Twenty Four

Hello friends and family,

As we are well into January, I wanted to recognize the beginning of a new year and wish you all a very happy and blessed 2024! I hope you have many good memories to look back on from the holidays. I don't know about you, but I am ready to start fresh. What a blessing we have an opportunity to begin anew. It has been a little while since I last posted in my blog, but recently I have felt a tug to sit and write. I never want to post just to post, I wait to feel a familiar inner prompting before I begin to write, so I am calling on The Lord to help guide me through this time together. Although I know the recent holiday season has brought about joy for many, I am well aware it has also been one of the hardest times in other people's lives. Both tears of joy and tears of sadness have been experienced by my treasured readers this last year. Please be assured, I am uplifting you all frequently in my thoughts and prayers. You invest your time in me and I want you to know I don't take that lightly and truly want to be a part of your life. I am excited to see what this new year has in store for each of us, being confident we will rise to the occasion, as we invite Christ to lead the way in,

As we dip our toes into the waters of this new year, I know many of us have been setting goals or making New Year's resolutions. Since I am not aware of what many of you have decided on implementing this year, I will share with you a few of my goals for this year. In the past few years my husband and I have enjoyed the Daily Audio Bible app which was passed on to us by our dear friends Greg and Mary just a few years ago. It has been a joy to partake in. Two years ago, we joined Jill his wife, as she led us through The Bible as it was written Chronologically with a daily Bible reading, an enlightening explanation, and a prayer. Each session lasts about 25 minutes a day. If you want to spend more time each day, people call in from all over the world and share their thoughts and prayers as well at the end. Last year we joined Brian her husband, who has been delivering DAB fresh for the last 15 years. One of my goals last year was to partake daily in a reading out of a book called The God Of Your Story by the same Brian I have been bragging on. I can't tell you the fulfillment I felt as I turned the page to day 365 of his devotional book on the last day of the year. These 365 devotionals cover The Bible in one years' time. I am more of a visual learner, so for me to get through this one-year devotional was a satisfying accomplishment even though each day is only about a page. There are some days I missed the reading, but if I skipped any, I just read more the next day to catch up.

This year I am taking it a step further. I am going to actually read the daily Bible readings myself straight from my Bible so I can go at a slower pace and absorb what God wants to reveal to me in His word. I am also challenging myself to memorize one scripture a week as The Lord shows me the scriptures, He wants me to memorize. I am not sharing this with you for any other reason than to connect with you and to also help me be accountable. By bringing you into my inner safe space, it will also help to keep me motivated to stay on track. I am not even sure my pee-brain can retain all this knowledge lol, but I am going to give it a go. I can just hear Joel Osteen ringing in my ears from the past, as I wrote that sentence telling me to tell myself positive things. "Don't tell yourself you have a pee-brain. Say to yourself out loud, "God has given me a brain like an elephant, I have a memory like a sponge, I am able to accomplish far more than I think I can. I can memorize anything I set my mind to. I am smart, capable, and of course A-mazing!" I think I will take Joel's advice and think on these things.

Scripture tells us in Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

With that being said, I would love to hear about what you have decided to delve into this year so I can root you on and uphold you in prayer! Maybe it will give us all some new ideas. If you are interested in sharing it with me, you can do so through PM, Email, or go out on a limb and throw it out there to all of us in the COMMENTS Section. It's a bold move, but could help with accountability ;-) There may be some of you who are still trying to decide what you are going to challenge yourself with in 2024. If that is you, it's ok, don't be too hard on yourself! Praying and asking God to reveal what would be beneficial for you to put your efforts into, will help start you in the right direction. The last thing we want to do is be a master of wasting time, which can come all too easy.

As Myles Munroe said in a sermon I just recently listened to,

Two most difficult components in life to manage is time and change.  What we become is a result of how we use time and manage changes in our life.  You are a product of these two things.  The key to your future is the successful management of time and change. You cannot stop time or change, all you can do with them is manage them. Time is an amazing power, it is a gift given to us by God to fulfill an assignment on earth. We are given a certain amount of time to fulfill it. We do not have forever. Every new year is a chapter in your book of how we managed time and change. You become what you are by how you use your 24.

Here is the link to his sermon if you would like to listen to it. It is very motivational, enlightening, and time well spent https://youtu.be/JUGX7id1K6c?feature=shared

As I sign off, I want you to know I am so blessed and happy you are in my life. Thank you for your encouragement and loving kindness. Let's be mindful of building one another up instead of tearing each other down. The latter comes all too easy in this world. Let's be each other's best cheerleaders and never stop praying for one another. Prayer works and will make a huge difference if we partake in it daily. The waters can get rough, but be assured God can calm the seas.

1 John 5:13-15

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

Be encouraged and know you are thought of and being prayed for. God loves you very much and is available to you 24/7. You can't go wrong with Him!

Thank you for your time today and your feedback via comments or private messaging. Keep His promises in your heart and let's make a point to embrace each and every day we are given.

Big hugs to you all,

Jen