and void,

and darkness was upon

             the face of the deep;

and the Spirit of God

was moving over

the face of the waters.

                       Genesis 1. 1-2

(It is the new year,

standing unknown before me,

so much I cannot see,

I cannot know,

I cannot comprehend.

But God is already moving

    over the face of this deep.

God is already at work.

O LORD, 

help me to be faithful to You,

whether by streams of water

        or living like that,

bearing Your fruit

no matter where You place me.

Wilderness 

   is not a barren place in Your eyes,

only that yet to be explored

and cultivated.)

Happy new year, my friend.