For better or worse, would like to kick off 2023 by writing about some key takeaways that the Lord taught me, or rather, reminded me of in 2022. The new year brings a wonderful opportunity to look back and then forward. This is a brief “lookback” if you will, at the lessons God brought to my heart and mind this past year.
The first one being a continual reminder to “be thankful unto Him and bless His holy name.” Thankful to Him having made it through another year. That His sustaining presence was evident in both a spiritual and physical sense. I Praise you Lord for this. “It is by the Lords mercy’s we are not consumed for His compassion fail not.” Along these lines comes another lesson. Through His mercy, grace, and power we combat the enemy. This year it was plain to me that we have an adversary, and he is on the attack. Satan is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. He is not asleep, he is not taking time off, but is actively scheming to bring down the people of God, the church of God, and keep people from finding the truth of God. Even though “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.” We must remember that “he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.” Satan and those forces who would stand with him are on the losing side because they are not on the Lord’s side. Like king Jehoshaphat, sometimes we must look to God and say, “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” This leads me to another profound lesson. Focus. Sometimes Satan’s battle plan is simply working to cause us to lose focus. A loss of focus or a wrong focus will cause us to stumble and stunt the growth of the kingdom. I am convinced that in more cases than we care to admit, we are not growing simply because we are not focused. It is not a matter of funding, manpower, vision, or the like, that hinders us, rather a lack of focus. Way too much time spent on other things. Things with virtue (work, time with family), and things without (Netflix, video games, television, hobbies). “Lord teach us to number our days”. Help us to earmark our time as precious and focus on God. Learn well the lessons of temperance and discipline; considering that we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Finally, God has shown that access to the storehouse of focus (and so much more) is granted by the key of prayer. Prayer is the tuning fork to the Holy Spirit. Jesus spent all night in prayer. He sought the will of the Father through prayer. The Son of God! He taught us to “keep our eye single” and “seek first the kingdom of God.” Prayer will help us to discern what demands our time and what doesn’t. Prayer mold’s the pray-er. It humbles the heart and kindles the fire. For there to be progress, the track must be laid, the locomotive set, and you must have fire in the firebox.
These are some key takeaways that I am carrying into 2023. To be a thankful, battle ready, focused, praying sanctified Christian. Not novel lessons, but for my part I need to hear and re-hear the lesson of the Lord over and over. As the kids sing, “he is still working on me.”
