End of Year Encouragement
Hey everyone,
2022 is upon us! The year of the "Make-up". I believe that Jesus will be giving many a restart, like a second chance to step into things that were promised last year, but never manifested. Many have felt robbed by circumstances FAR beyond their control over the past two years and have not yet stepped back into the fullness of what God has for them. I believe many things are going to be restored to families and households this year, directly by the hand of the Lord. We have to be able to accurately balance the end times we are living in with the reality that we are the generation that God chose at this point in history to carry the gospel and the fullness of the Kingdom message in our generation.
We are chosen for such a time as this but at the same time we are to always be in a position of "looking up" for our redemption draws nigh. Nothing less than 100% focus on the Lord and what He is requiring of us will do in our generation. We are both privileged and pressed, tested and tried, walking in resurrection power and yet given over to death for Jesus' sake (2 Corinthians 4:11). What a time to be alive. It's an important time to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" as my wife loves to say, to determine that you are going to operate in hope and faith and REFUSE to be taken out by the waves of discouragement that are endlessly pounding against us.
If you are not full of the word, you may not make it. If you are not connecting with HEALTHY community in the body of Christ, you may not make it. If you are not keeping Jesus at the center, standing with your feet firmly planted on the rock, you may not make it. The greatest test of our generation (up to this point) has been fully unleashed against us, so what is our response going to be? In sports, championships are won or lost in the final moments. Jesus asked the question, "when the son of man comes back, will he find faith on the earth." We have been shaken, tested, refined and experienced birth pangs of persecution. How will we respond? We will respond like champions.
I pray that the Lord increases your faith exponentially as you seek Him going into the New Year. I ask the Lord to blow the dust off the dreams and visions He has given you that have been lying dormant or flatlined because of this great season of testing. I ask the Lord by His Ruach HaKodesh to breathe life on those things through the power of His Spirit. No matter where you find yourself at the end of 2021, you are still here and you are still in a position to choose life over cursing and death. Sickness, poverty, depression and despair, loss and fear are all defeated by the cross. It's a done deal. We just have to walk in the overcoming power Jesus has already given us.
It's not enough to just know that these things are true. They have to be intentionally pulled from the realm of the Spirit to manifesting in the flesh. You can only serve the Lord at the level He desires from us with fierce intensity, not with passive submission. We operate from rest but in that place, MUCH is still required in order to hold fast and not miss the mark. What a test! Your faith should look different and quite honestly, be at a different level now than it was two years ago. If it's not, ask the Lord to increase you in the areas of your heart or belief system that are weak or calloused. No hard hearts. The day we are in requires sensitive hearts and listening ears. I don't care what denomination or theology you embrace, you cannot argue with the direct instructions of Jesus is Revelation 2 and 3 to the 7 churches. READ IT! Then READ IT AGAIN! Keep guard over your heart and allow the Holy Spirit to keep you soft and pliable so you can make it through all of the narrow spaces that we are walking through in this time. It will get harder in some ways, but Jesus is the 4th man in the fire! Blessings and favor to you in 2022! You are never alone, so don't believe it for a moment. He is with you!