A Happy New Year!

Over the last year I have had my ups and downs.  There have been times where I have felt lonely, worried, anxious and physically miserable. However for the most part I have been so truly blessed. I have plenty of food, a nice warm bed and way more clothes than I need. This year I am not making a new years resolution but I am choosing areas that I am going to focus on improving. I do not want to put a specific goal in mind like I am only going to worry about one thing a week or I only want to feel lonely once a month. Instead I am going to trust God and allow Him to work in my life as much as He wants.

The areas that I want to focus on most are:

•       Worry/Anxiety
•       Discontentment
•       Loneliness/Downcast

The reason I chose these 3 areas because is because they are what I struggle with most. And also because the Bible speaks so clearly against these things.

Worry is one of my biggest struggles. I worry about what I should or shouldn’t do, I worry about if I am pleasing everyone, I worry about if I am pleasing God, I can pretty much manage to worry about every little thing including problems that are not even my own. The Bible talks so much about worry. The word "worry" has its origins in a word that means, "to choke." That is exactly what worry does. It chokes us. It holds us back. Worry doesn't help at all. It actually makes things worse. Worry adds to our problems.

"Don't worry about anything," the Bible says, "but pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done" (Philippians 4:6).

I love Matthew 6:25-34 it is such an amazing few verses about worry and why we shouldn’t do it! To put our worries in perspective, look at it this way: if God could take away the enormous debt of our sin, can't He take care of all the rest of our smaller problems
. If you trust Him for your salvation, why don't you trust Him for your living, your life and health, your future, and your children? He's faithful and willing to take care of you. 

Matthew 6:25-34

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

The next area that I think is so important for me to work on in 2014 is being discontent. I don’t want to always be comparing what I have and don’t have. I just want to be so content and happy with my life. God has already been working on me in this area for quite sometime especially in the area of marriage, but I now there is so much more He wants to do in me in this area. And I am ready to work hard at and be satisfied with my life like Paul!

Philippians 4:11-13

11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

The final thing I am really going to try and really just press into God for is a true joy and companionship in Him. I don’t want a happiness that fades with someone saying something mean to me, or a bad thought that pops into my head; I want a true joy that comes from Christ.

Psalm 33:21

For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Joy comes from knowing that we can trust in God and that He is our creator.  My identity has to be in Christ in order to have a true Joy so then when the enemy strikes I have the truth to hold onto and can stay in a joyous state instead of being downcast.

James1:2  Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

Also I think to truly be joyful I need to recognize that I do not always need to be doing something with friends or family. I can find true happiness in knowing that Jesus is my friend. And not only happiness but also I never need to feel lonely again.

John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

I know that I can improve all these things with the help of Christ but I also realize that it will take a lot of hard work on my part also. Nothing is impossible for God but I have to be ready and willing to fight for this freedom. And this battle is not outwardly or flesh against flesh; it is a battle that takes place within my mind and it will be a tough. It will take much and prayer and just really diving into the Word of God. I will need to discover ways to counteract the bad thoughts of worry, discontentment and loneliness with Godly thoughts. It’s not a multitude of people that I am fighting but a multitude of thoughts.

2 Chronicles 20:15 Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s.

Philippians 3:13-14
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. 

Some Christmas Time photos :)