GOODBYE 2017...HELLO 2018

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As the sunsets on another year, the sun will rise on a new year.  2017 will soon be in the past as we begin to look forward to what 2018 will bring.  Tomorrow night at midnight a new year will rise, one filled with many hopes and dreams, excitement and anticipation fills the air for many.  Yet for others 2018 is another year filled with disappointments, hurts, pain and dread.  To be honest it doesn't matter what year is it or what year it is or what year is done, nothing changes for many of us.  We make New Year's resolutions that we don't keep, we make plans that we never follow thru on, there will be dreams that will never come true because we just don't have faith that good things ever happen to us.  Yes another year has come and gone.  As we look back on yesterday and look forward to tomorrow we must realize that our attitude has everything to do with how we perceive what was and what is to come.

A negative or a positive attitude will determine how our year ahead goes.  It's easy to look at everything that went wrong and everything that is going wrong and worry about what may go wrong.  But I'm challenging you to look at things with a positive attitude this New Year's.  Look at all the good that happened to you in 2017.  Even if there is only one good thing that happened this past year, dwell on that.  Even though 2018 don't look promising yet, focus on the endless possibilities ahead.  

Dream dreams again, hope against all hope!!!  You see there is a God above that has amazing plans for us but when we constantly dwell on what went wrong, when we continuously complain about what happened or didn't happen, our plans are altered and it's no one's fault but our own.  The Israelite's turned an 11 day journey into a 40 year nightmare because of their attitude and their constant whining and complaining.  They could have been in the promised land in 11 days, instead it took them 40 years.  

Don't let 2018 be another year filled with whining and complaining.  Don't let 2018 be just another year of going around the same dumb mountain.  Don't miss out on the promised land because you have a better idea than God.

DIFFERENT

   

The color in this tree stands out from the other trees because it is different.  While the other trees were still green, this tree shown brightly with colors of yellow and orange.  It sparkled!  While the other trees blended into the background of all the other trees, this one stood out.  It was not concerned about what the other trees thought, it wasn't worried about offending the other trees, it didn't shrink back and hide it's beauty.  If a tree that really does nothing for us, except take care of oxygen and carbon monoxide, can live it's life free of worry and concern, why can't we?  

Oh I know you scientific folks will give me a list of reasons a tree doesn't feel and doesn't care, I get that, I know that.  I'm just using trees as a comparison.  What I'm trying to say is that a tree does some amazing things.  In the summer it gives us shade, it cleans and purifies the air we breath, and so many other great things that we take for granted.  Of course worry is not a part of their design, but it isn't a part of ours either, so why do we worry?  Why do we waste our time and health concerning ourselves with the probabilities of life that may never happen?  And if these things we worry about do come true, what good does it do to worry?  Can we change anything or anyone by our worrying?  Can we change our circumstances by worrying?  

Worrying is a big, fat waste of time!  It puts so much stress on our already stressed out bodies.  It can destroy our health and ruin marriages and families.  Oh we'd love to put all our loved ones in a plastic bubble to protect them from all the germs floating around, but that doesn't really do any good.  We'd love to wrap our loved ones in bubble wrap to protect them from the evil that lives in this world, but that is not reality and quite frankly it is impossible.  I used to watch my mom pace the floor waiting for my brother or sister to come home.  I used to watch her wring her hands and pray her rosary over and over and over again.  It was hard to watch.  

I decided when I was younger that I would not worry my life away.  You ask how I could decide something like that.   Well to be quite honest, I saw the stress in my mom's eyes.  I heard her cries in the dark when she thought I was sleeping.  I was determined not to live my life that way.  Some say you cannot control your feelings....I beg to differ because I have learned to do just that, for the most part.  (I am human and fall short a lot.)  I prayed for strength to fight against worrying my life away.  It hasn't always been easy, but I can honestly say I hardly worry.  

There is nothing in my life that worry will fix or change so why bother?  As a believer in Jesus Christ, there is no need for me to worry because He's on my side, He's got my back.  Listen my days are already planned in God's Book of Life.  Every hair on my head has been counted and all my tears have been collected, so why should I waste time worrying?  God is for me and wants the best for my life, so I trust in Him.  I rely on Him.  I give thanks to Him.

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God,which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Because of my faith and trust in God, I have peace that I cannot explain.  My heart and my mind is connected with His will for my life and I trust Him to use all things for my good.  Yes there are still days I want to sit and worry about my life but God always seems to snap me out of my funk and back into His loving arms.  It is so comforting for me to know that I do not have to worry about anything.  God's got the whole world in His hands.

GO AHEAD MAKE MY DAY

Ever have one of those days when it seems everything you planned goes by the wayside?  Today is one of those days.  I felt defeated before my feet even hit the floor.  I planned to work out, didn't get done.  I planned on picking up leaves and nuts in our yard, nope.  I planned on writing this first thing this morning after my work out and before I picked up leaves.  Do you see what time it is?  Yea I didn't do anything like I had planned.  Right now I'm sitting here with a disgusted look on my face and I'm shaking my head is disbelief.  Seriously though, it makes me mad at myself.  How could I have let this day get so much out of control?  I know you've all felt that way at one time or another.  We plan,  we strategize, we schedule, we even make a list of things to accomplish.  Then we wake up.  

Alright I might as well sit and laugh about it, otherwise I would get madder and madder as the night crept in.  I could vent but what good would that do?  I could throw myself a pity party, but that wouldn't change things.  I know how about I just go back to bed and start the day all over tomorrow, that just might work.  Then again it probably won't.  Maybe I should just get over it and do what I can do right now and let the rest go.  Listen I know some of you may be a bit confused right now but let me be really honest here....I'm in a battle.  The battle is for my soul and it is real.  

Satan wants me distracted, overwhelmed and angry.  His favorite weapon to use against me is my own thoughts!  He attacks my mind with lies and schemes and strategies that make me confused and full of doubts.  "Did God really say you are His daughter?"  "Did you really receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit?"  "Do you really believe He loves you and forgives you?"  "Who do you think you are?"  "Is there really a God?"  Oh yea these questions and thoughts bombard my mind until I sometimes just give up, grab my iPad and play games and watch Hallmark Christmas Movies.  Yes, that is what I did today.  He got me!  He distracted me!  To top it all off, I allowed it!!

WHY?????  Why did I allow this to happen?  What's wrong with me?  The thing is his attack on me today actually made me feel physically ill.  It was mind blowing when I look back on it all.  Okay now it's funny.  I seriously let this fallen angel, this idiot who actually tried to take God's place ruin my plans for today.  Listen the enemy is alive and well on planet earth.  He is a liar!  He is pure evil!  He schemes to distract us and he tries to steal our joy.  He longs to destroy our relationship with God.  The thing is he has already lost the battle.  Jesus Christ defeated Satan when He rose from the dead.  

Isaiah 54:17 (AMPC)  But no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord.

No weapon formed against us will ever prosper unless we allow it to.  We have the Lord Jesus Christ to protect us and defend us.  Nothing and no one will ever separate us from His constant love and protection.  Jesus Christ is my shield, my fortress, my God in whom I trust.  He will shelter me and He fights for me.  Because of Jesus I have peace, righteousness, security and victory.  I am human and I fail to remember these truths sometimes.  But it doesn't take me too long to come to my senses and remember these truths.  

I am a servant of Jesus Christ!  Through His blood shed on the cross, through His resurrection from the dead, I have been redeemed and forgiven.  I have the promise of eternity in Heaven.  If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I pray you seek out truth!  Please join me on the journey of a lifetime for all of eternity.