A new year has dawned and has been
birthed from the throne room of God. Some of us might look upon
this coming year with dread, and some of us might look upon this
year with excitement. Now even though the future is a mystery to us
all, we are privileged to know the One with the future in His
hands. So whether you are excited, scared, or indifferent, your
future is within His hands and we need to abide with Him. This made
me think of Psalm 91. Let's read verse 1 together:
"He who dwells in the secret
place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty."
If you read the rest of the Psalm
it speaks of God's protection, His provision and His abounding
favour. Please go and read the rest of the Psalm yourself, it is
really inspiring for 2017. But remember verse one. We need to dwell
and abide with Him. Now I pondered what this could mean, and the
Lord reminded me of Ephesians 2:6 which tell us that we have been
raised up with Christ and that we are sitting with Him in heavenly
places. He also reminded me of Colossians 3:1 that tells us that
Christ sits at God's right hand, and therefore as part of His body
we sit there too.
So what am I saying? God wants you
to sit and abide with Him this year. He wants you to realise your
position in Christ and sit alongside Him in His place of honour.
Now your following question might be; But what does 'sit' mean?
Should I not do anything and simply say God must do everything? Or
what does it mean? Let us go back to Psalm 91:1.
The Names of God, namely 'Most
High' and 'Almighty' appears in Psalm 91:1. The first time the Name
'Most High' is used in the Bible is Genesis 14 and the first time
the Name 'Almighty' is used in the Bible is Genesis 17. And in the
middle is Genesis 15 and 16. And interestingly our answer lies
there. Genesis 15 tells us of what God will do for Abraham if he
sits with Him. He will bless Him abundantly, He will give him
descendants as the stars in the heaven and He will be his Shield
and his great reward (Genesis 15:1). And in Genesis 16 Abraham and
Sarah decided not to 'sit' with God in His presence, but to take
matters into their own hands and in the process Ishmael was born.
And the fact that they didn't 'sit' with God brought them untold
heartache and pain.
'Sitting' with God therefore means
to trust Him, to believe what His Word says, to live in heavenly
places with Him even though your body is still on earth. Sitting
with Him means to walk with the Spirit and to follow His leading in
everything that you do. Sitting with Him means to go on with your
life, to do what you can do to the best of your ability, and then
to give over to Him and to rest in His presence. And in His
presence you cannot be stressed, you cannot be anxious and you
cannot be lacking. In His presence is abundance of everything!
Decide for 2017 to come and sit in
His presence. Decide to abide with Him. Decide that Psalm 91 is
true and for you today. Do not go out and have your own 'Ishmaels'.
That is not God's best for you. You will only make your own life
miserable with unnecessary complications. Rather give over to God
and believe what He had promised. Stand on His promises and make
them your own. Print Psalm 91 out and read it regularly, even by
putting it up all over your house. God wants the best for you, but
are you willing to abide with Him? All the promises of God in Jesus
are Yes and Amen to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20). Grab
hold of it and walk in the fullness of all that He came to give
you.
Thank you Father for a new year.
Thank you for new beginnings. We declare that we will abide and sit
with You this year. Because we know that You know best. We look
forward to see all that You have planned for us. We hold on to all
Your glorious promises. In Jesus Name. Amen