3 ways to kick start your new year

Well, we did it. We survived 2020.  Some of us ended the never ending year of 2020 with a lot less than we went into it. Some of you came out okay, and experienced blessings in the midst of a historic year for our entire world. We have undergone a massive pandemic stirring different opinions, heated debates, and tension.  Will we ever recover?  Will our land ever be healed?  Will things ever go back to the way they were?

Honestly — I have no idea.  Some days feel completely hopeless.  The new year that we all hoped would be better has, so far, only produced continuous waves of outrage centered around our nations politics.  We are walking into unknown territory as a nation. 
It’s confusing. It’s messy. It’s frustrating.  Yet I believe, and can say with full confidence, that we aren’t just on the brink of a move of God — I believe we are living in the MIDDLE of a move of God. Right now, in the midst of all of the chaos, we can trust our unknown future to a known God.

Do you think God, the maker of heaven and earth, is surprised by everything that’s unfolding?

No, of course not! We serve an unshakable, unmovable, unstoppable God. I’ve read the end of the book, I know who wins. But just because we know who wins does not mean we have been excused from fulfilling our God given purpose. You have a mission. You have a task set before you.  You have a part to play.  

There is a raging war going on in our world. I’m not talking about the outrage from 2020, the long term effects from this pandemic, or the political nightmare we are surrounded by. I’m talking about the raging spiritual war that’s all around us. 

If we know the battle is real then it’s time we fight like the battle is real. There is fear that has swept across the entire globe, but it’s not a ‘scared’ fear that I’m worried about.  I am deeply concerned by the spiritual fear that has stopped believers in their tracks. This spiritual fear has led many of us to lose faith that God is still working.  This spiritual fear has made us wonder if God is still in control.  This spiritual fear has caused us to forget hat God is going to get us through this, as he has time and time again throughout history. 

The only way to get back out there is to get back up and get back to the fight. Spiritually fight, back that is. Our war isn’t against flesh and blood, it’s against our real enemy — Satan.  The good news is that God has already given us the tools we need. Here are 3 things you can do now to kickstart your new year with a fresh perspective. 

Read the Word. 

Many of us probably have countless bibles in our homes sitting on the shelf collecting dust more than they are being read.  Don’t take for granted that you have the Word of God…read it!  It is a stronger weapon than we could ever comprehend. 

Psalms 119:147-148 says: 

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. 

Read it.  Study it.  Mediate on it.  Memorize it.  With everything going on around us we don’t have time to waste.  Hide His word in your heart and I assure you that in the moments of coming panic, sickness, trials, and evil that the Holy Spirit will stir in you the living and active Word of God. Let it penetrate your heart. 

Pray. 

When I think about how inconsistent my prayer life has been throughout the years I am filled with a deep ache for the time I lost growing close to and connecting with my heavenly Father. Prayer connects you on a deep and intimate level to God.  When you pray you are directly talking to God, the One who formed you, the One who literally spoke and stars burst into being. Let your mind wrap around the fact that the God who who did that knows you and calls you by name!   We have direct access to the throne room of heaven.

Ephesians 6:18 encourages us to pray by saying: 

Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion.
Stay alert and be persistent indoor prayers for all believers everywhere. 

When you pray you might shout, cry, whisper, raise your hands, or even fall to the ground. It’s ok, God can take it.  If Jesus reigns in your life then the power in YOU is greater than any weapon formed against you by the enemy.  Talk to God. Be specific. Love him out loud by praying big, bold, prayers. 

Open your eyes. 

Every single day you have a specific task assigned to you by the Lord Jesus.  At home, at work, at church, even at the grocery store.  It doesn’t matter what you are doing or where you are at, God has you where you are for a reason.  While we may not always know exactly what that reason is, what maters is that we stay focused. The more we are in the Word of God and the more consistent our prayer life, the more you will be able to see those divine appointments God has placed in your life.

Psalm 146:8 says it best: 

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous;

Remember we are already living in the midst of a move of God, because God never stops moving. If we know that battle is real, lets fight like our lives depend on it, because they do.