HAPPY
NEW YEAR!!!!! Welcome to 2015. WE MADE IT!!! If you are reading these words
right now say to yourself, “I MADE IT”.
I
spent two weeks honestly in my own fleshly bubble. I was trying to fight
through my emotions of anger, fear and trust. Physically I was not feeling good
and things seem not to be going my way. I had just blogged about being thankful and it
seemed like everything started happening and complaints instead of praise began
to roll off my tongue & out my lips. I was complaining about my job. I was complaining
about my home. I was complaining about the way other people are acting. Then I
was driving to work in silence talking to God. I pulled up my own blog and
begin to read about being thankful. I have to be intentional about praising God
because it’s so easy to get distracted with everyday issues. Issues I create because
no one can control my emotions but myself.
I
am learning to embrace this season in my life. Eccles. 3:1-8 NIV reads, “There is a time for everything, and a
season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a
time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time
to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a
time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to
embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search
and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a
time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for
peace.”
I
worked in full time ministry for 10 years. I have had some good days and some
bad. I have cried many tears but I have had lots of laughs. I have seen fruit
from my labor and I have seen my “trash” too. :)
I am in a new season physically but my season
of abiding must remain the same! John 1:1-10 ES V reads, “I am the true vine, and my Father
is the vinedresser. 2 Every
branch in me that does not bear fruit he
takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that
it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you
are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides
in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I
am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he
it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If
anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and
the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If
you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask
whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By
this my Father is glorified, that you bear
much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As
the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If
you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I
have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These
things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your
joy may be full.”
No matter if you work for a company, the pope,
the president, in the church, or a full time mom, the position may change physically
but spiritually we are called to abide in Christ. We are called to bear fruit wherever
we find ourselves.
The question we must ask ourselves as we enter
2015 is “what fruit are we bearing?” Stop looking at if you are working a
9am-5pm. Stop looking at if you have chosen to be a full time pastor or church
secretary. Stop looking at if you travel the world. Stop looking at if you are
a full time wife and mom. Look at the fruit in your life. Whatever season you
are in right now there is fruit to bear.
1 Cor 13: 1-3 NIV reads, “If I speak in the tongues[a] of
men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a
clanging cymbal. 2 If
I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and
all knowledge, and if I have a faith that
can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and
give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but
do not have love, I gain nothing.”
On last night my brother Daniel danced to Trip
Lee, Sweet Victory. These words keep ringing in my heart: “They like I hear you
talkin’ wins but I see your losses. You celebratin’ crown but I see your
crosses….The victor ain’t the one that’s winnin seventh inning. Trophies don’t
go to one that got a good beginning. When I say I win I don’t mean the state I’m
in, I mean the day when the grace got fade out then I’m winning cause I ran
with Him.”
I want to be found in the will of the Lord. I
want to be found running for Christ and abiding in Him. I want to be found
walking in Love for God and Love for others. I want to be found winning souls
no matter where I am. Embrace your season in him. Embrace your physical
position by positioning yourself spiritually in the will of the Father.
As we make plans for 2015, remember your season
may not look like the last. Your season may not seem as productive as the last.
Your season may not get applauds of man. Your season may not even “look” like
the will of the Lord in your eyes and the eyes of others. In whatever season you
are in ABIDE, TRUST, AND RUN!!!
Phil 3:12 NIV: Not that I have already obtained all this, or
have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Prov 19:21 NIV: Many
are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Be
blessed! Enjoy this song my sister Mauricia song last night at the New Year’s
Eve Celebration!
