2012 will be a great year.

Even with 363.5 days left in the year I can’t shake the feeling/knowledge that this year will be the best one yet.

Will people die?  It’s inevitable.  Will we have fully recovered from the recession?  Probably not.  Will horrible events take place like people losing their homes, their jobs, and their families?  Unfortunately yes.  But 2012 will still be the best year ever.

How do I know?  Because God is good and I have faith that He’s in control.  In fact, all I have to go on is faith.

For the past 2 weeks I have prayed for 2012.  That’s when I noticed a difference in perception.  At first, I was thinking that 2012 would be a year of maintenance.  Maintaining what we have and just trying to survive.  But God changed that perception.  Eventually I realized that 2012 would be a year of moving forward.  A year of ADVANCEMENT.

The word advance as a verb means, “to move forward, typically in a purposeful way.”

Stop looking back to the good or bad events of 2011.  2011 is gone.  Leave them be.  Instead, look forward.  Then take the first step and advance.

No longer will we, as Christians, maintain what we have.  Instead, we will risk it all for the cause of Jesus Christ.

No longer will be okay with good enough.  Instead, we will strive for excellence.

No longer will be cower when hard times force us into a corner.  Instead, we will face these events head on and with full steam ahead.  They will not break us, but will make us stronger and give us more determination.

No longer will we accept the influences of this world, but we will influence this world and the people around us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Dear fellow believer, make this your resolution and don’t give up.  Start the race and finish it.

As Christians and as the Church, WE WILL ADVANCE.