Welcome to 2014


Welcome to the New Year. 

What are your plans for 2014? 

Have you made any New Years resolutions? 

I have no plans out of the ordinary this year, for once, no New Years resolutions (I never stick to them anyway).

Instead I plan to place my year in God's hands and trust in Him, as His plans are always so much better than mine could ever be (and He does stick to His plans). 

I have just been reading Luke 6 (27-31) and if only we all took heed of the verses below, what a better and different world we would all live in.  


But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 
bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 
To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
 Give to everyone who asks of you. 
And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
Imagine everyone "loving their enemies", wow, how many people could do this? I only saw on the news this week of more deaths in Russia by suicide bombers and the war in Syria has killed tens of thousands, leaving so many maned and homeless. Our hatred for others from different ethnic backgrounds, different coloured skin and different beliefs results in so much tragedy in this world. 

 How about making it a year where you give to others, and expect nothing in return. We are a society of wanting everything for ourselves and giving nothing - it is all about self and selfishness, its about time we reached out and helped those less fortunate that ourselves. 

How about reaching out to those who strike out at you . . . this would take courage, a lot of courage to say the least which is perhaps why many struggle with it. Something to aim for.

And treat others the way we would like to be treated.  We all want to be treated fairly, kindly, politely, nicely - is it too hard to treat others the same way even if they are rude to us. Reaching out to someone who is having a bad day and being kind can make such a differences.

I have no idea what 2014 will bring - who does? I plan to take each day as it comes and treat each of those days as precious. 
***
And many thanks for all the wonderful comments and words of encouragement that have been left in 2013 and for all the people who dropped by to just read what I have written.

Thankyou, it means a lot to me. 

Looking forward to more "chatting" again in 2014.

With love

Joluise

Comments

  1. I can hardly believe we are here in 2014 already. I feel like time is out of control, passing by and leaving me behind. It's rather overwhelming.
    These are good words of advice, good suggestions, Jo. This is a sad old world and I can't help but hope desperately that this is the year the Lord returns.
    No new year's resolutions for me - they're hopeless and never work out anyway. :P

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    1. The older I get the fast the year goes and there is no slowing down, never have found the breaks. But hopefully when you look back over the past year you can see that it has been used productively and not wasted.

      It is a sad world but every now and again I see something beautiful and that is a good feeling, but nothing will be as good as the Lord's return.

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  2. Lovely truthful post.

    I give up with New Year resolutions too.

    I wish that we could all get along together in this world, after all there is just one race and that is the human race.

    May God bless you abundantly this New Year xx

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    1. Thanks Tania,

      I think God is testing me this year if the 1st day of the year is any example. However whilst the road maybe rocky and uncertain, at least I know that God is right next to me no matter how bad things get. Its a lesson in trust and faith to let go and hand over the reigns to Him, our heavenly Father.

      Blessings for your year ahead.

      xx

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  3. Dear Joluise, Happy New Year!! I have just started my first new day of 2014! I am excited to see what the Lord has in store...
    It is hard to love those you like, let alone our enemies!
    It is by His Spirit I live and move and have my being;
    Why can I not see it will be the only way we can love our enemies.
    I will email you as to when I Feature your Blog!!
    I have it almost finished.
    Blessings and His provisions to you dear friend!!
    Roxy xo

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    1. You are always so positive and that is such a lovely thing to have - thankyou for your posts, I get lots of pleasure reading them:)))

      May God be with you in this brand new year- I certainly felt Him on the first day of the year and it was a wonderful comfort to know He was right there with me.

      Blessings

      xx

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  4. I loved this blog post! For a couple of months I have had something stirring around inside my head and heart, and the scripture you shared just nails it! The words that were coming to my heart these past months were "Love the unlovable"... which can be interpreted so many different ways to me. Now I can take this scripture you shared and call it my 2014 "goal".
    Thank you and blessings for the New Year!

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    1. Dear Kathy, so glad you found liked this post:))) these verses just sprung out of the scriptures at me and really meant a lot. Loving the unlovable is very difficult for so many but so important. But also treating others the way you want to be treated - why can't people do this, it really is so simple.

      Blessings for 2014 and may God be with you and your family.

      xx

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  5. Wonderful words Jo, ones I need to hear over and over again. I have no idea what is ahead for us this year, but I am so thankful to know the Lord Jesus who knows all things. So each and every fresh day we commit to Him. :)

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    1. Thinking of you this year and may God be with you. So true, each day is a gift from God and one we must use to its fullest purpose and commit to Him.

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