In Every Place

Happy New Year!

Welcome to “To Be Praised Ministries” if you’ve just signed up and if you’re rejoining I’m so glad we are reconnected. I pray each of you had a wonderFULL holiday season with family and friends. I pray you entered the New Year ready and willing to assist God in all of the NEW things He’s going to do in your life and in the lives of those around you.

I’ve loved new beginnings all of my life. Minutes before we piled into the car on New Year’s Eve, I remember whispering “goodbye” to my bed, my dolls, my closet, even the walls! My older brother would roll his eyes in annoyance while I scurried through the house to say goodbye things I would soon say hello to under the context of a new year. 14 years ago, I got baptized on December 31st. I craved two things that day: God’s acceptance and a new beginning. I am so grateful to have been given both. For all of these reasons, the New Year is a special time for me.

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Let’s take a look at Genesis chapter 28 verses 10 through 22. It’s a great example of how we can experience God in the most unlikely places. If you haven’t read it, please do so.

It’s amazing Jacob was able to experience God in such an intricate way. Can you imagine witnessing angels ascending and descending from heaven in your dream? Can you imagine receiving such a special promise of the Lord: your descendants will be blessed and God Himself will never leave you until He finishes bringing you back to the land He promised to give you. This moment in time is a great moment in time for Jacob not only because of what he has been told by God, but also because of what he has come to know: surely the Lord is in this place. 

I know for sure, the Lord is also in THIS place. The Lord is in 2015 and I cannot wait to see what He has in store for this ministry group and I am especially excited to see what God has in store for YOU. God is in this place; God is leading you every single step of the way!

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. – 2 Corinthians 2:14

If there are things on the horizon that look a little iffy, remember God’s knowledge is wafting amidst the confusion in EVERY place. His knowledge is in your company when it’s turned upside down. His knowledge is in your resume when you’re unsure of where to submit it next. His knowledge is in your home when your children are testing every inch of your patience. His knowledge is in your marriage when you and your husband aren’t seeing eye to eye.

Remember, God is with us, He has promised to never forsake us . This year, cling to the fact that surely the Lord God, Creator of the heavens and the Earth, is in every place and when we follow Him through those places of uncertainty we are blessed beyond measure. God is looking for us to be faithful not perfect. I struggle with having my life as tidy as possible until God reminds me that it is He, not I, who is in control. For that reason, I have to submit to where He is taking me even when I cannot see the end of the journey. It’s easier to do when I believe God is leading me the land in which He has promised.

I hope this year you are in great anticipation of what God is doing in your life. He is with you in this place…wherever your this is.

#tobepraised