Search Our Blog Posts
Blog Article Tags
We love building relationships. Subscribe to our blog to receive weekly encouragement in your email inbox.
- Details
Written by Michelle J. Goff
Reflecting on the year 2020, some wince with pain, others retreat even deeper into their feelings of loneliness and isolation. While a few rejoiced in new birth, many mourned the passing of a loved one.
This global pandemic has brought us to our knees,
Yet God has met us there.
The best made plans were a reminder that we are not in control. Virtual gatherings replaced face-to-face encounters and creativity was required in order to find ways to stay connected.
Smiles were covered by masks until a distanced, outdoor gathering became feasible.
The global pandemic has revealed our true need for relationship,
But God knew this all along and sent His Son that we might find peace in true relationship with Him.
Dividing lines of politics, race, and mask-wearing have been drawn. Churches have split and elders have resigned, weary of standing in the gap or feeling forced to pick a side. Satan has picked at festering wounds of those drowning in hopelessness.
The global pandemic has highlighted some of our preexisting conditions,
Yet God, who is our hope, has redeemed and united us.
Time in prayer was extended as the prayer list grew. The Word became our Rock as uncertainty clouded our thinking. A play on words for teaching about 20/20 vision in the year 2020 became a real-life test of how we can keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
This global pandemic has challenged our view,
Yet God has remained faithful, never-changing, in control, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
It has not been all bad…
This global pandemic has provided new opportunities.
God has opened the door for virtual gatherings of Christians all over the world. Hunger for prayer and Bible study has grown, developing new friendships and connections, beyond what we could’ve originally designed.
What have you learned about God during this year?
What has the year 2020 revealed in you?
What do you want to leave in the past?
What do you take away from what you have learned moving forward?
Paul admonishes in Philippians 3:13-16, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”
How can we hold true to what we have attained from 2020 in the new year?
This past year has been a refining process for everyone. And just as precious metals go through a refining process in order to be made into something new, our refining process allows us to be redefined by the Creator.
As we grow into our redefined identity in Christ, the continual process of transformation and sanctification allow us to rejoice in His mercies that are new every morning (Lam. 3:23).
For the year 2021, Iron Rose Sister Ministries will be focusing on what it means to be Redefined. Personally, the refining process of 2020 has facilitated many facets of being redefined by God. And as a ministry, we have been refined and look forward to some redefined roles among our staff and clarified vision in equipping women to connect to God and one another more deeply. God is truly “just getting started,” even after seven and a half years as a ministry! Stay tuned… And thanks for prayerfully walking with us on this journey. We look forward to hearing more of your stories of being redefined, as well.
- Details
Written by Brenda Brizendine, Iron Rose Sister Ministries Communications Assistant in Colorado
Sarah is known as one of the women who God instilled with a great amount of kindness in her life. In Genesis 18, three heavenly characters visit her and Abraham to give them a promise that they had been asking for a long time.
In verse 12 we see Sarah’s reaction: Unbelief. She was reacting this way because she was seeing only the physical, what her eyes, senses, and reasoning dictated. Perhaps she hadn’t recognized who these messengers where that brought a word and a promise for her life. Maybe that’s why she thought in this way. But in verse 14, we read that God responds to Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”, and then reaffirming the given promise. Nothing is impossible with God; for Him there are no ages, there is no time, and there are no situations too hard.
Many times, we act and think like Sarah. We read in the Bible promises that are for us; what God left in His word is for us, which means that we can apply it to the situations we are facing in our lives. But we do not believe it, and we do not see that this is for us, because we think that we are not worthy of those promises and those answers that God has left in His word.
Today, I remember you; you are worthy of the goodness and mercy of the Lord. This was already delivered for you at the moment when Jesus decided to come to this earth and give His life because he loves you.
In Sarah and Abraham’s case, God gave them a promise that would have eternal effects. God has great purposes for you on this earth. Purposes and a mission that only you can fulfill, no one else. But many times, we focus solely on earthly life and lose sight of God's purpose for our life.
Sometimes, we don't get the answer we've been asking for because maybe we've been asking for earthly things or only focusing on earthly things. James alerts us to this in chapter 4:3, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
So, at the end of this year, in the midst of sad, painful or complicated circumstances that we may be going through, it is time to sit down and evaluate what we have been asking for, and why we have been going through these situations. We must seek the Lord and ask God for His mercy, but also His wisdom so that He can fulfill His purpose and His will in us, instead of us fulfilling our desire and our will.
Every time we approach the Lord, He in His infinite love speaks to us and straightens our way (Prov. 3: 5-6). That is when the words they spoke to Sarah in verse 18 will come to life in our hearts: "Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him."
I invite you to meditate on this question, and sincerely answer Him, Is there anything difficult or impossible for God?
I hope that this message can reach your understanding; enter your thoughts; and remove the doubt, frustration, and fear that is in your life. This will bring the Lord's answer to your need. As this year ends and a new year begins, may we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb. 12: 1-2), focused on the promises that the Great I AM has for our lives.