A Fresh Start To The New Year

Hey there!

With the new year approaching, I imagine we all have our own hopes for the upcoming year. It could be a promotion, new car, new house, new job, you name it! This post is not really composed for the hopeful. For the new year, I would like to inspire those who are discouraged, those who think they've hit rock bottom, those who have allowed for worry to take over their lives. If you find that you feel this way at times, please read on.

All disease, depression, fears, illness and every other source of affliction in your life is fading away. Uninstall the windows of 2014 along with all its viruses. Update to 2015. Shut down all your programmes that are filled with hardship, tribulation and adversity. And remember in your update to secure your anti-virus that is the Armour of God. I'm sure by now you have realised that I'm not talking about computers. So what am I talking about? I'm preparing you for the bigger picture. A picture on which our futures are perfectly hand painted by God. He is the holder of our futures and he has plans only to prosper us.

THE BIBLE SAYS...

JEREMIAH 29:11
11 For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Think about all your sins for a second because these are part of the viruses you are uninstalling for the new year. We need to be obedient and willing to live according to the perfect will and plan that God has for our lives. We should be able do this with no fear at all because God has assured us of our future. If you feel that you were disobedient, it's not too late, but before it is, repent to God.

THE BIBLE SAYS...

1 JOHN 1:9

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

ACTS 3:19

19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed away: behold, all things are become new.

ROMANS 12:2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

REVELATION 3:20

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

We don't need to carry our burdens to the new year. Imagine being burden free. Well, I've got news for you. We don't need to imagine it, we can live it.

PSALMS 5:22

22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

God has a divine purpose for each and everyone of us. Don't stray from that purpose. Don't allow for Satan to plunder in your life.

Today we are marching over to the enemy's camp and declaring our liberty from temptation. We and our Lord from this day shall never be asunder. I have written this declaration to commence with the new year:

A DECLARATION

My many sins are forgiven

I declare my seat in the Kingdom of Heaven

Through Jesus I am renewed

With faith and meekness I am sewed

My wrongs I do admit

Now in Heaven I await to sit

Eternal life for me has been prepared

For Satan to flee I have declared

No more temptation will I be a victim of

For I've been saved by the amazing grace of God

While saying this declaration, keep in mind that meekness is not weakness!
I hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I did. Do not only read this post but apply it to your life too.

God bless.

Rapture: The bride of Christ

I'm sure you are no stranger to the basis of a wedding so I'm not going to discuss details. But we all know that attending a wedding is often fun. You get to dress up, see a couple mature in their relationship and you even get to see your distant family members. I am sure we all have that cousin in America, the aunt from London...
Now let's discuss the bride in a wedding. 

In some weddings, you get the superstitious bride. I am sure you can recall this saying from at least one movie:"It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding." I have a hunch that the bride is afraid of the groom seeing her in panic mode and in order to conceal her alter ego, she acts all superstitious(sarcastic face)
Then you get the bride with the brooding face whose designer shoes being on too tight is by the way not the problem. But is actually due to her getting cold feet about no longer residing with her parents and beginning a new life. When a groom gets cold feet, it is probably because he is afraid of his wife-to-be. Just kidding. Let's not forget our fairytale brides who crave magical, enchanting weddings with a horse-drawn carriage, a 4 tier cake, a release of white doves and an aisle filled with rose petals. I take it as read that this is every bride's dream and as you're reading this, I'm sure you are envisioning the typical fairytale wedding. Now that I'm thinking about it, nearly every fairy tale I have heard includes a damsel in distress being rescued by a stereotypical charming prince. Predictable in a fairy tale, right? This prince then sweeps them off their feet to live happily ever after in his castle.             

LOOKING BACK...

The wedding of Talia(maternal aunt) and Kelseley Reddy
 

I remember attending my aunt's wedding. I was the ring bearer. Please note the length of the dress in the picture on the right. It was raining heavily and my aunt had to remain seated in the car in order to prevent her dress from getting dirty. This exceeded the time in which the wedding was set to commence by an hour(straight face).

I'm sure that by now you've realised that there are many types of brides. Now let's discuss the BRIDE OF CHRIST. If you found yourself getting carried away with a fairytale wedding, what we're about to discuss may render you speechless. We, being 'damsels in distress' on earth, don't wait for a prince to take us to his castle. We wait for the king, not just any king. But the KING of kings and this is none other than our Lord and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST. He will literally sweep us off our feet and take us to His Kingdom(this is referred to as rapture). Once again, not just any kingdom, but the Kingdom of Heaven. Through rapture we go from mortality to immortality. One day, and when I say one day, I am not referring to an imaginary day in a parallel universe(grin). I am being real. There is no joke about it. Our bridegroom IS coming back down to earth to receive his bride. We need to live in readiness of this day, even though we don't know exactly when this glorious day is. We don't need to be brooding brides. We don't need to have cold feet for it is a wonderful day. Wonderful is an understatement for the day of our Lord.  No astronomer or astrologer knows the day of our Lord's return. He will come like a thief in the night (1 THESSALONIANS 5:2; REVELATION 21:2; 2 PETER 3:10 KJV) and we need to pull our act together so that we can live with our Lord HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

• Declare your salvation
• Declare that the devil flee from you at once
• Declare your seat in the Kingdom of Heaven

There is a hymn that we sing in Church that I think is perfect for this post. It is one of my favourites. Here are the lyrics to "WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE."

There is coming a day,

When no heart aches shall come,

No more clouds in the sky,

No more tears to dim the eye,

All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon his face,

The one who saved me by his grace;

When he takes me by the hand

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

There'll be no sorrow there,

No more burdens to bear,

No more sickness, no pain,

No more parting over there;

And forever I will be,

With the One who died for me,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon his face,

The one who saved me by his grace;

When he takes me by the hand

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

God bless!