In Pursuit of His Presence

It's a new year! May it be joy-filled for you! This time of the year is always exciting for me.  A time to reflect, make goals, celebrate the life that was lived the last 365 days... A new year is full of both anticipation and hope, wonder and challenge.  Looking back, my days were filled with much of those.   I would like to dazzle you with those details down the road, but for now, I want to start over.
I am starting over, following a one year Bible reading plan, to immerse myself in the Truth. If my meet my goal, this will be my first experience reading the Bible in its entirety for two consecutive years.  I assure you this is not a bragging point! I say that only to preface  what I desire to accomplish as one of my goals again this year.  Having read the Bible in a year a handful of times in the past, I have found it enriching and comforting to dive into the depth of God's inspired Word daily and with purpose in mind. For many years I have described myself as a black or white person.  Though, this plan for reading appears to represent my personality well, I will readily admit that I am less disciplined than I would like to be sometimes.
 So for those of you who read the Christmas letter we sent out at church and have hence decided to commit to a year plan of reading the full Bible, I pray you find it a place of grace, not of legalism.  Please don't strive for perfection and then give up when you fail to read a day(s)' contents, or if you find yourself wanting to give up after a week even!  I encourage myself and you, here at this time, to just pick up reading the current reading for that day. Move on!
Accept that this is is meant as an exercise of discipline and faithfulness between you and God.  With that in mind, I do plan, as I said in the letter, to post occasionally as I reflect on God's treasured words.  As we endeavor to behold the Truth together, I pray our hearts and minds would be turned toward the Author and Perfector of our faith.
Please feel free to blog your own thoughts here, post a question or comment on what has been said....If you would permit me to share one more exhortation, it would be to pray!  Pray that the eyes of your heart would be open to new understanding, perspective and growth as you are daily inspired by God Himself!  To Him be the Glory as we take in His life giving Word and live full lives in His Presence in 2017!