In 2020 I believe God was busy behind the scenes, digging our foundation, and we didn’t even know it.

2 Timothy 4:7 NLT

“I have fought the good fight of faith. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”

For all who have kept the faith, I believe God was behind the scenes, digging your foundation. The deeper the foundation, the higher the building can be. So, for those who have kept the faith in 2020, I believe God is going to bless you.

He is going to mature your faith, your understanding of the word. He will bless what you put your hand to. God is waiting for us to reach out to Him. 

So many people make resolutions at this time, firmly deciding to do this or that. Yet so many people fail, almost immediately, because of a lack of maturity. It is because they have focused on the promise of the next shiny, new thing and have neglected the work it takes to walk consistently in maturity. You have to be ready to continue beyond the trendy quick fix and begin living a daily walk with Christ.

So, as we usher in 2021, don’t get fixated on the “new." Work at being consistent in your walk in your new life. It’s not the new that helps us grow; it’s the consistent growth to maturity. It is not very glamorous, but it’s the way we mature the best, the fastest, that gets our eyes fixed on Jesus. Serve Him; honor Him; and prepare to be more and more obedient to Him.

I believe this will be a year of maturing in our faith. Let’s strive to please Him in 2021. Stay faithful; never quit.

It’s going to be a great year!

Just a thought,

PSS

We must keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

The Author:

Jesus is the author who finishes His work. His work is to perfect us — to perfect our faith, so we may endure through many trials, until finally glory comes. It’s through these trials that we grow, develop spiritually, and strive to be perfected.

The Finisher:

With all that’s going on in our world, we must keep our eyes on Jesus, on His word, in order to keep growing and developing into what God wants for us to become. In order to do that, we must endure whatever we encounter: good or bad, tough or easy. This is the time to really get serious about our walk, our relationship with God.

The Perfector:

As 2020 comes to an end, and we enter 2021, let it be a year where we allow God to perfect us, to build our faith in Him and His word, to allow our foundation to be built on a solid foundation, and develop our knowledge of Him and His ways. All one has to do is make a decision — God is first in my life, and whatever rough edges, the things that hold me back, will be purged and removed. That will come through a commitment — a decision of our will and a commitment to stay with it.

2021 can be a great year. Again, it’s your choice. Choose well!

Happy new year, and God bless.

Just a thought,

PSS

Luke 2:8–10 — That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9) Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10) but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring good news that will bring great joy to all people.”

Cultivate joy:

Dr. Pamela Ebstyne King — “Remember, joy is different from happiness. Although they are connected through positive feelings, keep in mind joy involves what holds ultimate significance in your life.” God wants us to enjoy our lives — whether they are easy or difficult. God never intended for anyone to merely exist: He wanted everyone to enjoy their life every day. He said in John 10:10 that His purpose for coming was to give us a rich and satisfying life. The only way to obtain that is to cultivate joy.

Believe joy:

Joy is internal; happiness is external. Joy is God-given, based on what you believe, not on your current circumstances. Too many people think they can be happy only when they go on vacations, when the kids get older, when they are a success at work, when they get what they want. This is not true.

Choose joy:

Happiness is based on circumstance; joy is based on a choice — that through the worst times, worst days, we can experience joy in our lives, and the emotions of peace and excitement, regardless of our outward circumstances. This is the joy God gives. What’s great is that it is our choice. We choose joy.

Jesus gives us the joy.  I hope you choose it.

Merry Christmas to all of you. God bless.

Just a thought,

PSS

One of the greatest (if not the greatest) revelations in the Bible is this: Matthew 1:23 — Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”

Only believe:

Without Emmanuel there would be no salvation, no freedom from sin. Because of this we realize we aren’t just forgiven of sin: we are free from it. Big difference! What we must understand is that Jesus was fully man and fully God. If we don’t believe this, we cannot be born again a child of God.

Test the spirits:

1 John 4:1–3 — Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2) By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. 3) But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

Walk with God:

So, in order to walk with God, we must believe that Jesus is God come in the flesh. Jesus is all God and all man.

As we celebrate this Christmas season, let’s never forget who Jesus is — Emmanuel. God with us! He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

Just a thought,

PSS

Our level of disappointment is directly proportionate to our level of appreciation.

Unspoken expectations:

We all need to live life with great expectations. But our expectations need to be reasonable ones. Some of us have unspoken expectations. We expect things from others that were never agreed upon or spoken about. We expect something of someone or something that was never discussed. It’s these expectations that get us.

Realistic expectations:

We expect so much from God, even when His word doesn’t say what we expect. When this happens, we get disappointed. Disappointment is defined as the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations. We will hear people say things like, “I thought you meant this,” or “I thought you said this.” We really need to govern our expectations with reality — the reality of what has been said or agreed to.

Godly expectations:

Especially when it comes to God, people so often accuse Him of not caring because He didn’t meet their expectation at the time. But what they expected wasn’t based on fact or in the core truth. Let’s find out what the word of God actually says, then adjust our expectations to what has actually been said or agreed upon.

What we will find is that we won’t experience as much disappointment in our lives.

Just a thought,

PSS