Post 22: 2025 Year-End Reflections
Image: Mountains with water reflecting the image of the mountain, showing the words "Reflections" and a cross, each also reflected in the water.
Summary: This post shares some brief reflections of how God as been working in my life since I repented from my own self-centered way and turned to trust solely in Christ for salvation through His perfect sacrifice on the cross.
As the year draws to a close, I decided to share some reflections on some of the many things that God has opened my eyes to see the year (including reflections since my salvation back in mid-February 2024), while remembering and giving Him thanks for what He has done.
Personal Spiritual Growth/Reflections:
I thank God for His faithfulness to His promise to save all who would put their trust and faith in the blood payment made by Christ Jesus! Jesus has saved me from wage of my sins (Romans 6:23) and reconcile us back to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). I remember the fallen state I was in prior to my salvation (See Post 1: From Birth, Before Christ), and reflect on how God has been so gracious and merciful to me in convicting me of my fallenness (See Post 2: A Mysterious Burden) . By the conviction of His Holy Spirit, he showed me my sinfulness! (John 16:8-11)! God also showed me my utter inability to save myself by any other thoughts, ideas, or means, and that Christ was the only way to truth and eternal life (John 3:16-19, Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8-9)! I discuss more about finding the salvation of Christ in Post 3: The Light Cometh.
Reflecting on these past 22 months (since Feb 2024), I have begun to see many ways God has been providing all of my needs...and then some! He has provided (and will continue to provide) all of my needs, chiefly being my spiritually need of forgiveness through the salvation of Christ Jesus (John 3:16, Ephesians 1:7), which has put all other things into perspective! He has also provided everything I have and all that I am is because of Him! He has given me purpose, peace, and joy unlike anything else in my life prior to salvation. Matthew 6:31-33, Philippians 4:19, and 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 are just a small sample of the many passages of scripture that show us Gods provision.
Despite my job loss in July 2024 (See Post 10: Outcome of the Storm) and current lack of employment, He has graciously provided resources with which I can live off of for the time being and share generously with others! Immediately following the job loss, there was some initial anxiety about what would come next. I determined in me that I would "cast my cares onto Jesus" (Matthew 6:34, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7) and after a while I recognized that He took away the anxiety as my focus was on the overcomer and not on the current problem! Leaning on Him in this time of uncertainty (Proverbs 3:5-6) has definitely helped to grow my faith and trust in Him! Knowing that He is sovereign over all things (Proverbs 16:9, Ephesians 1:11), I have utmost confidence in Him as He holds my life in His hands!
I have also experienced a bit of persecution because of sharing the gospel. Thus far in my walk with Christ, I have had a neighbor (see Post 13: Persecution from a neighbor) and a close friend (See Post 16: Persecution from a childhood best friend) both express vocal hatred toward me as I've shared the gospel (John 3: 16-17) with them and warn them of the wrath of God that is coming on the unbelieving world (John 3:18). I was met with a scathing rebuke of "How dare I judge them as thought I don't have sin" and they cursed me out on a few occasions. In these situations, I am recognizing that all I am doing is sharing the truth with them and pointing them to salvation in God through Christ but they despise the light and those who bring the light because they love and live in the darkness (John 3:19-20). While dealing with old friends becoming enemies in this way does hurt, Gods word shows us that persecution is inevitable for the believer (Matthew 5:10-12 , John 15:18-20) and that we should trust Him in all situations, regardless of the outcome. I recognize that Jesus suffered so much more for His message of salvation than I or any one else ever will and I am so grateful that He willingly suffered on our behalf! Despite this persecution, I trust completely in God's sovereignty and His word which helps me to find comfort in knowing that my task is simply to share the message of Christ without worrying about how others will react to it!
God has also been developing in me a heart of genuine service and love to others, both for believers and unbelievers alike (See Post 8: A Neighbor in Need). God has been showing me that we all need the gospel of Jesus Christ (Psalm 14:2-3, Romans 3:23-24) and that one way we also are called to service is through the sharing of the gospel message that others might be saved (1 Corinthians 9:16, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Romans 1:16)! Those of us that are saved by grace through faith in Christ never outgrow the gospel because we can never hear too much how our Savior sacrificed His life for our forgiveness and reconciliation! Those who are not trusting solely in Christ's shed blood on the cross to wash them of their sins do not have Gods forgiveness and urgently need to hear the gospel because the message of Christ is salvation to those who believe! As I committed myself to serve God, I felt like He was calling me to be a servant in the Union Gospel Mission and so have been consistently serving in both the Men's and Women's shelters in my area. I am finding such joy in serving, knowing that my service is unto the Lord (Matthew 25:35-40, Colossians 3:23-24)!
I am so thankful to God for many of the prayers that he has answered and grateful to Him that He even listens to the prayers of those whose faith is in Christ and answers prayers according to His good will! For example, when I shared with my mom back in Feb 2024 that I got saved, one of the first things she expressed was immense gratitude to God for having finally answered her daily prayers concerning my own salvation! Knowing that mom had been praying for me all my life really showed me that God does indeed answer prayers (John 14:13-14, 1 Peter 3:12)! God also answered my prayers in finding a gospel-centered church home (See Post 11: Multi-Church Child of God). I cannot express the gratitude I have to God for saving me as well as answering prayers!
Since I came to a change of mind about who Christ is and put my complete trust in His sacrificial, atoning death on the cross to pay for my own sins, God has transformed me in a number of ways. In salvation, God has given me assurance of the truth of His word and the truth in Christ Jesus, having forgiven me of my wayward nature and promised me the amazing and free gift of eternal life! He has shown me in His word that trusting in Christ's blood payment for my sins is all that is needed for forgiveness and as a result of being forgiven, we are reconciled to God through Christ (Ephesians 2:16, Romans 5:10, Colossians 1:21-23). I know that God has put His Spirit of Truth inside me that testifies within me of the truth of God's Word (John 14:17, John 15:26).
Knowing that Gods word is true (John 17:17)has helped me to begin relying on Him in more areas of the life that He has given me. I am learning to trust the Lord because He is faithful to His own promises (Lamentations 3:22-23, Deuteronomy 7:9, 2 Timothy 2:13) and He promises the free gift of eternal life to those who have faith in Christ Jesus! God is all powerful, all-knowing, ever-present and sovereign over all heaven and earth, and trusting that these things are true of Him really does help me to better rely on His guidance and direction in all things. Gods word says that He is good, His is just, and in Him there is no darkness, which tells me that His judgements are just, even when I don't understand why. I am also learning to be content with the fact that there are some things we will never know about our eternal God because we are only temporary finite beings that could not possibly know all there is to know about Him!
I can also attest that my faith in Christ has grown over these last 22 months since committing to more intentionality about daily prayer and worship, regularly reading the Bible, obeying Gods commands, and surrendering my own will to His for all aspects of life. In all honesty, most of these spiritual disciplines started out as being either difficult for me or I was initially unconvinced of their necessity, especially reading the bible regularly. Anyone who has spent anytime reading the bible can attest that it by no means an easy read. At first, I would read a bit a couple times a week, and was not very disciplined in pushing through the hard passages. As I began setting more intentionality towards God and recognized that I cannot know Him without getting to know His Word, I began praying and asking the Holy Spirit to help me with reading and understanding the bible. Over this time, God has help me in this regard and reading His word has become easier and more of a desire for me. I am at a point now where I am either reading the word or listening to audio bible almost every day and have come to enjoy reading the bible (Psalm 119:105, Jeremiah 15:16, 2 Timothy 3:16).
Growing up around the gospel but never really trusting Christ for salvation, I used to see others in the church I grew up in express such joy and praise to God and I never really understood back then. Now, having been saved since Feb 2024, I am learning about who God is and how He shows us His amazing love and grace in the sacrifice of Christ! The revelation of His truth in my life has given me such joy. Often, when pondering scripture that comes to mind or thinking of how he has delivered me from the wage of my sin, my heart does indeed fill up with joy and gladness! Now I am beginning to understand and agree with how those relying on Christ for salvation openly and joyfully praise and worship him for who He is and thank Him out loud for what He has done for us! Now, being found in Christ, I can attest that the joy of salvation in Christ comes from knowing that through my faith in Him, I have been forgiven and made right with God, and meditating on Christ's sacrifice for me has sometimes brought me to joyful tears (Psalm 16:11, John 15:11, Galatians 5:22-23)!
I have discovered new found purpose in Christ, that is to mirror Christ in my own life and share the message of His salvation to others (Ephesians 2:10, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 1 Peter 3:15). I must admit that this is not an easy thing to do, especially in a world that has such hatred for those who speak the truth in Christ rather than affirm their waywardness outside of Christ. The animocity that some people have towards Christians and those who seek to share the gospel is staggering and often dishearting, however I know that Gods word says this hatred of Him will continue until His final judgement is pronounced on the unbelieving world and sin is purged completely from His creation! I recognize that we all need saving and many of us used to share a similar distaste for Christ before we came to understand the truth of the gospel and believe in Jesus!
Areas for upcoming growth and progress:
Struggles: I did struggle with doubts about my salvation in the first several months since being saved. These doubts occurred because I turned to YouTube to try to explain what salvation really was and how it occurred in my life rather than turning to God's Word to search for those answers. This lead me very close to believing teachings that suggest that my salvation occurred because I'm some how more special that another person and that I somehow have to be perfectly obedient after salvation in order to maintain it. This, of course, did not lead to peace because no one can be perfect (1 John 1:8). This also lead to doubt because the bible says that we are not justified by works (Galatians 2:16) and our righteousness is but filty rags (Isaiah 64:6) but I was mistakenly coming to believ that my actions can influence or maintain salvation. I've also come to recognize that these doubts came because I was not really trusting in God's Word.
Pruning: I recognize that there are a few bad habits/unhealthy pursuits that I feel need to be severely reduced or even eliminated to make way for more godly habits that will bring about new spiritual growth (John 15:2). Even though I have been more intentional in developing my relationship to God through spiritual disciplines like bible reading and prayer, I do spend a fair amount of time on YouTube and recognize there is room to reduce that time and replace it with God-focused activities.
Obedience: I admit that I have not been as obedient as the bible says we ought to be. I have not been sharing the gospel as urgently or consistently as I know I ought to, especially knowing that Gods word is true concerning the wrath that will come onto the unbelieving world. I also acknowledge that I, as a child of God, I have been willfully disobedient at times in choosing to commit sin admist temptation as well as not doing things that I know to be good. I recognize that we grow in our obedience as we grow in faith and I thank God that it is not our obedience to any law that saves us, but our faith in Christ that His blood payment on the cross is sufficient to pay for all sins!
Discipleship: I am still very young in the faith, and currently learning about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Jesus directly calls those who believe in Him to go throughout the nations sharing the good news of His salvation and making disciples of men (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:8). I recognize my need for on-going learning and growth in discipleship and trust that the Lord will grow me appropriately in this regard as I continue moving forward being an ambassador of Christ.
Conclusion:
I am immensely thankful to God for salvation in Christ Jesus, my Lord! I recognize that His redemption of my life has given me immeasurable joy, peace that surpasses all understanding, and eternal purpose in Him! God promises forgiveness and reconciliation to those who place their faith in Christ Jesus for the blood He shed on the cross to pay IN FULL for our sins! I can attest that God is indeed faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous (1 John 1:9) as He has done that for me and I am forever grateful!!