end of the year

Reaching the end of something can evoke many emotions. The end of a good movie, a job, a family or friend’s life, or perhaps even a marriage. There may be mixed feelings about the end of the year. Most people said they were so happy to see the end of 2020!

We will come to the end of 2023 in a few days. In some ways, it was a challenging year for April and me, but we got through it. I remember at one point feeling as if God had turned away from us and left us to ourselves because we had made a wrong decision. We know now that He was busy orchestrating our lives, intersecting with another’s in order to fulfill His will.

At the time, it seemed so difficult to wait upon the Lord. I cried out many times for His help. For God to deliver us from ourselves and to set us back on the right track. God proved himself faithful again. God helped us. He gave me a clear mind to make sound decisions on what to do that would give us a chance to recover.

I have no idea what 2024 will have in store for us, but I know God is already working on our behalf. If you have never accepted God’s gift of Jesus Christ into your life and have asked for forgiveness, then now would be a great time. Wow! That would be a great way to end 2023 and start 2024.

Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. 1 Cor. 1:7-9 (MSG)

If you are reading this, in a few days you will be able to say, “I survived 2020.” You might even be able to say that you beat Covid. My friend in Chicago did. I give the glory to God for that one, because he got close to the edge, but God escorted him back to give him another opportunity to accept him and his love. I also know of a few people who didn’t. Others have lost jobs, while some have lost their freedom to visit family, or attend a church service in person.

Yes, it’s been an especially tough year, but as I opened the mail today, and read what a friend went through in the two previous years. It was in that moment, I was reminded;

any year can be a difficult year!

That truth is a result of sin, brought into the world by the original sinners, Adam and Eve. So even today, mankind is born into sin. Therefore, God sent us a Savior to rescue us from ourselves. If our greatest need had been education He would have given us a teacher. If our greatest need would have been money then God would have given us a financial wizard. But God, who loves us so much, and wants nothing more than to commune with us daily, gave us his son, his only son.

I have noticed the Holy Spirit has led me all year to write about God’s love, God’s son, and the free gift of salvation. That tells me that He, God, wants to be reunited with everyone, before the end of the earth comes as we know it.

The Bible is true, and as the last book in it, Revelation, tells us in detail what is about to happen. We are on the very threshold of the days, and events mentioned in the book of Revelation, coming true. Please don’t dismiss God calling you home. Don’t let another year go by without acting on his call to come into the family of God. Life may get even harder than it was in 2020, and I tell you this, the only way I survived this current year was by doing life with God. Drawing even closer to him like a child afraid of people they just met.