What's Next? God's Providence...

Disaster?...

War?...

Hopelessness?...

Hunger?...

Medical Needs?... Funerals?...

No matter what the next year brings, God’s providence is supreme. God is over all. He as created the universe and set the forces of nature into motion. The Lord, He is God. He has given us His Word that we might know Him and His will for our lives now and for eternity. God’s Providence involves:

I. CARE OVER HIS WORKS (Psa 145:9) The LORD [is] good to all: and his tender mercies [are] over all his works. II. IS EXERCISED IN: Preserving his creatures

You alone are the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You. (Neh 9:6 NKJV) "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. (Mat 10:29 NKJV)

Providing for his creatures Psa 104:27 These wait all upon you; that you may give [them] their meat in due season. Mat 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?

Preserving His saints Psa 37:28 For the LORD loves judgment, and forsakes not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. Protecting His saints Psa 91:4 He shall cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you shall trust: his truth [shall be your] shield and buckler.

Preserving the course of nature Gen 8:22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Overruling wicked designs for good Gen 50:20 But as for you, you thought evil against me; [but] God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as [it is] this day, to save much people alive.

III. ALL THINGS ARE ORDERED BY HIM For good to saints Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose. IV. TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED In prosperity (Deu 8:18 NKJV) "And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

In adversity (Job 1:21-22 NKJV) And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." {22} In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. In public calamities ( Amo 3:6) Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done [it]?

In all things Pro 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. In our daily support The model prayer exemplifies how we are to acknowlege God’s Providence in all ways… "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. {10} Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. {11} Give us this day our daily bread. {12} And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. {13} And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Mat 6:9-13 NKJV)

Even so, come Lord Jesus... Phillip Keller-from “Sea Edge”... “For me, as a man now moving gently through the lovely twilight years of life, the remnants of sea walls and sand castles always bring up poignant memories. The gracious Spirit of Christ always uses them to remind me of my own perilous past. At the same time, however, He also quietly reminds me how in spite of my own dream castles, my own strong will, so stubborn in resisting Him, He has preserved my life to this point in time.”

Glory to God... Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, {25} To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 NKJV) Blessings on you for 2007!