Happy New Year 2024

Happy New Year to all of my beautiful readers. I've been praying for peace for all of you. I want everyone who reads this post to have a fresh start this new year. First of all, ask God to forgive you for known and unknown sins in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. Ask Him for strength to do His will. Doing God's will is a process. It may not happen immediately. But by 2025, you will be able to see your progress. I promise to be here to help you through that process.

image courtesy of Sincerely Media via Unsplash

Often, change has to occur inside us for change to happen around us. There are so many hurting people in the world. We have to let go of past hurts and forgive those people who have hurt us. Next, we should ask God to forgive those who have hurt us, because that's what Jesus did when He was hanging on the cross. Forgiving doesn't mean returning to a toxic relationship. It just means we aren't holding grudges, and we can move on with our lives and live for God instead of for revenge. When you finally grasp this, it is such a freeing experience.

Song: Come as You Are by Crowder

Today, I'm asking you to start somewhere. That's what God tells me when I'm feeling overwhelmed. "Just start somewhere, and I'll give you the strength to finish." And I pair that with his gentle, "Trust Me," that He often coaxes me with. That gets me through every difficult situation, task, decision, or whatever else I'm facing in life.

For example, I used to try to be everything for everybody. Perhaps you're the same way. God finally told me that He is the Omnipotent One, not I. Yes, He wants me to help others, but He doesn't expect me to do everything for everybody. I wasn't able to be in 3 places at once, I wasn't sleeping at night, and there was definitely no rest for me during the day. My own health was in crisis. So, I gave control back to God. Now, I'm much wiser and healthier for it.

Again, this stuff takes practice. But I think this is the best way to start the new year. Let's ask God to forgive us, and let's forgive everyone who has hurt us. This means that we give God control of our emotions as well. You will have days when bad emotions want to surface - maybe every day for a while. Practice good emotions in order to overcome those bad emotions. For instance, when anger surfaces, smile and tell yourself you're going to have a good day regardless of the thoughts that Satan is putting in your head. If jealousy arises, figure out how to overcome it. Jealousy only repels relationships anyway. So, trust God and start somewhere. Start here.

Listen to the audio of this New Year post.

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