We end 2021, a year which so many of WE THE PEOPLE would love to forget.
It was a hard year, this COVID year. Information, advice, and of course regulations and requirements seem to change weekly, if not from time to time daily. Our economy, the American economy, suffered greatly 2019. Businesses closed, jobs went away, and unemployment skyrocketed. We witnessed both years the rapid rise of Cancel Culture, Critical Race Theory, the so–called 1619 Project, and a growing trend towards socialism, higher taxes and the curtailment of certain freedoms. 2019–20 was a very difficult time in American history and many of the difficulties remain. America, its freedoms, and democracy were attacked from so many different sources and so many different people. Inevitably, 2022 will be a challenging year but, my fellow Americans and especially my fellow Christians, it will be a great year for patriotism and real Christianity born again, energized meeting every challenge as God would have it. I am ready, my all on the altar for God and Country, for Jesus Christ and for America, privileged and delighted to be alive and in service, and I hope you are too.
So, LET US GIVE THANKS. Scripture tells us to give thanks for EVERYTHING. That is especially so for the life that we can live, no matter its hardships, our personal difficulties or economic hardships. In everything, says the Apostle Paul, give thanks, thanks for the good and the bad. No matter what it is the way and the will of God and we should understand and accept that.
Most of all, says Scripture, we should give thanks 2022 for the UNSPEAKABLE GIFT which God has given us, namely Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God for this savior of the world. May He be real to you 2022 like no year before.
The Apostle Paul thanks God for you, and so do I. You have listened to and supported the Crawford Broadcasting Company, its stations, its hardworking employees, its dedicated Christians and patriots, and we, all of us, THANK YOU WITH ALL OF OUR HEARTS.
Count your blessings and be happy for them. Be grateful to God for health, family, friends, for loved ones and no matter your circumstances, know how blessed you are in sickness and in health, in tribulations and triumphs, in joy and sadness, blessed you are as God works His will in your life. And all things work together for good to them who love God.
So, live well 2022. The Christ of Glory told us that HE came that our joy might be full. Therefore, enjoy life and live life joyfully. Be happy. Have fun. Laugh a lot. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. Think positive. Think, says the Apostle Paul on those things which are GOOD. Have FUN. Concentrate on the bright and light side of life. Christ came to give us life MORE ABUNDANTLY. Enjoy the abundance of life in 2022 like no year before.
And LOVE. Now says Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 abides faith, and hope, and love. But the greatest of these, the greatest of anything and everything is:
LOVE.
Enjoy it like never before. Share it. Talk about it. Tell others you love them. The love of Christ transforms. Claim it for your life like never before. Even as the love of Christ transforms, your love can also make a difference in somebody else’s life.
Remember the great Commandment, confirmed by Old Testament Prophets and further confirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ himself:
THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH AND THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF.
That is the first and the greatest Commandment. So the best of life is to love God, then to love your neighbor, but always remember, NEVER FORGET that you should:
LOVE YOURSELF
As this great Commandment states. The greatest love is threefold, God, neighbor and self. It is not enough to love God and to love your neighbor only. You must love yourself for God has made you and given you the opportunity to live and serve. Nothing, no matter how bad or negative, can ultimately matter if all three loves are part of your life. YOUR LIFE MATTERS. Make it count for all things good and right more than ever in 2022.
BE GRATEFUL FOR AMERICA. No matter our problems, some of which are indeed significant, we are privileged by our God to live in the greatest Country in the history of mankind. We yet remain a democracy, a republic, constitutionally governed even though all are under serious and severe attack. Cherish the freedoms you have including and especially religion, freedom of speech, freedom to worship as you well, freedom of press and the ability to write and publish, freedom of petition to the government, and freedom of assembly anywhere for any purpose. Protect those freedoms 2022 like never before. They are attacked everywhere by so many. And evil, devilish ever–growing number of peoples and entities are determined to erode or eliminate these precious constitutional, American freedoms. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN! Be American citizen–patriot 2022 more than ever before.
STUDY THE SCRIPTURE. Really study it. Spend time with it. Take biblical classes. Dialogue with friends, other students of THE WORD. Study to show yourself approved unto God, workmen and workwomen who will never be ashamed of the Gospel for they fully understand it, they rightly divide this word of truth. You can read nothing better, nothing. But don’t just read the Bible, STUDY IT!
WORK HARD, work harder 2022. Work is fulfilling, necessary. Nothing will motivate you to work harder than the love of Christ. From Him, in you, will come a greater WORK ETHIC. You will do more, much more IN ALL THINGS, and especially for Him. The Holy Spirit will show you things DIFFERENT, ways to grow and do better 2022. This very same Holy Spirit will show you things BETTER, so that things you may now take for granted will be energized, come alive in new, different and better ways and you will have new EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR. Your life can be so much better, so greatly different in the great year 2022. MAKE IT SO!
PRAY. Paul says pray without ceasing. All the time, everywhere about anything. OUR LORD AWAITS, awaits dialogue, petitions, questions, praise and thanks, especially praise and thanks. Talk to the Lord, SPEAK OFT WITH THY LORD. Sincere prayer is always heard and every prayer answered IN THE WILL OF GOD. DAVID prayed in the morning, first thing, and at noon and then again at night, regularly, formally. So should we. Prayer is the spiritual energy of life.
Rejoice in trials and tribulations. Know that all such are tests of your faith, your love, your beliefs. Scripture promises that God will never test you more than you can bear. No matter how difficult, you can bear it and you will as a result become a better person, a better Christian, a better servant of THE MOST HIGH. Welcome them (content in all things) no matter how difficult.
SET GOALS. Real goals, achievable goals. Worthwhile goals. And press on, understanding the high calling of God:
FOR YOUR LIFE.
Not in some esoteric, theoretical way. But goals which are consistent with the high calling which God has for:
YOU.
And only you. Never forget that you are special, called in God’s plan. That you be all that you can be is essential for the purpose of God, and for the fulfillment of your life. Press on for this high calling, keep trying, work hard. NEVER QUIT, never, never, never quit and never, never, never:
GIVE UP.
Never. Remember that:
A DIAMOND IS A PIECE OF COAL THAT STUCK TO ITS JOB!
May you be the diamond in the rough that God wants you to be.
BE PATIENT. Wait on the Lord, and again I say:
WAIT ON THE LORD.
Ask and you will receive, if you are patient. Seek and you will find, if you are patient. Knock and the door will be opened unto you, IF YOU ARE PATIENT.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. You can as Paul reminds us do all things through Christ who strengthens you, walks with you, talks with you, energizes you, leads, guides and directs you. DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF WITH ANYONE ELSE. You are one of a kind in God’s plan, and you must be fully you, doing what God would have you do WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT. Nothing is more fulfilling.
RESIST THE DEVIL. There is so much evil in this world. It is everywhere, coming at you daily, challenging, tempting, determined, see it coming and resist it, whether spiritual, political, cultural, and most importantly spiritually where THE WORD OF GOD, real Christianity, are challenged like never before. RESIST IT ALL! Resist the author and originator of this evil, the DEVIL HIMSELF, and if you do, if you stand strong in the Lord, this devil with his evil will FLEE FROM YOU.
DON’T LOOK BACK. Forgetting those things which are behind, says Paul, FORGETTING, really forgetting, psychological and spiritual burdens, negative, destructive, emotional weights which do nothing but prevent you from being all that you can be. Forget them. Move on. They bring nothing but GUILT to your life. They are constant satanic reminders of failure, compromise, mistakes, sin and having been forgiven by the Christ of Glory, and having done your best to reconcile:
MOVE ON.
YOU CAN’T CHANGE THE PAST! But the future, the great year of 2022 provides for you:
A CLEAN SLATE.
A start over. A new beginning. New opportunities. Fresh outlooks. A brand new chance to do better. Immerse yourself in these new opportunities without carrying the baggage of the past with you. DON’T LOOK BACK!
Even as you work hard and cultivate your work ethic 2022, and as you pursue economic gain and profit, remember the advice and the wisdom of the Apostle Paul:
WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN OR WOMAN TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS OR HER SOUL?
Money is a means, not an end. Earn it for a work man and woman are worthy of their hire. But when you earn, invest in the things of the Lord. Invest in eternal investments.
Enjoy any success you have, workman and workwoman worthy of the profit of your efforts. The more profit the more opportunity you have to give and give back. Do lots of that in 2022.
Success comes at the end of obstacles which you overcome. In fact, success is measured so often by those very obstacles, difficulties, problems which you solve and overcome. The mark of a true champion, a true hero is a body full of scars. Learn from those incidences. They make you a better person.
AND MISTAKES. You will make them all the time, everyday as we all do. Admit them. Confess them. CORRECT THEM. And most importantly:
LEARN FROM THEM.
And don’t repeat them.
Persevere. The harder the task, the greater the success. Stretch yourself. You are, all of us are better than we think we are. We are capable of doing more, much more than we have 2021. And we are capable of doing it better, and different, and more productively. So do it, do it as unto the Lord, do everything as unto the Lord.
Be smart. Be wise. Plan, think. Analyze and evaluate. Use your mind, your God–given reason, the mental powers which you have. None of us begin to use all that we have. Organize. Make your life more meaningful.
INTEGRITY. Be honest. Always tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Don’t add to the facts or leave out. Jesus complained over and again that there were far too many where THE TRUTH IS NOT IN THEM. Pilot in fact questioned whether or not there was any such thing as truth. But there is and when you know that truth, and you live by that truth:
THAT TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE.
David reminded us in Psalms that he walks in his integrity. So should we. It is a firm and real characteristic of the righteous man and woman.
God has a plan for you 2022. This plan is tailored, individualized:
ONLY FOR YOU.
Ask Him about that plan. Seek that plan. Knock on the spiritual door and ask for the leading of the Holy Spirit so that you can understand that plan. It can be constantly revised, updated. Know that, and learn from that. RESOLVE that 2022, this great year which Lord hath made, will be the best ever for you.
And so, my fellow Americans, my fellow Christians, I and all the wonderful, committed, Christian and patriotic Americans who work for the Crawford Broadcasting Company wish you and yours a very blessed, happy, fulfilled, Christ–centered New Year, a new year filled with love, joy, peace, fulfillment and happiness. Always remember that you are special. You are one of a kind, made by the Lord, here for His purposes. Work for the night is coming. Lift up your eyes but keep your feet on the ground. You are loved, loved most sincerely by your Creator. Relish that love, cherish it and live in it all year long.