We’ve come again to the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. As we read the creation story, we see the importance God placed on giving us seasons. Each calendar year, it’s like He wanted us to have a chance for a fresh start—a marker from which we look backward and forward. What did we accomplish last year? Did we accomplish our goals? Do we need to set a new direction or goals? Such periodic evaluations keep us fresh, giving us a new beginning every year.
My prayer is that this will be your best year yet because you become closer to the Lord than ever before and contagious with His love. Far more important than what we accomplish is what we become.
The greatest factor determining what we become is how much we love God. This is the source of our love for one another, determining if we have had a successful life or not. For many years, the devil has tried to increase his control of the world through fear. Fear is his great shackle over mankind. In Scripture the opposite of fear is love, as we read in I John 4:16-18:
God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the Day of Judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.
The devil’s strategy of using fear and terror marked the end of 2015. It is likely the world will experience more in 2016. As messengers of God we must resolve to be part of God’s counter to this strategy by seeing more of His love released into the world. We need to plan “love attacks” and “faith attacks” (faith works with love) as resolutely as those who hate us plan their terrorist attacks. One miracle in a crowd could spread life the way the enemy spreads death.
I ended our 2015 Word for the Week with stories of great Christian lives. I want to cover more in the future, some of whom still live that life, such as a little lady in our home congregation at Fort Mill. Her name is Freddie Power. She was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize this year and deserved to be.
A few years ago, Freddie went to downtown Charlotte to try and do good for the needy. She hasn’t stopped. A group also seeking to do good usually follows Freddie. She goes around the world to places where “needy” is not an adequate word for the conditions. Isn’t this what Jesus did, as Acts 10:38 tells us?
You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
We’re publishing a little booklet by Freddie that should be out soon. It has several little stories of how faith and love impact people. Each story is like a “faith grenade.” The greatest Christian life will be the one most like Christ. Freddie, like Jesus, simply goes around doing good for people. She does not have a big organization, but she makes a huge impact with her simple vision and devotion. The world needs this, and this is what we are in the world for.
Instead of terrorist cells we are raising up faith cells. These powerful little groups of people seek to be like Christ and do the works He did. If you will do this, you will be amazed at how quickly He will join you.
If this is something you would like to do, consider coming here to go out with our teams. We will announce special times of training that will help you avoid making the same mistakes we’ve made or waste time learning what works best. An impartation can also be passed on in the Lord from those who have already grown in an anointing.
Now let's get ready for the best year we’ve had yet.
