Below is what I wrote the last week of 2019…

No one knows what is going to happen in 2020. There were probably some surprises in 2019 that you were unexpected. It will be the same in 2020. It could be the best year of your life, or you may face a challenge in your family, health, or finances.   What an understatement!!! World Pandemic, lockdowns, riots, no toilet paper, masks mandates, hospitals overrun…

So what about 2021?

Will it be a better year? We don’t know. However, it does not matter what we face if we face it with God’s blessing on our lives.  Let us prepare our hearts and minds to receive God’s blessing in 2021. It requires some action on our part. That is setting aside some time each day for God’s word and prayer. You might say, “OK, I will.” Putting it into practice will require some effort in the beginning.

Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

To be successful in 2021, develop a new spiritual habit. Choose to take in Godly Truth and meditate on it during the day. Reduce your time on daily news, Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of entertainment. You will soon begin to effect a change in your daily thinking and in your spirit. The supernatural power of God’s word creates HOPE and FAITH. All the blessings of God, the power of Christ’s sacrifice, and the leading of the Holy Spirit become active in your life through Hope and Faith. 

Prosper & Successful

Your choices in life will begin to prosper. I’m not talking financially, but in peace, love, relationships at home and work, protection from evil temptations, and right desires. Your life will prosper. And your finances will be in better hands with God’s blessing. You may not be aware of how much entertainment you are consuming. Become more balanced and blessed by adding God’s presence and His word to your life each day.

Psalms 1:1-3  

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. – (reaction) That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—  whatever they do prospers.

As 2021 comes close, you will be able to look back on the year and see what God’s Word daily can do in your mind, heart, relationships, priorities, and future.

Joshua 1:8 NIV

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! [4] Trust in the LORD always, for the LORD GOD is the eternal Rock.

Matthew 7:24-25 NLT

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. [25] Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise, and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.

Fill your lightnside with truth and faith. God will bless you, and you will prosper in 2021. Happy New Year.

John 1:1,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us.)

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It is important what we believe about Jesus.  

Below is a part of the Athanasian Creed. Read each statement and reflect on your belief in Jesus Christ.

It is necessary to everlasting salvation that we believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

 For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. 

 God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world.  

Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting.

 Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood.

 Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ.

 One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God.

 For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

 Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty;

Isaiah 9:6 Unto you, a child is born, unto you, a Son is given.

Christ becoming man has made God accessible to all Christians. Let your lightnside reflect the Christ in you this season.

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;

Born vs Given. The two words have a vast difference in meaning.

Born – something that is a great and wonderful process but filled with stress, pain, struggle, wonder, weakness, miraculous, small, feeble, needy, giving, sacrifice.

Given – passed over to, not earned, from a place of compassion, to bless, a supply of plenty. Desire to share. Give to one unable to repay. Give to one unable to manufacture.

Christ chose to be born to mankind. Christ was God’s Son given to mankind. Meditate on these thoughts and come up with more of your own as the wonder of this truth floods your heart.

Born into darkness. God has given us a great light.
Born into limitations. God has given us the power to overcome.
Born into weakness and sickness. God has given us healing and power.
Born into bondage. God has given us a savior.
Born into temptations. God has given us the cross to overcome the power of sin.
Born into humankind’s emotions. God has given us an eternal priest who understands our life.
Born to dream and dread. God has given us a future and eternal hope.
Born to mature through pain. God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us.
Born to love and experience loss. God has given us eternity and joy.

Christ was born into our broken limited world so that we could become a part of His eternal, glorious world. Christ was given to humanity to die so that we can give Him our heart and live in His presence forever.

What will you do with this thought of birth and a gift?

Have you experienced Christ’s birth in your world? Have you taken hold of the gift of God’s son? Unto you, the Christ the Child was born. Unto you, the Son of God, was given. Let these holy words sink into your heart, mind, and soul this Christmas Season, and allow your lightnside to be merry and bright.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Sometimes we find ourselves in a place of darkness. It happens to us whether the national news or a personal situation comes in like a flood with a threat to destroy what was stable and trusting in our future. Suddenly, we find ourselves imagining the worst as we begin to morn the sudden change in security and future plans.

How do we handle sudden changes of direction? When we feel so out of control as if the secure foundations of our lives are suddenly removed. Maybe our darkness is a sign we trusted more than we should on earthly plans rather than trusting in God. Who knows, a sudden turn from a safe, enjoyable life may, in the long run, be the best for us to turn more toward faith in God and less on situations.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a very well known and quoted scripture. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” This verse was written to the elders in Jerusalem who were taken captive to Babylon. They were in a dark place. But the Lord stated there is hope if the captives would look to God and seek Him in their captivity. God wanted them to hope even in a seemingly hopeless situation. God’s thoughts for the captive is peace and a future of hope. God has a desire to connect with His people. He wants to save them, but the captive must change their mindset from despair to hope, from our physical eyes to our spiritual eyes, from emotion to faith.

Hope and Faith

Regardless of how desperate a situation seems, there is still hope. Hebews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Our hope is anchored in Jesus. 1 Peter 3:15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Lamentations 3:19-26
The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.
I will never forget this awful time as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin each morning afresh. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.

We must look beyond our immediate circumstances. We must look up to the source of our hope. “Lord help all who read this to look up to you in difficult times. Remind us to seek your face and call upon your goodness.

Let our lightnside burn bright and hopeful as we grow in the faith of God’s good desires for His people.