New Day, New Year, Renewed Faith {120 encouragements for 2017}

This past year that I have stepped out to discover a life of faith for myself. I would like to share some of the golden nuggets I’ve gained along the way of my crazy amazing journey along the year of 2016. These things have not only changed my life but continue to refine, renew, refresh, enlighten, change, and breathe into my very being – as I hope they do the same for you.

That being said I invite you to search deeper, seek better, and become greater with me. Why? Because we are worth it! So here we go, 120 points of insight I’ve been given the past 12 months that can come to challenge us as we step into 2017. Shall they speak to us, inspire us, and ignite the flame within us to chase after God this year like we never have before. Here’s to January 1st, 2017, and every day which follows!

1. Knowing about God is not the same as truly knowing God
2. God speaks through everything
3. God’s voice always brings life to you and others
4. “Don’t be scared to fall, for I am with you”
5. Pray with faith and know your authority in Jesus
6. Be bold, what is there to lose?
7. When we speak life, our life speaks
8. Love is more than a feeling, its a choice
9. There is no end to love
10. The more we know God, the more we know ourselves
11. What we believe about ourselves with supersede what we are capable of
12. We are made in God’s image, we are children of a good father
13. The more we give, the more we receive
14. Repentance is not a condition to salvation, but a choice we make in the process of being sanctified
15. We aren’t meant to do this alone
16. Boundaries are healthy and beneficial to us
17. The Lord is our redeemer, The Lord is our refuge
18. Perseverance takes time
19. We are set free from the prison of our own minds through Christ
20. We are a working masterpiece, God is our master artist
21. We are the co-author of our own stories
22. Relationships are about what we can offer not about what we can gain
23. Love is to seek the higher good for someone else
24. The more we walk with the Lord the closer we get to discovering our destinies
25. To have amazing faith our faith must remain active and alive
26. God has the potential to change our lives every moment; it our choice to stay engaged
27. There is always an opportunity to step into the unknown
28. God places, knows, and values each and every desire of our hearts
29. Hebrews 10:14 By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified
30. Through the cross we have been given forgiveness, healing, righteousness, life, blessing, abundance, glory, acceptance, and eternal renewal
31. Letting go and letting God is always a good idea
32. To be a light we must know the light
33. The environment we pursuse should match up with the dreams we have
34. To need God we must look to do the impossible
35. God doesn’t want worthy, He wants available – we dont have to be worthy, just availible
36. We can make our own plans and hope God blesses them or we can pursue the plans God has already made and has already blessed
37. We shouldn’t compare our chapter 3 to someone else’s chapter 20, but instead get inspired by it
38. Encouraging others can only do good – no harm in helping
39. We have to choose to see the gold in other people
40. We have the capability to deliver others from that which we have been delivered from
41. We are responsible to obey God, we are not responsible for the outcome of that obedience
42. Relationship is the soil for revelation
43. God longs to restore our identity through a culture of honor and empowerment
44. Guard that which is precious to you
45. True value comes from knowing our identity in Christ
46. We choose the world we live in
47. Purity is a process (a process that’s worth it!)
48. God continues to pursue a deep, real, and sincere love relationship with each and everyone of us
49. God invites us to join Him in the work He is already doing
50. We are predestined for purpose
51. We are anointed to fulfill the purpose of that which we have been called to
52. Whatever is feeding you will be the fruit you bear
53. “If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me”
54. Wake up every morning anticipating something great, and great will come
55. Our job isn’t to change or people, but to love people where they’re at, and allow God to do the rest
56. Humility breathes humility
57. To lead well we must love well
58. Don’t react to the storm, respond to what God wants you to do in the storm
59. There are valleys, and there are mountains; there is potential for life to spring from both
60. As we obey God and put Him as our reward, we will never lose our way
61. We have been set free from condemnation
62. Don’t try to be perfect, do try to be better
63. God doesn’t change but is viewed differently among different parts of the world, the more we accept that the more we will see Him move in cultures that are not our own
64. Approach the future being mindful of the past without being imprisoned by it
65. To have a faithful friend, we first must be a faithful friend
66. God’s timing is perfect
67. God doesn’t give us anything we aren’t ready for
68. What we are learning now can be used that we may thrive in whatever God has for us next
69. Never give up
70. Provide a platform for God to move
71. We need to treat disunity as a crisis, because it is one
72. God has called our generation into such a time as this
73. Where there is darkness there is great redemptive purpose
74. “Whoever holds onto his life, will lose it”
75. Do not let anyone who is speaking out of a motive of fear, speak for you
76. Hospitality is our strongest evangelistic strategy
77. God is jealous for justice
78. When we accept our weakness we are able to accept God’s uniqueness
79. Be willing to forgive yourself
80. If we’re going to do it, let’s do it to our full potentials
81. We are meant to walk in fullness, not in fear
82. There must be passion to persevere
83. Knowing, learning, and loving diversity allows us to understand how it paints God’s bigger picture
84. ‘The important thing is to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become’
85. Let your dream become your occupation – that’s what it’s there for
86. God is love, and love is the key to every lock
87. Everyone needs a king like Jesus
88. Seek out honest feedback and never stop learning
89. Hold yourself accountable, and have other accountable people hold you accountable
90. Everything we do influences someone in someway
91. Since we are made in God’s image we have the capability to create, think, write, (etc.) something that no one else ever has before
92. Every single person sees life through a different lense
93. Our actions will reflect what we deeply value
94. The best thing we can do is respond in a Christ-like way, no matter the situation
95. Living a fruitful life is living a life of quality rather than quantity
96. Let’s have people in outs lives who see us for what we could become while still appreciating who we are right now
97. Serving others leads to self discovery and leadership development
98. ‘You never graduate from the foot of the cross’
99. Being God’s and being unique are the two best things we could ever be
100. Our character is constantly being developed for either the better or for the worst – let’s choose for the best
101. Life is made up of seasons and putting ourselves in context of our current season will help us gain greater perspective
102. Keeping perspective is to view every situation through eyes of hope
103. We need to give each other permission to be working on ourselves
104. Value the individual
105. Jesus asks us to make a difference in this world by being effective servant leaders
106. Let’s allow God to call us to a higher standard
107. ‘Take God beyond the compartment of your private spiritual life and give Him free rein in all your daily actions and relationships’
108. We were created by community, for community (by relationship, for relationship)
109. We are breathing parables, written by God himself
110. ‘One man or woman with passion is equal to 99 who simply have interest’ -J.s. Mill
111. God wants to be known as the relational God He is
112. Live in accordance to the Word, and trust that it is God’s best for us
113. When we worship God we become more Christ-like
114. Communication is far beyond our words
115. As we draw wisdom out of our experiences and we allow ourselves to never stop learning
116. There is a deeper, greater, larger place God is trying to take us
117. Comparison does nothing but limit our own self
118. Be who God is calling you to be, not who someone else already is
119. There is beauty in all things, and we will se if if we are willing to search for it
120. GOD IS SO SO GOOD, NO MATTER WHAT

and that’s only a tiny slice of the cake…. Here’s to 2017!!!