MESSAGE TOPIC: STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW YEAR.

MESSAGE TOPIC: STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW YEAR.

TEXT 1: Isaiah 1:19-20
“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it]”.
Text 2: Isaiah 43:1-3
“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine. When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I [am] the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt [for] thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.”
Text 3: Luke 14:28-30
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have [sufficient] to finish [it]? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish [it], all that behold [it] begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”
Text 4: Matthew 11:28-29
“Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Text 5 : Ecclesiastes 10:10
“If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom [is] profitable to direct.”

We need to do two things in the month of December....
(1) Showing appreciation to God for all he has done for us throughout the year.
(2) Secondly we use the month to build our confidence for the New Year. 
Note that what you believe always comes to pass. Every New Year is supposed to be better than the previous, only if you believe. 
Note that there is good in every land. Isaiah 1:19 says”
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land"

There is no reason to obey if there is no instruction. 
Every year comes with its own blessings and challenges. 
You need to understand how to tap into the blessings and how to get over the challenges and be victorious. When you study God and understand God very well , you will understand that God has program for every year.

Also note that God does not give evil things, it’s only the devil that gives evil things. So let us not attribute evil prophesies from evil men of god to God’s plan, our Gods wish for us is that of good and not evil.

It is not the state of your nation or the economy of the nation that will make people suffer in the coming year, it’s the ignorance of people. What you know will surely see you through the New Year only if you put it into action. To make it in the New Year, you don’t have to hope in miracles, you need to put strategies in place that will make you successful and prosperous.

Note that where there are no strategies, there will be tragedies. So to avoid tragedies, you must put strategies in place for 2017.

What is a strategy? 
A careful plan to achieve a given goal, usually over a given time. It is a method put in place in advance to achieve given objectives.It is also a method to achieve something ...usually a goal.

Note that God can change the story of your life within few seconds. Don’t use the mentality of "your God is a slow God into the new year"

Note that you don’t need to talk of government policies more than God's policies.

Forget about what the economy is saying, think and believe in the policies of God in 2017.

During the time of challenges, some develop crutches, while others develop wings to fly. As everyone is talking about recession now, it is not a time to brood. Take up wings and fly because our God is a God of possibilities.

What are the strategies we need for the new year: 
1. Never substitute proper planning with prayers.
You cannot substitute planning with prayers...it cannot work!
Most of our prayers are wrongly placed. We pray for things to change rather than praying prayers that will change us. What you need when you pray is a prayer that will change who you are and now what is wrong with you.

2. Be informed....you need the right information to be successful. You cannot keep a knowledgeable man in bondage for too long. This is because what he knows will see him through all obstacles. 
Note that if you are not informed, you will end up being deformed! So you need information in order not to be deformed. 
How much you know determines how far you will go in life. Any one above you in life, knows something that you don’t know.

Information opens new doors. To be ahead in life you need to be informed. Once information becomes obsolete, there will never be any transformation. S you need to always keep being informed.
For 2017 to be better than your 2016, you must be better informed.

3. Go for trainings.
To reign in life, you must be trained. Before any promotion is given to any one in life, you must have been trained. Until you know more, you are not entitled to be more. More does not come by praying, but by learning. So get training, get learning and grow.
When you are not trained, you will be drained. If training is not done, one is totally drained.

4. Evaluate the outgoing year.
History repeats itself always when people fail to evaluate their previous actions. Every one that wants to grow in the coming year must evaluate the outgoing year. Mistakes made this year, must not be repeated in the coming year. Note that the reason you are still alive is to have another opportunity to try and make it right.

5. Mind what you hear!

God does not judge us by what we hear, but he judges us with what we do with what we hear!

You are at liberty to hear anything, but you have the power to determine what to do with what you hear. In the New Year make sure that negative people are far from you and your family.

Make sure you are not surrounded with negative people. If you don’t use your mind, no one will ever mind you.

6. Make necessary adjustments

When things are wrong, until you agree that you caused it, or part of the people that caused it, you cannot come out of it. You need to make lots of adjustments in life. There are some weights you must shade off in 2017 to move forward. You need to break some relationships, you need to cut some expenses, and you need to plan your finances better
You need to avoid some people in 2017; you need to avoid some places.

7. Know when to use your knees and not your head.

If your value of kneeling in god in prayer increases, your value of standing before men of honour will increase. Know the time to use your knee, also know the time to use your brain. If you use your brain when you need to use your knee, you will not get result.

8. Work in divine instruction and obedience.

At every time in your life, god is willing to tell you what to do to get out of it and be victorious.

When God is your instructor, your outcome and results in life are predictable. Even pharaoh who is an unbeliever knew he needed to understand the meaning of the dream he had. You need to obey divine instruction.

9. Depend on your mind than your eyes.

The fear of failure, of what people will say, fear of will it work? The fear of what the world feel about it, has destroyed many. Every Christian must have the ability to train his /her mind to hear and understand when god speaks. For you to enjoy 2017 train your mind to know when it is god who is speaking to you. Once again every year comes with its own goodness and challenges. It is what you know, understand and put to practice that will see you through in 2017.

PRAYERS:
•Oh God I thank you for making me a living soul in the name of Jesus.
•My remaining blessings in this year, locate me by fire in the name of Jesus.
•What the enemies could not waste in my life from the beginning of this year, they shall not succeed in the remaining days of this year in the name of Jesus.
•Powers forcing me to turn my stones to bread die in the name of Jesus.
•My father if I have turned my stone to bread, help me to turn it back to stone in the name of Jesus. 
•My father what is inside me that will deliver me from poverty that I cannot see, father wake it up by fire in the name of Jesus. 
•Wisdom to reign as a king in the New Year my life is available, enter in the name of Jesus. 
•Oh God arise and show me the way forward in the New Year in the name of Jesus. 
•My father the power for obedience even when it is not convenient and does not make sense, I need it in the name of Jesus.
•Powers to finish well , my life is available , enter in the name of Jesus 
•End of the year disaster my life and family is not your candidate, scatter in the name of Jesus.
•End of the year blessings , I am available , locate me in the name of Jesus.
•The wisdom to defeat all that has been defeating me, my life is available; enter in the name of Jesus. 
•Powers to do better than I have ever done in my life enter in the name of Jesus.