Tag Archives: New Year

by

“Twenty-two for Twenty Twenty Two”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5,6 NKJV

It’s that time again! The New Year and the sense of renewed hope that it brings.

And of course, we know it is truly nothing more than the changing of a calendar, the changing of the date from one year to the next, but it always offers a renewed sense of hope.

Hope for newness, hope that all old challenges to pass away and dark nights dawning now with hope of a brighter day.

And with all going on in the world and all the events we are watching play out before our very eyes as we will go forward in our study of all things apocalyptic, I did want to take a moment and send out a holiday wish and reminder that once you trust in Jesus, you have no need to fear these things.

Jesus wants us to be aware of the time, as he told us “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” Luke 22:31

Also, as he commanded the disciples, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16  

Some teachings, especially prophetic writings can be heavy and quite terrifying, but we have to be aware, for ourselves and also for those around us in whose lives we pray to be a light.

Now to start our New Year off right on God’s promise of this: Psalm 17:4: “Concerning the works of men, by the words of thy lips, I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.”

Twenty-two scriptures to hopefully encourage and prayerfully equip you with verses to remember as we take on the new season of unknown, knowing that the word of God never changes and while we never know what a year may bring, we do know that we have these promises and that is why we are to trust in Him and not be so concerned with it appears that we see.

#1. “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, he it is that goth with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” Deuteronomy 31:5

#2.”Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.” Psalm 68:19

#3. ” The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their afflictions.” Psalm 34:17

#4.” Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.” Psalm 33:18,19

#5. “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23

#6.” Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he will exalt thee to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.” Psalm 37:34

#7. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord; he is their strength in the time of trouble.”

#8.” God is our refuge and strength, and very present help in teh time of need.” Psalm 46:1

#9. “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

#10.”And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM;…” Exodus 3:14

#11. ” Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was I am.” John 8:58

#12.“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish; but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

#13.”And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35

#14.“Blessed are the poor in spirit; for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Matthew 5:3-12

#15.“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10

#16. “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” James 1:23

#17.”Submit yourselves, therefore to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

#18, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

#19.”And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30

#20.” There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6

#21,”Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

#22.”For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:17

Φλογιζω NBJ 2021/ Reverend Nina Brown Johnson

by

“Heeding the “1” in 2021″

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for you life, (Do not worry about)  what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what shall you put on. Is not the life more than meat, (food) and the body more than raiment (clothes)?

Behold the fowls of the air: they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed (clothed) like one of these.

Wherefore, IF God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith.

Therefore take no thought, (Do not worry about) saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?, or, Wherewithal (with what and how) shall we be clothed?

(For after all these things do the Gentile seek;) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and ALL these things shall be added unto you.

Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things  of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil (trouble) thereof.” Matthew 25-34 

What a year 2020 has been! And we all know that just because the calendar flips to the new year it really doesn’t make anything new, it just usually gives us a sense of hope, hope that we can start over if you will, Hope that we can look to a better year ahead.

And we do NEED that hope, we NEED to have dreams, and we NEED to have goals set for our future because once we lose hope, all is indeed lost.

And more than ever we must depend on Jesus to give us that HOPE for  anew day, and must invite Him and aske him to restore our dreams and renew our vision so that the dark times of the present world will not hinder the plans and the calling and purpose that He has placed in our lives.  Even when it is dark and all seems hopeless., all seems lost, He is still God and He is still never going to leave you or forsake you.

Once you give your life to Him, and remember WHOSOEVER will call upon the name of the Lord SHALL be saved, it doesn’t take a special prayer or any preacher laying hands on you (which that can be very good) but what I am saying is that Jesus comes to us right where we are, we ask him to forgive us and come be with us and save us and He does, and it is just you and Him, you don’t have to wait until you can find an open church, you can ash him any  moment of the day.

He is there and He never slumbers and He never sleeps, He is Omnipresent, so he can be with you in your pain, your tears, your need for Him to ease all your fears and yet, He can be simitalentouly seeing to the needs of ALL His children the world over, even the ones who don’t that they are his yet, just think of Paul, who was Saul when Jesus called him from the road to Damascus, where Paul was on his way to TORMENT Christians for their beliefs, but God had other plans and God knew exactly where Mr. Saul was that fateful day and He know where we are this day!

And for the upcoming New Year, let’s all take Jesus’ advice from our scripture above, we can never change anything by worrying and fear, my late Mom always told me that we often worry about things that never happen and we all know that fear is the devils number one weapon, but it will change nothing, only gives place to him.  It is a normal human reaction to worry about the things we have no control over because we like to feel in control but God wants to be in control, He is already in control we just have to acknowledge that in order to have the peace He wants us to have.

So raed the verse above, study it, ponder it, and let the Lord speak to your heart today, because He does CARE for you and He does not want you to worry about things that we will never have control of.

“Humble yourselves therefore UNDER the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in DUE TIME: CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM; FOR HE CARETH FOR YOU.” 1 Peter 5:6.7

May God bless you with a better brighter year ahead and remember take it ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Reverend NIna Brown Johnson

by

New Direction, >>>>>>> 2017

Hard to believe another year has come, starting off with the freshness of a new fallen snow and gently waving into a cool summer breeze, Autumns splendor having been replaced by a multitude of beautiful twinkling lights, and will be gone with the blasts of horns and whirls of confetti, as 2017 will be ushered in.

How time flies so quickly is beyond me, but I do believe the “shortened” days of the Bible are being fulfilled. In a blink of an eye, the days, and months have passed by and we once again evaluate ourselves, what we have accomplished, and what we have most importantly learned.

Many, many have been through tough times, not only this past year but the years preceding, faith has been tested and endurance has been stretched but I believe hope is on the horizon, chains will be broken,  doors will be opened, damages will be repaired and things can be made new IF we forsake our OWN paths and our OWN ways and be willing to go in a NEW direction, in courage, boldness, not fearing the unknown and more importantly not fearing failure of rejection by others.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of PEACE, and NOT of evil (calamity), to GIVE YOU AN EXPECTED END ( a FUTURE and a HOPE).

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye search for me with all your heart.” JEREMIAH 29:11-13

I think sometimes, even though it is not our intention, we kinda run off in our own path, like little lambs, headed for what we are going after, when the Shepherd is standing there like, “Where are you going?” and being the lambs we are, we just baa-baa and take off running even faster  after what has caught our eye and lured us into believing that the grass may be greener over there, running until He comes to our rescue and pulls us from the edge of the cliff at the moment we are almost ready to topple over it.

Some cliffs are man-made and those are the worst, you know the areas that we voluntarily dwell in, in the forms of bad relationships and trying to shoulder burdens that were never ours to carry, and that heavy burden you have chosen to put on your own back will certainly either knock you down the hill or roll you over your own cliff, whichever comes first.

There really are times in life that we are required to JUST LET situations and relationships GO! Say Adios, Asta LA vista, Good-bye and if you have too, hum a little chorus of “Na-Na, Na-Na, hey-hey, good-bye”!

You know when your joy has been sucked out and misery is at your door,  you feel trapped and overwhelmed,  then THIS IS NOT THE PATH OF THE LORD  and when you feel unable to worship the Lord as openly as you wish, this lets you know that this ground is toxic and nothing you attempt to plant there will grow, and this field is toxic and nothing you attempt to harvest will prosper in these polluted  fields.

Trouble is, we find ourselves in these fields begging the Lord to change things or move obstacles, when actually this was NEVER the place you were supposed to be!

So think about that for 2017, where have you been, what have accomplished, what ratio are you reading negative to positive in your life goals and your relationship to God and ministry in the Kingdom.

If you’re not happy with it or feel rather lacking, this is the opportunity dead center of the road and do a u turn back to the Shepherd, who will be waiting there to lead you on the RIGHT path.  As He said, when we SEEK HIM, with ALL our hearts, we WILL find Him  and THEN our prayers will be answered. Let’s us know real fast that we can “think” we are committed and yet still being seeking and serving half-heartedly with that other half dedicated to something that was never ours.

“My son forget not my law; but let thine hearts keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find FAVOUR and good understanding (high esteem) in the sight of God and man.

TRUST in the Lord with all thine heart; lean NOT unto thine OWN understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge him, and he SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS.

Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. IT shall be health to thy navel (body) and marrow (strength, refreshment) to thy bones.

Honour the Lord with thy substance (possessions), and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall BURST OUT WITH NEW WINE.” PROVERBS 3:1-10

We are to trade that heavy yoke around our neck for mercy and truth to carry, as Jesus said His yoke is light, again we are warned to not be wise in our own thoughts, sometime we feel that we should do this or that and that something IS our obligation, when God actually wants us away from that problem.

That is why is so important to compare natural to natural, spiritual to spiritual and if God has given you a great life but yet you are lacking peace because of a toxic relationship, then you know, God is not making you stay there and that is when letting go comes in, He will not make you but don’t be shocked if he doesn’t sway things to your liking.

He will save anyone who asks, BUT they have to want to be saved and that is often the point we miss and we are not called to be emotional martyrs or to perform clean up and deliverance for people when only GOD ALONE CAN PERFORM THESE TASKS.

So try changing directions this new year, I think we all could always use a little “new wine” and let God Bless you, lead you, and guide you, ALL of you, in HIS paths!

 

As the song asks, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot?” YES! YES! “Remember ye NOT the former things (what is in the past), NOR CONSIDER the things of old. {Don’t bank on experience as a test of thinking you already know what you don’t REALLY know}

Behold, I will do a NEW thing; now it shall spring forth; SHALL YE NOT KNOW IT? I will even make a WAY IN THE WILDERNESS, and RIVERS in the desert.” ISAIAH 43:18.19

To borrow another familiar term, for 2017 lets all live up to the advice of “out with the old and in with the new” and we will be made new too!

Here’s wishing you a beautiful New Year with new direction, new hope, newness of joy, newness of life, new peace, new love, and an overwhelming newness and refreshment of His spirit on your life.

 

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω NBJ 2016