Have a Happy, Healthy New Year

But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm (Proverbs 1:33).

Blessings to each of you as you step into the new year. Time to unleash the lion with a God-fearing boldness, a greater awareness and strength, to serve the LORD with all your heart, body, mind, and soul! God loves you and the plans He has for you do not include the burdens of yester-year. He has broken those chains and He is waiting for you to move closer to Him as you read His word and listen for His voice.

Come close to God, and God will come close to you (James 4:8).

Let us start this New Year with less of “ME” on our minds and more of Him in our hearts, thoughts, actions, words, and motives. We should all take a break from social media, including selfies, and unplug at least one day a week.

He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less (John 3:30).

God is faithful, and for those who trust and believe in Him, He is more than amazing! Because all things are possible with Him, let us check our motives daily and allow God to show us the things that impede His plans.

Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart (Psalm 26:2).

Is there something you have walled off from God? In other words, have you given Him your whole heart?

As the world drifts further away from God’s best plan, we must check our thoughts and renew our minds every day, allowing God to seal us from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet, in His transforming love.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).

Our physical body responds to our thoughts. Stinkin’ thinkin’ is like making a wrong turn, ask God to redirect your thoughts and help renew your mind.

Satan is sneaky, slyly using good people to lockup your heart and sabotage your purpose. I pray God will unlock your heart and everything within you to line up with His will, His intentions, His plans, His motives, His design, His desires for you!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).

I bless you with more prayer time. You can take time from your fretting and worrying allotment. I don’t know about you but fretting and worrying never solved anything. It does make little wrinkles on your face, and the squinting causes headaches. And time away from God causes heartaches! Jesus paid the price for worries at Calvary! Start claiming victory through prayer!

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done (Philippians 4:6).

I bless you with greater trust, allowing God to be God of your life, and led by the Holy Spirit with a Holy tenacity with each step forward.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:3-6).

While we may mess up, we will endeavor to pursue with tenacity that place where Jesus Christ knows we can be! We have much to do before His return and we cannot accept even one to be left behind on that day. You are not too young to impact others, and we must stop believing our work is done when we reach a certain age. Shake off that lie, it is from the pit of hell! Get creative, get active, and show the world the gifts God gave you!

I bless you with God’s grace as you deal with frustrations. Those grace growers in your life trying to disrupt the plans and purposes of God seem to be growing on trees. But you have God’s grace, your own personal chain saw to frustration! Be patient, set boundaries, and thank God for the delete button on the computer. Sometimes it is best to sleep before sending.

I bless you in the workplace to fulfill the higher calling God has placed you there to do. Why did God place you where you are? You may not love your job; it may frustrate you to no end, but there are people around you who need what you have, Jesus! Start showing what Jesus did for you and let God do the rest! You are there to plant seeds of hope in their hearts.

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people (Colossians 3:23).

I bless you to be filled to the brim with the Joy of the LORD and allow His joy to overflow onto others. There are no life circumstances that should choke off the victory we have in Jesus. Turn that frown upside down, reaching for God’s Higher Ground!

The joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10)!

There are hundreds of things trying to distract you from time alone with God. Focus requires effort. Instead of picking up your phone, or signing on your laptop, consider opening your Bible to the peace and wisdom the world is missing.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you (Isaiah 26:3)!

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Click here to learn about Theresa Rowe’s show, “Shaped by Faith,” and when to watch it on Inspiration TV.