New Year

OPEN AND CLOSED DOORS IN THE NEW YEAR

/ Dr. Daniel Merritt / Leave a comment

dooropenOne truth I have learned over the years is that the Lord opens doors of opportunities, service and blessings for us to walk through. But He also closes doors…and if He closes one door He will eventually open another one. As 2016 comes to a close and 2017 looms upon the horizon, no doubt many doors have been swung open throughout the year as well as doors having been closed. While waiting for a new door to open we must be patient when one shuts to not try and pry it open again while we wait for the new one to open. As a New Year approaches let us pray for the wisdom to know the difference.

Whether it be a door of opportunity, a door of service, a door of relationship, a door of fruitfulness, a door of usefulness, a door of friendship, a door of faith, or a door of a new beginning we need to pray that the Lord will give us the wisdom to know when to go through a door and the wisdom to know when He has closed a door. And when He shuts a door may we submit to His will until He opens a new one. The Good Lord opens doors for a reason and He, as well, shuts a door for a reason. Some doors are not meant to stay open forever, but only for a season.

As a New Year rises like the sun on a new morning, may the Lord give each of us new open doors to walk through which will bring our way new and fresh blessings, new beginnings, and new opportunities to be an effective servant for Christ.  And if the Lord closes a certain door let us not be disheartened, just start patiently looking for the door that He has planned to open for us.  Now we can push and shove as hard as we can against a door the Lord has closed hoping it will open again for us, and in the process miss the new open  door that awaits us. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, once stated, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”door-open-closed

If we do experience closed doors in our journey of faith the Book of  Hosea encourages us, “And I will give her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor (lit. trouble or turmoil)  for a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15).  The verse speaks of the Lord opening a door of fruitfulness and hope in the midst of the valley of despair, disappointment, and discouragement that often occurs when we confront closed doors. May the Lord give us patience and open our eyes to see the new one He places before us.

If we are truly trusting the Lord He will in His timing open the doors which need to be opened and close the ones that need to be closed. Again, let us pray for wisdom to know the difference. So let us as we face the New Year trust the Lord to open the right doors and close the doors that would be for our determent realizing He closed it for our protection and good, and He opens new doors for His service and our blessing.

Revelation 3:8 reads, “I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.” My prayer is that we will walk close to the Lord so our spiritual eyes will recognize such doors and the courage to walk through them.

Blessings in the New Year,

Dr. Dan

OUR LORD SEES ALL IN THE NEW YEAR

/ Dr. Daniel Merritt / 2 Comments

The Roman God of Beginnings

In ancient Rome it was believed that Janus, their god of beginnings, had the ability to see in two directions at the same time. Janus, from where we get the name for the month January, was said to be able to simultaneously look at the past, as well as ahead to the future. The Romans gave his name to the first month of the year.

As January rushes in upon us like the north wind, it brings with it fresh and new possibilities. The New Year brings with it a new beginning, new starts. The New Year also brings with it uncertain questions of what lay ahead in the next twelve months. I am thankful as 2015 ends and  2016 begins that we serve a Lord not made with man’s hands like Janus, but a living God who became a man in Jesus, born in Bethlehem’s manger. I am thankful He has the ability to see both our past and our future. He knows the joys and heartaches we experienced in the year just past, and He walks by our side with strength and grace so we will not have to journey one step on the rocky roads of life alone.

Our Lord knows what 2016 will hold for each of us; paths that take us to the rarified air of joyful mountain tops or paths that find us descending into the fog of a deep valley. And more than likely 2016 will find us walking on both. Yet He says to us, “I will go with you and before you, and will empower and enable you to face whatever the New Year may hold.” Yes, He who was veiled in human flesh and called Emmanuel, meaning God with us, invades our every moment of every day with His divine presence.

Moses, who walked on mountains with angels and who, also, trudged through valleys of loneliness and despair, gives us an assuring promise that is especially appropriate as we embark upon a new year, “The eyes of the Lord our God are always upon [you], from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Deuteronomy 11:12). Wow! Is not that a marvelous truth? Moses reassures us in this eternal promise of the Lord’s abiding presence in our lives every minute on every road we travel during 2016.

In the New Year, let us give the year to Him and receive His forgiveness for past failures, comfort for our heartaches, strength for our weaknesses, and peace for our confusion. As a fresh twelve-month calendar of days dawns upon us, bringing with it 365 new sunrises, let us place our hands in the hand of the ONE who sees all and who is able to give us power, courage, and confidence as we face the New Year, and each day of the year.

Blessings in the New Year,

Dr. Dan