How many people have you heard over the course of this year say something that sounds similar to these relatable words: “I can’t wait for 2020 to end.”?
I’m sure it’s a lot and it’s highly possible that even you yourself have experienced a similar statement escaping your mouth and riding upon your breath as well these past few months.
There is no doubt that it has been an odd, challenging, and yet, at the same time, a very pivotal year in many ways.
One of the things that many people said at the start of 2020 was that this was to be a year of ‘perfect vision.’
Although I’m sure that many that made such a declaration would say that this year did not go the way they thought it would, one thing is for sure…
This year revealed how much more the church needs the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed, God has fitted the church with prescription lenses to see our need for more of Him these last 365 days.
And even though I cannot earnestly tell you that our stepping into 2021 will bring a ceasefire to all of the onslaught that characterized 2020, I can tell you that God is going to continue to improve our vision by bringing us back to what ultimately matters most.
Beginning with this blog and the few that will follow, I plan to unpack the themes and plans God has highlighted to me that will detail His activity for the year 2021.
The first thing that God revealed to me was that this coming year will be the year of the GOOD NEWS.
In other words, this will be a year where the negativity and bad news that flooded 2020 will be combatted with the preaching of the gospel.
In fact, the Lord highlighted to me that the gospel isn’t simply reserved for those that never heard the good news of Jesus Christ.
It’s for all people everywhere, all the time — Christian and non-Christian alike.
I believe the Lord had shown me that both the message of Jesus Christ and His works — the things that He did — will be proclaimed this coming year.
As a result, we will see the present countenance and future outlook of people change as they give the attention of their ear once again, or, for the first time, to the saving message of the Lord.
Because of this, people will begin to fix their eyes on Jesus and not what's happening around them.
I believe we are going to see hopelessness be overcome with hope… depression be overrun by joy… and anxiety be replaced with faith.
I believe that 2021 is going to be a year of expectation and people laying hold of the promises of the Lord.
I believe it’s going to be a year of salvation and healings and deliverances.
I believe we are going to see the Father pour out the Holy Spirit in greater measures as well.
I believe we are going to see God unify around the mission what the devil tried to divide; namely, the church.
Indeed, because this coming year will be distinguished by the preaching of the good news both within and outside of the church, I believe that this year will also be a year of FAITH and a year of the IMMEDIATELY.
I will write about those two realities in the next couple of blogs that will follow.
Make no mistake, dear reader… God is going to set the record straight this year.
Our hope can be in nothing and no one but Jesus.
I believe with all of my heart that He is coming soon.
As a result, we will begin to see a separation between the wheat and the tares.
Their separation is a sign that the end of the age is near.
The angels cannot gather up the tares until both are mature enough to distinguish the differences between them (see Matthew 13:24-30).
Now more than ever, we need to hear the good news.
We need the gospel message.
The bad news that enveloped 2020 will be overturned by the good news preached and demonstrated in 2021.
- Brian Connolly, Faith Like Birds Ministries
Check out the previous blog!
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