Becoming a Better You in 2024

 Wow, it's 2024! 

The beginning of a strong year begins with you today, January 11, 2024, as we continue walking by faith this second week of the year. Today's thoughts stem from what we will do to accomplish more in 2024. 

The question many say is that they accomplished a lot in 2023, too, so what else is there to do? 

One question I ask you is, are you taking the prompts from God in ways to develop a more profound and meaningful relationship with Him and others? Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." 

In other words, when life's challenges presented their truth in 2023, could you represent God's truth without blinking an eye? Many of you already know that challenges are a part of life. 

Rest assured, God says in Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. 

Challenges have one goal: not to break us but to improve us. 

Philippians 4:13 strengthens us with these words: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Simply put, 2023 was a year that prepared you for the challenges you will face in 2024. 

A new year doesn't eliminate challenges faced in life but helps us remember that God is there too when they come.

Below are some practical and applicable ways to become a better you in 2024:

1. Galatians 6:9: "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." This verse encourages us to keep doing good deeds even when it seems like we are not getting any reward for it.
2. Proverbs 4:23: "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." This verse reminds us to guard our hearts and be careful about what we let in.
3. Psalm 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" This verse encourages us to be still and trust in God's plan.
4. Genesis 50:20: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." This verse reminds us that God can use even the bad things that happen to us for good.
5. Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." This verse gives us hope for a better future.
6. Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." This verse reminds us that God is always working for our good.
7. Colossians 1:9: "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives." This verse encourages us to pray for others and ask God to give them wisdom and understanding.
8. Ecclesiastes 3:1: "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens." This verse reminds us that there is a time for everything and that we should trust God's timing (biblestudytools.com).

To get through life's challenges requires the undivided attention to the yes and no in our lives. I hope these verses help you to become a better person in 2024. Remember to always trust in God and seek His guidance. 

A New Year of Possibilities, 2024

Minister Sylvia Joyner

The Power of Vulnerability

 Vul ·ner·a·bil·i·ty the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally:

A recent discussion on vulnerability in our Bible study class stirred my thoughts on the importance of confessing our faults and shortcomings to each other. It reminds me of the extent of making ourselves vulnerable to others as a vital sign of personal spiritual growth. 

Take note of the words expressed by James 5:16: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces incredible results.

Even so, our human perspective tends to focus on only physical healing, but as you know, this scripture is not limited to physical healing but also our mental and social health. 

It is impossible to avoid vulnerable situations because we are in contact with others regularly. Although these encounters will happen, you can still choose how to respond. God tells Paul about his thorn experience, "God's power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

Vulnerability is not a detriment but the ultimate empowerment for us to allow God to reign in and through us.

An aspect of practicing Vulnerability is affected by a society that celebrates human attributes such as independence, autonomy, and self-sufficiency, and guarding one's emotions, which, for Christians, stunts their spiritual growth, making them ineffective in power and producing incredible results. Moreover, it seems like a daunting task to open ourselves up emotionally to others with the possibility of rejection, ridicule, and losing relationships. 

Are there Biblical examples that help further our understanding? Yes.

Although being vulnerable seems like a solo act, we have help from Jesus to light the way to our freedom. In sharing the Gospel message, Jesus practiced vulnerability in his daily interactions with people from all walks of life. His vulnerability shows an act of willing submission to his Father as he went to Calvary, an ultimate display of submitting himself to open rebuke, scorn, suffering, and hatred for our sakes.

Furthermore, Hebrews speaks of Jesus being our "great high priest" because He can sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). To become more like Jesus is to lay down our lives, take up our cross, and become weak. When we are weak, we are strong because God's grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). As we follow Jesus and obey Him, our faith and trust in Him will increase.

Jesus made himself vulnerable to purchase our redemption. Practicing and living a life that embraces vulnerability is much more than individual unburdening of emotional selves; it exists for the good of the community (www.the gospel coalition.org).

Lilianna Hogan's article How To Be Vulnerable gives three examples of the armor we use to protect and defend our emotional selves. 

• Striving for perfection. Most people think they can avoid being seen if they can become perfect.
• Numbing out. While this effectively minimizes the gravity of negative emotions, it also numbs out positive emotions.
• Imagining all the ways things can go wrong, catastrophizing. Instead of being vulnerable and accepting how precarious your happiness and the things you love are, you beat Vulnerability to the punch.
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Might I remind you that God has given us His Whole Armor? Ephesians 6:10-18 protects us from certain death and ensures that we can stand against the enemy's strategies in God's mighty power and not our own. Even amid vulnerable situations, we are still victorious.

John Bevere, in his book The Bait of Satan, relates that knowledge without the love of God will lead to deception, especially from false prophets. Jesus warns us, "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many" (Matthew 24:11). 

The words expressed in your reading will increase your spiritual understanding. This understanding is my prayer for you.

Growing in God's Love,

Minister Sylvia Joyner

Hummingbird or a Vulture: Looking at life through Two Perspectives

 Greetings,

What are you looking for in life? 

What are you expecting to find in life? 

The altitude you possess reflects what you wish to find in life. The hummingbird and the vulture are two birds one can use to visualize this expectancy. The hummingbird experiences life by seeking food sources involving a variety of living foods, and the vulture seeks food involving dead things, such as rotting flesh from dead animals.

 

But what if I identify with the vulture perspective in that, as a Christian, I experience life as a vulture? What is that saying about my choices in life? Darkness spiritually means God did not abolish darkness at creation. God added Light. But for many, darkness symbolizes all that is negative, harmful, evil, and fearful.

Analysis of the vulture perspective reveals that the vulture's diet consists of dead things without getting sick. Creatively designed by God as they ingest rotting flesh, protected by potent acids in the vultures' gut that begin digesting the meat so entirely that it even destroys the prey's D.N.A. So, can you continue experiencing life without getting sick? Jesus again unto them as a Christian, saying, "I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of life" (John 8:12 K.J.V.). 

Some individuals understand their dark appetites are not acceptable to God, especially when they look over and see the hummingbird feasting on life experiences, producing life and that life more abundantly. Desiring dark things excites many individuals, but the aspect of excitement and the unknown that turns many on also turns many away from God.

So, how does an individual break the vicious cycle of desiring a life comparable to a vulture? One must practice and know that according to Colossians 3:10, each individual has put on the new self, which brings renewal in knowledge after the image of its creator. Consider this scripture and ask yourself, am I a hummingbird or a vulture? Your answer will determine what you are looking for in life and What you expect to find.

 

 P.O.V. Desiring the wrong things produces strange bed-fellows. 

Here are some scriptures on desiring God:

• Psalms 37:4 - Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
• Proverbs 10:24 - The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
• Psalm 73:25 - Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
• Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
• 1 John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Desiring God, Not Darkness,

Minister Sylvia Joyner

The Power of Encouragement

 Greetings of Love,

I want to share a positive experience with you. Yesterday we attended the Sweet Pilgrim of Faith's Family and Friends Day picnic at Wicker Memorial Park. For those unaware, Tarrytown Baptist Church and Sweet Pilgrim have been in an ongoing God-inspired collaboration of rendering service to God for about a year or so. Anyhow, after service yesterday, I had purposed in my heart that I would not attend based on the fact that previous excursions as such were challenging on my body, especially the walking and sitting (diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease). 

However, when Pastor Frazier (Sweet Pilgrim) discovered I was not coming, he encouraged me to come; I said I would come with one request to tell me some jokes once I made my arrival (still waiting on the jokes, lol); hopefully, I thought to make the sitting and walking easier. Well, to my delight, it was not only a positive experience but a moment of ministry sharing and reflection with one of the new members of Sweet Pilgrim and members from Tarrytown.

 

God always meets us where we are going for his purpose. 

Lessons relearned from yesterday are that encouragement is a vital ministry in the church, and the ministry of encouragement changes a whole lifespan of experiences previously experienced as unfavorable and provides a positive outlook to the person being encouraged. I pray that my positive experience will enable you to challenge yourself in sharing God on a grander scale, primarily through experiences once deemed hostile.

Greater is Abounding,

Minister Sylvia Joyner