As the dust settles on 2017

As 2017 quickly comes to an end, I have been reflecting on the things I have learnt this year. With much to be thankful for, and as I think about the next 12 months, I find myself full of hope and determination. It was a massive time with lots of challenges but I wouldn’t change a thing.

I find it really helpful to remember lessons learnt and victories that have been had as they are like fuel to move us forward when in darker seasons. This post is a reminder for me where God has made himself visible, and as always my hope is that you find some encouragement from my experiences.

One of the biggest things I have learnt this year is that the Word of God truly is alive and active , and while I understand that this isn’t very profound, I really needed to be reminded that intentionally spending time memorizing and meditating on scripture is imperative for my faith journey. My bible verse for 2017 has been

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

How much time do you spend studying the bible? I think this is a question all Christians need to think about. I don’t mean reading it every other week, reading books about the bible or recalling stories that you have read years ago. Whether we read it or not doesn’t make it any less powerful than what it is, but if it is alive and active and can change lives then it would make sense to get into it.

God can be trusted. After 22 years of smoking cigarettes and becoming pretty self focused because of this addiction, I would say that the road to trusting God with this part of my life was a bumpy one. This journey started 2 months before I let go of the smokes, where I decided to learn the Psalm 86:11 verse and repeat it as often as I could. I wanted to do more than remember the words and found myself being really impacted by them as time went by. After God delivered me, the temptation and cravings were still there but I found myself going to him as soon as they would start to harass me, and time and time again the peace of God with transcends all understanding guarded my heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Is there an area of your life that you need to trust God in? I reckon we tend to let ourselves off pretty easy when it comes to questions like this so I will add another question that I would encourage you to take to God and ask him, what gets in the way of you becoming more like Christ? 

I am really thankful for the life of Jesus. After spending time in Luke and John this year I have found myself wanting to know Jesus more. The thing that I really like about Him is his ability to get to the heart of the matter. His interaction with others and his words inspire me to want to go deeper in the way I do life and engage with the people around me.

Thanks for dropping by. If you have found this post helpful or have something to add then please leave a comment. What’s something you have learnt over the last 12 months?