Welcome to the second month of 2022, your best year yet. This is the year the Lord is set to do great and mighty things for us, through us, but most importantly, in us.
I implore you not to focus too much on the things the Lord will do for you because I have no doubt that He will do you good this year. I also want to encourage you to pay careful attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit inside of you this year. For us to experience the level of fruitfulness the Lord has in store for us, He will be pruning our hearts. He will be pointing to certain weights He wants us to shed because only branches that bear fruits get pruned.
John 15:1-2 says, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” NKJV
This is not the year to sit back, and watch others work for God, rather we must be focused on the Father’s agenda. We must go about the Father’s business with everything that we are.
At Believers House, one of the scriptures God gave us for 2022 is from 1 Peter 5:6-10.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (NKJV)
It matters who you are with this year. Only those who know their God will be strong and do exploits. To know here is not just a mere head knowledge but an intimate relationship with the Father. A relationship where God reveals His heart to you, especially as it pertains to your future and His agenda on the earth. Situations will answer to you, doors will be opened to you of their own accord this year because you are with God.
The strength needed to journey through this year can only come from the presence of the Lord. As we give God our hearts and time, He will deposit in us strength and courage to face anything. He didn’t promise us a year free of challenges but rather that He will be with us in the midst of those challenges and curved balls. We can see clearly from the scripture above that there will be some sufferings but at the end of it, God is going to “perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you.”
This year, let your words agree with your desires. If you are believing for abundance, don’t speak lack; if you are believing for sound health, don’t confess sickness; if you are believing for your marriage to thrive, don’t say this marriage is not working! Speak the truth of God’s word in the face of your challenges. Don’t just repeat the symptoms or the things you can feel or see. Keep the word of God before your eyes and on your lips throughout the year. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
You must also make God your priority not just in words but through your actions. Make sure you are laying up treasures in heaven. Don’t just serve God with your lips; back it up with your actions. Remember your heart will follow the direction of your treasure (Matt 6:21). Devote your treasure of time, energy, resources, encouragement etc to the things of God. Let God be able to beckon on you to make use of anything He has blessed you with to be used for His glory.
Psalm 18:19 NKJV says, “He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.”
My sincere prayer for you this year is that you will stay with God no matter what comes your way. I pray for fresh encounters with God for you. Don’t just go through the motions, live intentionally – be faithful to the assignments God has given you and see what God will do for you, through you and most importantly, in you, this year.