God loves me! He really and truly
does. I just had to first put this out there before anything else. That I and
every member of my family are alive and thriving, that we can look back on 2015
and recount testimony upon testimony of God’s faithfulness towards us… simply
amazing! I am personally beyond grateful. It is with this same spirit of love
that I say to you ‘Happy New Year’.
May 2016 bring the fullness of God’s special love for you into the realm of
significant manifestations that will cause you to give equally astounding
testimonies all through the year ahead, in Jesus name, amen.
2016 is already well underway. Indeed truth be
told, we will all be planning another Christmas holiday sooner than later as
the time flies rapidly by. I have come to the place of enjoying the journey of
the passage of time because it takes me closer to seeing my children graduate,
get married, birth their own children, and become fully established successfully
in their own lives.
Can I confess something else to
you? Each day also comes with some excitement about the countdown to an
eternity in the presence of the Lord. I do pray and believe Him for long life,
don’t get me wrong. I pray more than anything else to be a productive part of
my children’s lives for decades to come. But I also bask in the privilege of
knowing that whenever He does call me, I will be going home to my Father’s
embrace. Do you think this is strange? Morbid? Well don’t sis! Truth is that
every day is a gift and we never know which will be our last. Ah, I am grateful
for every day here on earth; but I am more so grateful for my salvation, so
thankful for what was such a mighty work of grace….a saving grace that today
qualifies me as one of God’s own precious children; a salvation that assures me
of a place in heaven and an eternity with Him. Awesome!
The holidays are pretty much over
for most of us. My two oldest children are back in Canada, and my home has
quieted down considerably. As my last two start school as well next Monday, our
routines will largely assume the stance they were at for the past year as yours
no doubt will as well. This can be quite an emotional adjustment for many
people. The holidays come with a euphoria that tends to becloud the daily
realities we otherwise contend with. The holidays give us a few days to not
focus on the pressures that otherwise tend to buffet us all year through. Truth
is however, that between the emotional-pyscho-social and activity-oriented frenzy
generated by the coordinated efforts of the media and the retail industry, many
of us actually find ourselves in a more stressed out position over the few days
of the ‘holidays’ than we normally
would all the year through. We spend too much, eat too much, go out too much,
and generally extend ourselves too much in one form or another.
It’s almost comical how we seem
to forget that between December 31st and January 1st,
nothing has changed in the real sense of it. The expression ‘Happy New Year’ does not immediately
translate to all our problems being wiped away. Any unresolved ‘issues’ we might have had as at December
24th will not be resolved by the twinkling lights and festivities of
the next seven days. Indeed, your first day back at work or school will remind
you of that quickly enough, lol. Methinks this is why January can be hard on
many. The post-holiday blues is real and can be pretty intense!
There will be the many who
approach January with a sense of gloom; those who don’t believe they have
anything to be excited about. All they can see is another twelve unproductive
and frustrating months. The weights of their realities assume greater dimensions
as they have to contend with those around them who approach the New Year with
an air of excitement about the possibilities ahead. And you know sis, if you
are not in that space of gloom, it can be hard to understand. Just know that if
you have any one around you who is in this situation, they could be part of
your 2016 assignment from God. It could be that He expects you to extend love,
encouragement, support and hope to them. It could be that He wants you to touch
their lives on His behalf, to help them come to the place of realizing afresh
that He is God and He is more than able to turn things around for them if they
hold fast to Him. Just saying…..
My prayer is that like me, you
are one of those who have entered 2016 with a ‘letting go of the things behind and pressing forward into the future’
mindset. I pray that you have reset your spiritual GPS and are ready to hear
and obey the things God will speak to you in 2016. I pray that you have come to
the table with a fresh determination to upscale your obedience to His
instructions no matter how unlikely they seem in the face of the many ‘facts’ that would instruct you
otherwise. I pray that like me, you have entered 2016 with clarity about the
fact that you are on a journey to deliver glory, and that no matter what you
will come out on top if you allow God take the lead.
Sis, let me encourage you to hold on to Deuteronomy 11 v 10
-12 this year:
10 For
the land which you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt from
which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your
foot like a garden of vegetables.
11 But the land into which you are about to cross to possess, a land
of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven,
12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of
the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to
the end of the year
This is my personal assurance
from God that 2016 is new terrain; that it is not like 2015 from which I have
come. There will be hills and valleys, yes… but my 2016 drinks water from the
rain of heaven as does yours, sis. This word is my assurance that God’s eyes
are on my 2016 from the beginning of the year until the end. Please let this be
your assurance also.
You are a big deal to God, sis. Release yourself, your
hopes, your dreams and aspirations, your fears and concerns, squarely back into
His able hands again. God is asking you afresh to let Him be your rest and assurance
of a fruitful and fulfilling year, come what may. Can you that? Yes, you can! The
Holy Spirit helps us, sis. He always has and He always will.
Be blessed sis…. For you surely
are!
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