Stepping out of 2022 and into 2023

As I leave 2022 behind, God has reminded me of both the blessings and the trials I've gone through in 2022. We are all joyful over the blessings but often more times than not, we aren't joyful over the trials. Trials are hard but they do have significant meanings. They are meant to take us to the next level even if only to prove to ourselves that we are overcomers. Who or what we trust in during the trials tells who or what we place our hope, faith and trust in, if anything at all.

So as I reflect back on the many trials I've had to go through in 2022, I know that God was always with me through it all and the trials brought me closer to Him and to others when I allowed them to.. and when I tried to do it my way, those trials taught me great lessons that I will cherish for they took me to a new level. A level that had even greater challenges to overcome yet I also had new tools in which to use to overcome them all.

My faith has grown stronger in 2022. I've learned to speak up more in some areas of my life and and yet be quiet more in other areas. Yes, 2022 has taught me what I'm willing to put up with and what I'm not. It's taught me not to try things on my own and then seek God for help, but to seek God first and in doing so, I may just overcome that trial the first time.

Saying goodbye is an easy thing to do for the year 2022 because I've got my sights set on higher ground. Although the year 2023 will come with its own sets of challenges, I know that God has been preparing me for those challenges in the year 2022.

I also know that I'm not leaving God behind. He is with me always and so I'll step bravely into the year 2023 and face the trials with more hope, more faith and more belief in God and in myself.. and together we will meet each challenge with a new perspective.

I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know my God holds my tomorrow in His hands. As I pray fervently on my knees, asking God to lead me into 2023, I'll be grateful for both the blessings and the trials, for He has always been and is always with me.

Fighting Battles Gods Way

I've been a fighter my entire life. It's what has kept my spirit from breaking. When things go wrong I fight hard to fix it. When people are trying to push me out of places God designed for me, I've fought hard to keep going, hang in there and stand my ground for what I know to be truth. While I've taken a stand against so many obstacles through fighting hard, the fight I'm talking about is not a physical fight.

When the holy spirit lives in you, you fight other spirits through the holy spirit. You can't fight a spiritual battle in a fleshly way. But you can fight what may look like a fleshly battle in a spiritual way because we do not wrestle against the flesh but against powers and pricipalities and we fight that battle through the act of prayer.

When we accept Jesus as Lord and allow Him dominion over every part of our lives, we give up the ways of the flesh. When things don't go the way we want them to, we aren't to take matters into our own hands, but instead we are to pray about the situation and let God lead us in what should be done, if anything.

Greater is He that is in us than a he that is in the world.

What this means is that God living in you is greater than anything you face in the world. Meaning that with God, we overcome all things.

Solving conflict  will be so much easier if we let God be in control. He's already got a good plan for our lives. It's up to us to seek after Him in order to find out just what that plan is for us.

Seeking God through prayer and the reading of His word creates relationship with Him. When in a relationship, we talk, we seek, we ask, we listen and we act. That's how we get to know God. We were created for a relationship with Him. We can't know who He is or what He's about unless we seek and listen. Once we learn what He desires for and from us, then we discipline ourselves to learning how to please our Lord and in pleasing Him, we will act and live out our lives according to His words in truth.

Will we fail at times? Absolutely. We are still flesh, we just no longer live in the flesh and not living in the flesh means that we live in the spirit. So when we fail, we go to our Father, our Lord, and we ask for His forgiveness and for Him to help us not repeat our same mistakes. And if we repeat them again, we repent and try even harder the next time. I've learned over the years that beating myself up over my mistakes sometimes causes me to push away rather than draw closer. God wants us to learn and change our behavior and attitudes but not to condemn ourselves in the process. No matter what we have done, He will never turn away nor forsake us, but sometimes we do just that to Him because of what we ourselves have done.

As a pastor, a friend and a child of God myself, I want you to know that God will never stop loving you. No matter what you've done, His arms are always welcoming you back. Sometimes we run, but God doesn't. Sometimes we fail, but God never fails. Sometimes we turn away thinking we are unworthy, but God says we are the sons and daughters of the Most High King. Sometimes we tell ourselves no one will love us if they truly know us, but God says I knew you before you were formed in your mother's womb and I love you unconditionally.

If you are running from God, He wants you to know that He is waiting for you to turn and run towards Him, not away from Him. He still desires a relationship with you and will receive you with open arms today.