New page.
It’s been a long time since my last post. There have been many changes and events for me over the past few months – a long summer trip, car accident (thank God, no one was injured), moving to another city, changing jobs, illness, new pet, new acquaintances, new art projects, new challenges, New Year’s holidays, etc., but I am still here, filled with God’s power and with a lot of hope and faith …
I am sitting today in front of the white paper again, and start writing on a new page thoughts to take for 2022.
New expectations, changes and plans
The new year is at the very beginning. What will we leave in the old one and what do we expect to happen in the new one? Maybe you’ve already started making a list of plans and changes that it’s time to implement.
I guess there are many people who sincerely want to leave everything bad in 2021 – mistakes, reckless words and actions, pain, sores, bad habits, inappropriate relationships and unfaithful friends, bitterness and disappointment, ego, pride ….
What to wish for the new year
Let us together wish 2022 to be filled with a lot of health, joy, smiles and love. And as a gift – to receive the power to forgive. May feel God in our hearts and hear His voice, which still invites us to return to Him while there is still time. For only there, in His presence, there is “a fullness of joy and peace,” as David says in his Psalm 16, verse 11:
“You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Thought of encouragement
Here are some thoughts I want to share with you that we can think about together. Definitely not “New Thoughts”. Someone once thought and said them, and another wrote them down. “There is nothing new under the sun.” They are just thoughts that can encourage us, and we could think about from time to time during the new year. Of course, you have every right not to agree with me, for which I will not be angry with you, of course:
⦁ Live in the present, the day today is a gift from God.
⦁ Do not feel guilty for past mistakes and sins for which you have repented and thrown out of your life. God has forgotten them. Memories will come, but it is up to you to allow these memories to poison your soul by meditating on them. Better throw them out of your thoughts. Do not return to the graveyard of buried sins and do not dig them out.
⦁ Remember: if you have asked God for forgiveness, He has forgiven you. He told that harlot he forgave her sins: “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) This applies to me and to you – once we have received forgiveness we should not to repeat the same mistake, but if this happens by chance while we are struggling with our character, God’s word tells us:
⦁ If you have sincerely asked forgiveness from someone you have hurt and they have not forgiven you, this is theirs problem. Let them bear the burden of unforgiveness. You have surrendered your guilt to God and you have tried everything in your power to fix the broken relationship. You can’t change anyone but yourself. Keep going, love and don’t look back!
⦁ Love … It is easy to love good people and those who love us. Love those who are difficult to love! Remember Jesus Christ, Who gave His own life even for His murderers. He loves every creature in this world – both good and evil. He is our example.
⦁ No one requires you to be friends with everyone. You have the right to avoid those who speak and do evil, who like to gossip and intrigue, who lie and slander, who speak rudely and swear, who insult, gloat and ridicule. Don’t try to please them by imitating them or staying in their company. Do not get irritated or hate them, do not allow bitterness to remain in your heart. There is no point in thinking about their behavior and poison your heart because of them. They do not deserve somebody to think about their evil deeds and talk. Let God rebuke them and show their mistakes.
⦁ Communicate with people to whom you can give and with those from whom you can take kindness and wisdom, lessons and advice.
⦁ Smile more. Say a kind word, compliment, encourage someone, pat a depressed colleague or friend on the shoulder, share with a loved one that you are happy that he or she is in your life. By giving attention and love, your heart will warm and the smile and the word you will receive will be the best thing of the day. Try it!
⦁ It’s hard, but swallow your pride, shut up and grit your teeth when someone rightly rebukes you for your mistake. Don’t be in a hurry to justify yourself. Wait a few minutes for your irritation to pass and you will not regret it. I know it’s easy to say and write, but it’s so hard to “turn off the regime of self-defense and self-justification.” I say this from personal experience.
⦁ Don’t be afraid to defend the truth, no matter how old-fashioned it may sound in the modern world.
⦁ Watch out for the lie repeated 100 times on the TV screen by the media, politicians and “concerned” influential people. Repeated 100 times, the lie will turn into the “New Truth” … Don’t let other people’s thoughts invade you. Use your head and always check both sides of EVERY question.
⦁ Forgive. Bitterness is a heavy burden that lies on the chest of an unforgivable person and eats him from within. Forgiveness is liberation and gives lightness, gives wings. Without it, no one feels true peace and joy … Forgive and you will be forgiven. (“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Matthew 6:14)
⦁ You have probably already done several PCR and antigen tests. But have you taken a test of what kind of person you are – are you easy to forgive or easy to get angry; do you like to help or do you prefer to get help; are you waiting for your friends to call and text you or do you take the initiative more often; you prefer to lie or tell the truth regardless of the consequences; do you apologize for your tactlessness or are you reluctant to admit your guilt ….
⦁ Do not stop dreaming and hoping – for the good, for the change, for the new beginning, for tomorrow, for the life promised by God. And while you dream and hope, do something about it. Don’t wait for things to happen on their own, but act!
⦁ Believe. Believe not in your own strength, but in God’s. God wants to give you His power only if you want it. He never imposes His heavenly gifts. Most people prefer to believe in their abilities. But others prefer to trust in the power of God and never err. See how the Apostle Paul encouraged Christians in Ephesus:
“…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power … “
(Ephesians 1: 17-19)
I wish you the New Year 2022 to be filled with a lot of faith, hope and love, and what Paul wished to the Ephesian Christians, I wish it to you!