2025 Day 1

New Years Day 2025

What a world. What a time. So much has happened. So much confusion. So much pain and suffering. And the struggle is real.

I am gonna make a few predictions in this post.

IF you believe and take up the cross of Christ, following Him, honoring Him, obeying Him; THEN He will not forsake you.
IF you go out of your way to love others, THEN you will not focus so much on despair and anxiety.
IF you want to change THEN you must move.

Of course some folks will claim that I am being general. And although those people would be right what they are wrong about just how fundamentally true these three points are. This is real simple truth.

1-Following Christ is not merely believing. To follow Christ is to live like He did, and to mimic His actions. Is this easy? Probably not. Is there a simple step by step solution or plan for each task? No, you gotta read the book and figure it out. Scripture doesn’t just spell out everything, yet it does give guidance and insight into each situation. I wanna encourage you to jump in and wholeheartedly follow Christ in 2025. And remember Stephen (Acts 7:54-60) while he was being stoned Christ was there. And as you read the passage note that Stephen didn’t focus on the stoning, he focused on Christ so much that he was asking Christ “not to hold it against the very folks who were stoning him.” Talk about being in the presence of Christ and how that makes everything else not so important.

2-Going out of your way to love other people is a way of life. It will take you out of your own head, out of your own problems, out of anxiety and depression. Focus on loving others is possible. Love is action. Love demands accountability. Love goes the extra mile. Love looks for the opportunity. Love is kindness. Love counts the cost and knows that even though this requires much, for the sake of the other it is worth doing. Look out for an opportunity to help someone. Look and think about someone else’s best interest. Try to make someone else rich this year. Try to help someone else get ahead. Love is powerful; it isn’t just about the person who receives the love it’s also about the person doing the love. Give it a try, you’ll see.

3-The Great commission starts out by explaining to us who follow Christ that Christ has all the power. Because Christ has all the power He instructs His followers to “GO.” A lot of people who claim to be Christian’s sorta forgot how important it is to “GO.” If you stay home in your heated, air conditioned mini castle and never go out you will not change. Well, you may get ill from lack of exercise but nothing else is gonna change. You gotta get out and do something. Time is not the “great healer,” Christ is the healer and He instructs His followers to “Go.” You go because you have Christ in you and He has the power. And like Captain Ron said, “lf it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there.”

So here we are, saying “Happy New Years.” And I want to also say, “May this year -2025- find you full of courage. Courage to use the wisdom you have acquired. Courage to be the voice of reason. Courage to love your enemies. Courage to see how great you really are- I mean Christ did die for you. Courage to get back up and try again. Courage to care. Be Courageous and have a Happy New Year.