I'm so excited to finally be able to say, "Happy New Year!". These are truly exciting times. A new year is here and a new chapter in the book of your life is being written. As we reflect on the past years and chapters of our lives, there's so much to reflect on, to learn from, to grow from and yes, to change from. A new opportunity awaits us, and God's hand is extended towards us saying "Come, follow me into this next season.".
One of the many times God chastised Israel for their disobedience, we see in the scriptures that He yet allows His lovingkindness to restore them by saying in Isaiah 43:18-19...
"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.".
As we step into the year of 2025, there are some hard choices you will have to make. Will you choose to let the past pain, regret and disappointments shape your 2025 or will you choose to receive the way He has made and drink from the streams He's provided in the wilderness. It's time to allow God's word, and His presence to refine and refuel you. The blessedness of God's presence is that there is fullness of joy. His presence will cause you to focus on Him and not life's challenges or hurts. This causes us to refocus. When we submerge ourselves in the word of God which is sharper than any two-edged sword, it will cut away the impurities and the ugly character that plagues us and it will transform our minds which will ultimately refine us. Then the spirit (the wind) of God will freely move in and through us and energize us with our second wind, and as we wait on Him and stand on His word the same mighty spirit that raised Christ from the dead will quicken our mortal bodies and activate the strength and the power we need to move forward in the newness God has called us to.
So, ask yourself- if God's not fueling me, who is? I say to you my dear brother and my dear sister, this year of 2025 choose to refocus, choose to be refined, and choose to be refueled only by God our father and Jesus Christ our Lord. Remembering that the race is not given to the swift, nor to the strong, but to the one that endures until the end.
Happy New Year and Life to you!
