Happy New Year! I was thinking of you and wanted to give you something to meditate on as we entered 2010. As always, I’m so excited about what lies ahead. And why not be excited, God has already told me what’s going to happen. He plans to prosper you and not to harm you. He’s given you hope and a wonderful future (based on Jeremiah 29:11). Did you know that God has already blessed this year? When I started collecting scriptures for this article, I was lead to Genesis and Revelation (and some points in between)—I saw blessing from beginning to end. Please enjoy reading what the Holy Spirit gave me for you.

You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.
—Psalm 65:11 NIV

Don’t look at what the world is experiencing. The Lord has already crowned this year with bounty! Remember He is the Ancient of Days. He knows all things and holds time in His hand. Everything He created was called good. In order to experience the Blessing all year long, we need to remind ourselves daily of Psalm 118:24 which says, “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!” That’s 365 blessed days and it equals a year crowned with bounty!

In the beginning God created. What did He create—time, days and seasons for people to enjoy. And, He said it was all good. Genesis 1:31 recounts, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” So regardless of what the media, politicians or your co workers are saying, THIS YEAR IS GOOD AND WILL BE GOOD BECAUSE GOD CREATED IT. Furthermore, His reason for making it good was and still is for His children to enjoy.

A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
—Deuteronomy 11:12

His eyes are upon you if you are in covenant with Him. This is included in our Blessing. The LORD is good to all; He has compassion on all he has made (Psalm 145:6). And we have biblical proof that anything God makes is bountiful, blessed and flowing with abundance. This should be our experience no matter what year it is or the economic status of our country. As a matter of fact, I believe when the world has lean times, it is a better opportunity for God to show off in our lives. People will want to know why and how our days and years continue to prosper.

Finally I’d also like you to meditate on God ending things the same way He began. Creating. Revelation gives us a glimpse. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal (Revelation 21:1-2, 10-11). This sounds like bounty to me! If none of the other verses convinced you, just focus on these. They will remind you of how the Lord is living and His expectations for you this year and every year until His return. He created it, crowned it and blessed it and He expects you to have a blessed year from beginning to end.

Be blessed friends and have the perfect day everyday!
Psalm 138:8
—Shontta

O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. – 2 Chronicles 20:12

If you are stubborn at all, a hard lesson to learn for the believer is that God expects us to look to him for direction. You can work 80 hours a week and even make over a $100K a year and still be in the bondage of debt. God will allow you to live in the world and under the world’s system of money, which is by the sweat of your brow. After all, He has given us all free will. However, that is not His best for His children. He wants you, as His child, to live in His will. You know from Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a plan to prosper you. Wouldn’t you like to find out that plan for your life?

If you read 2 Chronicles 20, you will learn how God gave them great victory (and great plunder) because they looked to Him for direction. God knows the end from the beginning. Doesn’t it make sense to look to Him for the direction for places that He’s already been? God will reveal things to you that you can’t learn any other way.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.  – Deuteronomy 29:2

God knows countless ways to get you out of debt (if you’re in debt) by next week. However, you only need to know one. Why not seek Him to discover the way? Why not follow Him whole-heartedly and find out how far you can go? What makes walking with God so splendid is that your path is uniquely yours. You get to see everything He has for you when you willingly submit to His Word and His Ways. Success is simple, but it may not be easy. There may be friction. Your mind and body may not want to do what God has called you to do. When your mind and body want to go one way and your spirit (which is new if you’re born again) wants to go another, there is suffering. To relieve the suffering, align your actions with your spirit, which aligns with God. Follow God because He knows better than you do. As Isaiah 55:8-12 explains:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ”As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

God has a better way for you. Learn to listen to God. How do you hear from God? By reading His Word and spending time in prayer. You enter the Spirit-Realm (revelation knowledge) through the letter realm. You judge the Spirit by the knowledge of the letter (the Bible). Take time to hear what God says you should do, then do it. You will start to see blessing like you never imagined.