Thursday, January 01, 2009

New Year's Greetings

Dear friends of CQOD,
     With the passing of another year comes change--change that we greet with anticipation, preparation, and occasionally, dread. The bank balance; the whirl of events in our shrinking world; the sovereign governments that we must, according to the apostle, submit to; the demands of work; even the bathroom
scales--all draw attention to the one undeniable fact that we are in God's hands, not our own. We cannot even see our future, let alone, command it.
     It is in the midst of this procession of uncertainties that God asks us to believe Him, to trust Him with our future. The marvel is that the belief is not a general, vague trust in the likely good outcome of things, but quite specific: peace. "...for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints." (Ps. 85:8b AV)
     As always, His peace is different from what the world provides. We can always choose the phony peace, the drugged peace, the empty peace, the dead peace that our culture offers. We can always grasp the peace of affluence, the peace of worldly security, the peace of television entertainment and escape. We certainly never object to the peace of comfort or safety or health. But the peace of God is peace in the midst of trouble or hardship, peace while under stress or labor, and peace while facing either the questions or the gathering certainties of the future.
     Our need for the peace that withstands the assaults of life is answered by God's abundant provision of His word, flowing like the "river whose streams make glad the city of God" (Ps. 46:4). He speaks, and it is so. With the Psalmist, we can make, for this encroaching new year, no resolution better than this, "I will hear what God the LORD will speak." (Ps. 85:8a AV)
     To the news: As you may have noticed, your CQOD message has changed slightly, again. This is a consequence of the fact that CQOD is now hosted by Agathon Group (agathongroup.com). This was necessitated by the fact that our former hosts, GospelCom, ceased operation on 12/15/08, after 13 years. We will always be grateful to GospelCom for the support we received over those years and for the many colleagues and ministry friends that we came to know and collaborate with.
     I think that the final form of the CQOD mailing is now fully settled. The CQOD home web page has undergone a small makeover. The other devotionals are now seen on a separate page via a home page link.
     As always, my family and I wish all of you a happy and holy new year, full of the promise of God, the grace of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
     RMA