Remember at the beginning of 2016 when we all said to ourselves, "this year is going to be my year"? It seems a very, very long way off - especially because 2016 wasn't really anyone's year. All in all, a lot of us have had a pretty hard time; the humanitarian crisis in Syria reached a horrific climax, tensions with Russia increased dramatically, and the United States General Election brought out the very worst in some of our own. We've lost a lot of greats this year, too, from David Bowie and Leonard Cohen to Alan Rickman and Carrie Fisher. Personally, too, we each had our own losses. We've suffered heartbreaks, run into difficult financial times, and lost people close to us. Like every other year, 2016 has been full of ups and downs, and it's safe to say that we all have a lot of expectations for 2017. I've personally done a lot of thinking about what I'd like to accomplish in this coming year, and reflected on the verses I think will be most helpful to all of us. Here are the verses I found fit best.

1. Ephesians 4: 22-24

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

2. Romans 8:18

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

3. Isaiah 40:30-31

"Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

4. Jeremiah 29:11

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

5. Proverbs 23:18

"There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off."

6. Ecclesiastes 3:1

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” –

7. Isaiah 43:18-19

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

8. 1 Chronicles 16:11-12

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced."

9. Psalm 20:4

“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”

10. James 1:17-18

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

11. Mark 12:28-31

“One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

12. Ezekiel 11:19

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them..."

13. 2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

14. Prov. 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

15. Acts 3:19

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

16. Ezekiel 36:25-27

"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command."

17. Philippians 3:13-14

"No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

18. Lamentations 3:22-24

"The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

19. Isaiah 43:2

"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you."

20. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."