I’ve always loved New Year’s Eve, it’s my favorite holiday though it technically isn’t one. Something about going into the new and leaving the old behind always drew me. While we all know the clock striking midnight and the year changing doesn’t really change anything, it always felt good in some psychological sort of way. As I really tried to figure out what is it about this time of the year that I’ve always loved, I finally did. I’ve always looked forward to the New Year because there has always been so many things I’ve wanted to forget each year. It could have been memories, experiences, people, disappointments, I mean the list goes on and on. I always hoped on New Year’s Eve that the coming year would be different and everything I wanted it to be. The truth is the change in the year doesn’t change your life, your everyday behavior and choices do. I am not saying that 2021 cant be the year that whatever you are waiting on will come to pass, absolutely it can! We must keep believing and declaring always! I am referring to your everyday life, your everyday struggle, the mental battle, I am talking about the re-run of the same episode that you desperately want to stop watching. This blog is to encourage you to make a CHOICE this year to change YOUR choices, so you can have the different, more fruitful and productive year you desperately desire!

Last month was great! I was excited again, I had something to look forward to, something new. But as quickly as it came it went. I can’t stand that! Transparent moment, I really don’t get my hopes up too high with certain things because I don’t like feeling disappointed. For me, its not even the situations or people, it’s just the feeling of something not happening for me again! I feel like I’m last for so much. Some things are my fault and some are out of my control. But that feeling of just not being where you want can be so frustrating. Where we want to be looks different for everyone. Some want the house, others a new position at work, maybe its marriage, or you are desiring a child, or simply to travel more. There really is no right or wrong to this, but we can all share the commonality of wanting to be somewhere or wanting something that is not. Life can be a struggle, it tends to be a roller coaster ride, filled with ups and downs. For me, it feels more down than up a lot of times. Whether it be emotionally, financially, educational goals, relationships, so on and so fourth. Many times I wonder what am I doing wrong! The bible says that God withholds no good thing from us (Psalm 84:11) so I wonder if its just a timing thing. Maybe that’s the answer. We simply haven’t reached the timing of where we desire to be. I cant stand that answer if I’m honest.

What a year it has been for us all! In some way, shape, or form, everyone’s life has been affected. I could create a list of the many things that were bad about this year, but I have a choice, we all do. I am not insensitive to the fear, anxiety, pain, and loss this year has brought for so many people. I always say we must face our emotions and situations head on, we can’t ignore them. However, we must learn to get to a place where we don’t stay there! This choice has more to do with our minds than our circumstance most of the time. I say this from a place of understanding depression, rejection, betrayal, suicidal thoughts, so on and so forth. What I’ve learned over the years is that I am not my feelings and I am not my thoughts. There is so much freedom just in that alone, when we are able to differentiate our thoughts and emotions from our identity!

We all have had a Babylonian Empire in our lives (people, relationships, habits, mindsets, etc.). At some point someone or something came and took you out of where God intended for you to be (physically, emotionally, and/or mentally). But like in the book of Ezra, you have returned to the place of God, to the right motives, the right state of mind, the right surroundings, but everything is DESTROYED! The first thing God wants to do is Rebuild his temple which is YOU (your heart, your mind, your body)! Because we know in 1 Corinthians 6:19, the bible tells us we are temples of the Holy Spirit. We cannot and are not going to do it Alone! There is a Remnant! There is a PEOPLE, there is a GOD that is in the process and wants to continue the process of Rebuilding your temple. But I believe the most critical part that God wants to do is Rebuild your WALL, the same way Nehemiah was used to Rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Continue reading “Protect What Is Being Built” →