Psalm 44:3-8 says:

"It was not by their sword that they won the land, 

nor did their arm bring them victory;

it was Your Right Hand, Your arm,

and the light of Your face,

for You favoured them.

Through You we push back our enemies;

through Your name we trample our foes.

I do not trust in my bow, 

my sword does not bring me victory;

but You give us victory over our enemies,

You put our adversaries to shame.

In God we make our boast all day long,

and we will praise your name forever<3

mmm i think God deserves all the praise for having fought this year's battles for us:)
My prayer for myself and my friends this new year is to:

"Be very strong; be careful to obey*, (...) without turning aside to the right or to the left*... So be very careful to love* the Lord your God."

 - Joshua 23:6, 11

* That we may be obedient because: "does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of the rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry." - 1 Samuel 15:22
And also, obedience is a discipline that God honors and uses to guide us - and His ways are always right:)


* That we may not turn left and right or to both extremes. Think of  our spiritual walks like being on a boat. We stay in the centre because we don't want to fall off from either the left or the right edge right? I ripped this off an online article: 

"Because Satan doesn’t care which extreme he gets us off to. Either legalism or licentiousness please him." 

So by abiding in Him, we'll be in the centre of God's love and will:)


* Love is a choice of will. I think it's interesting how it is written as "so be very careful". I personally think 'to love' is where i put my heart and value into. Matthew 6:21 says "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So be very careful to put your love+heart in God because He is good, all the time.


--


Ron brought his very lovely girlfriend, Anna, over to visit for the holidays. I think it's really nice to have Ron back with us for the New Year. I am so not missing midnight service tomorrow, even if it means leaving the family dinner earlier. It just feels so right to start 2011 with God and I'm not missing that feeling and privilege for the world:) Have a great new year you guys<3