Getting REAL!

Happy New Year & BLESSINGS to YOU!  

It’s a New Year, a time for NEW BEGINNINGS!  It’s an opportunity for a FRESH START; however before we can START ANEW, we have to let go of the past!  (Isaiah 43:18)

My cousin posted something over a year ago that has stuck with me and it is this, “We can’t hope for a better past, but we can hope for a better future!”  I love it!  And it’s so TRUE!    

Today I want to talk with you about the disappointments that each of us have faced in our lives and the choice that we have had to make to “get back up” and “keep going,” regardless of the heartache that these disappointments have caused. 

I think about what my Grandmother said after she lost her son.  She was lying on the sofa experiencing unexplainable heartbreak; the pain of her loss was so great that it was hard for her to take her next breath.  The Lord spoke to her and said, “You can lay here and die OR get up and LIVE!”  The loss of her son wasn’t going to change, he was gone.  She was the one left living, so she had to choose to LIVE her life or DIE!  The Lord presented her with her options; it was up to her to choose her response to a tragic situation.  My Grandmother CHOSE to get up off her sofa and LIVE!  

I think about myself as well as the people that I know and the different situations we have faced over the past year. Whether we faced cancer, death of a loved one, loss of a pregnancy, a cheating spouse, divorce, a defiant child, job loss, financial hardship and the list goes on; each of us have faced disappointments.   

Have you ever felt like giving up?  Have you ever felt so DEFEATED by life that you felt as if it wasn’t worth living?  I know that I have!  There was a time when I felt as if I didn’t have the strength to lift my pinky finger, much less get out of bed and “make it through the day!”  

I remember lying in my bed and thinking that I could CHOOSE to snap out of it, but it wasn’t as easy as that!  I tried, but I couldn’t do it on my own!  That’s the key!  WE are NOT STRONG ENOUGH to WIN THE BATTLE on our own!  We NEED the Lord!  He is our STRENGTH when we are weak!  (2 Corinthians 12:10)

If you are feeling defeated, YOU ARE NOT!  YOU are MORE THAN A CONQUERER THROUGH CHRIST JESUS!  YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS YOU!  YOU ARE THE HEAD AND NOT THE TAIL.  YOU ARE BLESSED COMING AND GOING!  YOU HAVE OVERCOME BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB AND THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY!  (Romans 8:37, Philippians 4:13, Deuteronomy 28:13, Deuteronomy 28:6, Revelations 12:11)

BELIEVE God’s Word and His PROMISES!  

Place your TRUST in Him!  LOOK FORWARD from this day forward and EXPECT HIS GREATNESS in YOUR LIFE!  

With great resolve, REFUSE to allow the enemy to win the battle for your soul!  Take authority over the enemy in Jesus’ name and choose to WALK IN VICTORY; overwhelming VICTORY is yours through Christ Jesus!  (Romans 8:37)  

Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33 (NIV)  PRAISE GOD!  

I wish YOU BLESSINGS BEYOND MEASURE in 2012!  I can’t wait to hear YOUR testimony!  

Sincerely & With Love, Karen