Sunday Snippet: New Beginnings and a GiveAway…

We are in that lovely post-Christmas lull, when all the urgency seems to have got up and left and what wasn’t done for Christmas can safely be forgotten, until next year. Just as we settle into this comfortable place we are going to be flung into a media mass of New Years Resolutions and time to tackle our faults and failings and pull ourselves up to speed… plotting all our good intentions in new crispy diaries, reminders popped on the fridge with post-it notes… And the tragedy is we will fail again and again and worse we will feel really bad for failing!!! You can tell I am not great on resolutions and all the pressure!!! But I am for new beginnings…

In Lamentations 3:22-23, we are told that God’s compassions are new every morning, and how encouraging is it that God starts each new day with us fresh!!! The world is always on about making life-changes and new habits… and how often we feel we have failed because our good intentions were just that. A good intention, but two weeks into January and we have forgotten our new plan and are back in our old ruts. Well don’t be disheartened because in Zechariah 4:10 we see that God rejoices when we start new projects, particularly those that are leading us to a life of greater faithfulness.

And to this end I have a fabulous new Page a Day Day-Planner to GiveAway this week, published by Christian Art Publishers. It is a page a day diary with a bible Reading Plan for the year and the relevant chapters to read for the day written on each day. As well as that, each month has a new theme and a printed in full Bible verse of the day, which relates to the monthly theme. So even when you just can’t get around to your reading plan, and I know that we all have days like that, there is a Bible verse right there for you to read and meditate on.

So where do we get our inspiration and encouragement to keep plodding on, well I have found the writings of great Christian writers can really be encouraging… to that end I have this fabulous book to give away:

It is a devotional book that provides a page a day visit with John Calvin: Each page consists of a short Bible reading and a reference to further reading, Calvin’s comments taken from his writings and then something to think about. Just dipping into this book I have discovered how easy it is to read and learn from a man that lived five hundred years ago. I thought it would be quite dry reading but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to read and his writing was really relevant and encouraging. Spending a year with John Calvin is a great way to draw closer to God.

As usual I have to thank CBD, our GiveAway book suppliers for some more great books.

If you would like to win these fabulous book then go ahead and enter our GiveAway. The GiveAway works in the usual way, comment before the end of this coming Sunday, 2 January 2011, and we will draw and publish the winner next week! – I won’t respond to your comments as I do on our other posts because I don’t want to be included in our own giveaway.

Our GiveAway Books are open to everyone: If you have won a GiveAway before never fear – enter away. If you live on the far side of the world – enter away. Postage takes forever from here but eventually it should get to you! Good luck and get commenting!!!