new year
Stick to it 💪
Well, guys. This is the sad sixth week of the year. The week where 80% of New Years resolutions fail according to statistics. If you are one of those represented in this number, don't despair! There is hope for you to get back up! Read along :)
Others of you might not be into resolutions at the treshold of a new year. You might have marching orders from the Holy Spirit from last year you are simply continuing getting on with. Or you might have other ways you go about making sure you are on the right track in pursuing your dreams, goals and desires for your life. Whatever your situation looks like, I believe these three keys I am about to share can be of encouragement to you in your journey.
For me personally, I have started the year with a new morning routine that I feel like is more than a good idea. I felt it to be a directive from the Holy Spirit for my season. Mostly, I've been going strong but I've also been tempted to give up and question, "Does this really even matter" and even stumbled a few times.
I don't know how you are going with this new year but what I do know is, we all need encouragement to stick to what we are starting out and continuing with. It does not matter how we have started or stumbled, if we get back up again, we win. That is good news!
Here are three keys to stick to your intention for the year:
- Be accountable and encouraged Since my new year goal involves my morning routine, my husband is in really close proximity and he makes sure to keep me both encouraged and accountable. He will literally with a smile on his face take the phone out of my hands and serve me a coffee in bed to make sure I get on with the input I want to be first in my day. Do you have a friend who can keep a loving eye on you and spur you on when the going gets rough? Someone who understands the vision of where you are going is priceless, no matter the physical proximity you have to each other. Let's do what's in our hand to surround ourselves with a few people who can help nourish those fragile seeds and soul longings for the year in the right direction.
"So cheer each other up with the hope you have. Build each other up." 1 Thess 5,11 NIRV.
Build others up and allow others to cheer you up as well. There is nothing better than walking the journey together and in the future get to celebrate that what started out as a seed in our heart has now become a big, visible plant! 🌱
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2. Remind yourself of the promises of God
When our goals for the year are lined up with the promises God has for us, we can rest assured in the steps of obedience we are taking, being unattached to the outcome. As we keep our hearts hopeful in the waiting and the walking, we will stay the course fixed on our promised future:
"You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You're blessed when you follow His directions, doing your best to find him. That's right - you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it." Psalm 119,2 MSG
God is a lamp to out feet and a light to our path. Let's use the light He has shone on our life to walk out what He has told us this far. To align our heart, expectations and feet in this moment to the promises spoken over us will set us up to receive them in His perfect timing.
If you don't feel like your goals for the year are lining up with what God has spoken to you about to be the focus for this season, there is no shame in shifting direction and realigning to make new goals you know are blessed for the season you are in. In that way, faith can be reactivated as you take steps to partner with Jesus' amazing future for you.
3. Get back up - keep climbing - stay the course
The good news is that even if the righteous falls seven times, we get back up again. Those that do not give up, win! The picture above is of my husband and I climbing a mountain in France when we were only three weeks into dating. We stopped the journey to capture the moment in a quick photo, but if we had stayed there hanging in our ropes 100 metres above the ground for too long, it would have caused trouble to our strength for the remaining climb we had to conquer.
The same goes for our goals! Don't stop for too long and cause unnecesarry weariness and complacency. You might have stumbled but don't let the mental picture of it paralyse you from getting into the game again. Get back up. If you are weary, get your breath and keep climbing. We can do this! <3
"Listen up, you wicked, irreverent ones - don't harass the lovers of God and don't invade their resting place. For the lovers of God may suffer adversity and stumble seven times, but they will continue to rise over and over again. But the unrighteous are brought down by just one calamity and will never be able to rise again." Prov. 24,16 TPT.
This is the good news. We are not being mocked or put to shame when we fall, because with Jesus inside of us, we can rise like He did. Again and again.
Your turn
- Who can keep you encouraged and accountable to the course you've set out on this year?
- What promises from God can you remind yourself of to keep going?
- Is there a place you have stopped, frozen on the journey or completely given up? Remind yourself of Prov.24,16 - the lovers of God rise over and over again!
Let's make this prayer from the Psalms our heart cry as we continue going!
"Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me." Psalm 119,2 MSG
2018 is still new and fresh. We recommit and say, it's still our intention to keep being the head and not the tail, and intentionally go after all this year is meant to hold.
Stick to it,
Sandra.
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"Head and not the tail" series - Established in His ways
(Part 1 of 3)
Have you ever seen a building site like on this pic? It is often messy, grey and with time it will even be invisible as a house is built on top. There is a sense of vision but it often takes creativity to imagine how the envisioned future building will look like. It can be easy to underestimate the foundation because of its colour and basicness. This underestimation happens both in the natural and spiritual. However, building the right foundation is essential to be established well in life!
Deuteronomy 28 is a great place to let our year be framed by. It's full of faith and desire from the heart of God for us to be the head and not the tail in life! As we dig in, I believe the depths and reality of this chapter will unfold before our eyes in 2018.
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This first chunk talks about being established. Let's dig in.
The context we are entering is that Deutoronomy is the last installment of Moses’ original writings to Israel. The events in Deutoronomy occurred over a relatively short period of time as Israel prepared to enter Canaan in 1406 BC. The book was likely written right around that time, a message from Moses to the generation of Israelites that would enter the promised land. The book is providing guidelines for the new covenant community, enabling them to live obediently to God’s intentions for them. (She Reads Truth info)
“The Lord will establish you as a people holy [and set apart] to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk [that is, live your life each and every day] in His ways. So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you.” (Deut. 28,9-11 AMP)
Here are beautiful promises I believe are for you and I today, and here are also calls to obedience that are the keys that will unlock these exact promises over our life.
The bible all over actually talks about being established, so we know that it is important to our King. It talks about it in the context of establishing God's covenant, His rule and His people. The bible talk about establishing a core of disciples, establishing a firm foundation of roots, and about how salvation and power are established for all mankind.
The bible is also really clear that God's love and trusting in Him is the perfect foundation to build over lives on. (Psalm 89,1-4 MSG and Prov. 22,17-21 MSG)
Also, it tells us that the basic foundational truths are already in place. These are turning our backs on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment.
God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it! (Heb.6,3 MSG)
Your turn:
- What could it look like for you to be established this year? Then expect God to surprise you over and above!
- What are the “if’s” in the verses in Deut. 28 that will unlock the promises in your life?
- How can you pursue this call to obedience today, and long-term?
- What are those promises, and how do you believe your life would change if you saw this happen in your life to a greater extent?
- Where do you need to start building on the rock instead of sinking sand? (Matt. 8,24)
- Are there any places you are called to rebuild a firm foundation? (A relationship, habit, thought pattern, job situation etc.)
I pray over you for the desire and grace to live in Jesus’ ways. I pray that 2018 will be a year where people will sense there is something special about you that make them know you are royal and set apart, a daughter of the King that they shouldn’t mess with as the last verse in Deut. 28,11 talks about! I pray you will see an establishment deeper into community with the people of God this year in your life! I believe foundations will be set in your life so that you can start building this year.
Receive His steadfast grace for you today.
Let's be established in Him,
Sandra.
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Time to unpack
I want to enter the new year light. I want to enter the new year NEW. Therefore, it is time to unpack.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2. Cor.5,17 NIV)
When I started dating my boyfriend, this verse was pivotal in how we wanted to build and shape our relationship. We were aware that we both had baggage we brought into each other's lives and we knew this truth was something we wanted to cling to. The old has gone, the new is here.
We do not want any of us to be defined by our pasts. BUT in reality there is stuff of emotional baggage to unpack before the new can enter and be enjoyed to the full. This becomes so obvious in a relationship!
What we personally experience is that the conflicts arising in our relationship rarely has much to do with the real situation in front of us. It makes sense with these facts I've heard that normally a conflict is only 10 % about the current situation. 90 % of the conflict arises because of past emotions and fears in a similar situation.
The past can easily have power over us if we do not intentionally help each other unpack it.
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A suitcase that needs unpacking was lately revealed to me. It was a suitcase I dragged along that caused recurring conflict in our relationship.
Thankfully, God helped me see differently. Clearly. So that I do not keep punishing the one in front of me for the mistakes made by the one behind me.
Holy Spirit showed me how I am still carrying a suitcase of emotional baggage because of past betrayal. A betrayal that led to hurt, pain, fear, anger, jealousy, doubt & distrust.
Ugly, I know.
I know too though that I’m not alone in this.
Everyone comes with baggage.
Therefore, we resolved early on in our relationship to be courageous and to not fear the shadowy side of the past that every one of us carries.
A part of being courageous is to own our own journey and the wounds it has caused. Another part of being courageous is to be willing to “feel it to heal it.”
It takes courage to do so but it is necessary if we want to live and stand firm in the new life that has already been purchased for us. It is necessary to be courageous in these ways when we want to refuse to let shadows of our past hold our futures hostage.
Do yourself a favor and read Graham Cooke’s stuff full of revelation!! I love this quote from ”Provision & Partnership”:
"The place of struggle is always the place of your breakthrough, but the first thing that has to be broken through in a struggle is you.
It's your mindset, it's your willingness to trust, your willingness to believe the Lord, and your willingness to step into a miracle."
Yes. Struggle - past - present - future - can become birthing ground for miracles when we choose not to let our past define, destroy, deter or defeat us. We can let it refine us and move on and leave it behind us.
Our baggage isn't too heavy for Jesus! With him our past does not have to make us bitter. It can make us better.
New days, new beginnings & new chances await us. New new new. Our Father makes ALL things new.
Jesus is with us. Love goes before us. Therefore, I'll choose trust for the new year! To not trust will just make me miserable anyway!
Let’s pack light for 2016 and keep pressing forward. (Phil 3,13)
Future, I’m so ready for ya.
"Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new.
The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!
All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other." (2 Cor 5,17 MSG)
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