Our Heavenly Prize

Happy New Year and welcome one and all to 2022! It is here, and we must focus on what is to come in this day, not worrying about tomorrow, but on what we can do today that is pleasing to God and people. Whether we know them or not, everyone benefits from a smile, a kind greeting, an attentive ear, and love. We never know what the other person is going through and a welcoming presence can be an encouragement. God works through His children, so keep your eyes on the Lord and others, pray consistently to be a blessing, and receive divine opportunities with an open heart. I pray in 2022 for more good intentions, tenderness, respect, and gratitude.

My 2021 word of the year was “spiritual disciplines.” It has been my prayer that as the year rolled forth, I would be discipled in those things that would further my wisdom and understanding of the Holy Scriptures as well as deepened in my knowledge of God. I give all glory, praise, and thanks to our heavenly Father, for He certainly hears our prayers and answers!

There is always room for improvement and there is much more of Him that I seek, but this past year has been a year of growth and for this I am grateful. I pray you have also been blessed in 2021; I would love to hear what God has done in your life!!

Spiritual Disciplines for 2021

• Sit with God daily, seek Christ’s knowledge, mediatate on the Word of God and consistently practice God’s presence (Jan. 2021).
• Always ask God before making any decisions; wait upon the LORD before moving.
• Moderation in all things, govern and discipline yourself by reason, and listen to the Holy Spirit.
• Guard your heart and mind.
• Choose freedom; own and exercise your position in Jesus Christ.
• Build an altar to God and tear down the enemy altar which consists of my focus on negative thoughts and emotions. Replace deception with pure and lovely thoughts. Praise and thank the LORD always; His mercy and steadfast love endures forever.
• Facts not feelings. Ask yourself, “Is this favored and agreeable to God and does it contribute to the betterment of people? Will this conversation or action enhance growth for all? Does it give glory to Jesus?”
• Read your journal at the end of the day. Give God thanks for the day. Read, remind, and commit God’s wisdom into your mind and heart. Charles Stanley says that what you take in before sleep, you will take with you when you sleep. (Feb. 28, 2021)
• At least once a week, take stock before God. Are you keeping your life up to His standards? Your priority should be God’s approval. Does your ambition strive for people or God? (March 17, 2021)
• Trust God with every single thing. (March 22, 2021).
• Persevere in faith. Look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others (Phil. 2:4). Consider the concerns and needs of others first before thinking of yourself. Cultivate deep love for God and neighbor. (April 3, 2021).
• Stay away from those things that give you angst. Find your peace in God by prayer and quiet mediatation as well as in reading Scripture. Matthew 6:6, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
• Always pray (June 21, 2021, First Baptist Atlanta word of the year).
• Stay in the Light! The Spirit of God so strongly urges us to stay steadfastly in the Light (John 3:19-21)
• Rebuke the I. Life is not about I, it is about God and people (September 7, 2021).
• Walk in obedience, by the direction of the Holy Spirit.
• Confess and repent, confess and repent, confess and repent. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23,24, NASB). “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10, NASB) (October 2021).
• Put on the Armor of God so that when evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace….take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:10-18, NIV). Your struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12) (Dec. 2021).
• Lastly, 2022 word of the year is “service.”

Yes, agreed, this is a significant list and to follow each one does take spiritual discipline. It cannot be done in human strength.

The Bible tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you (John 14:15-16, ESV).

Friends, may the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26).