Happy New Year!

I know some of you are probably wondering why the title Happy New Year, when there are still three months left in 2020. There are two reasons. First, in a few days it will be the month of October, in which I will be celebrating another year of life all month long. Second, on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah represents the start of a new year, and was celebrated this year September 18th-20th. If you’re reading this and you’re not Jewish, you may be thinking that Rosh Hashanah does not apply to you, however, if you are a Christian, it’s important to note that you can also take part in this celebration. Just as the Jews were chosen by God, believers were also chosen according to 1 Peter 2:9 and participating in the Jewish celebrations should not be foreign to us. Now that we’ve gotten the semantics out of the way, let’s talk about why I’m already saying Happy New Year.

January 1, 2020 marked the new year on the Gregorian calendar. Pastors and leaders shared their prophetic words for the year, and we were all excited about what God was going to do in 2020. Then in March, most of us were caught off guard when the entire world was shut down by the pandemic. As the months of shut down continued, many began losing hope and some have even declared 2020 to be a wash. I want to declare to you that 2020 is not a wash. It is still the year of clarity, consistency, confidence and conquering. It is still the year of demonstrative declarations. It is imperative that we don’t throw in the towel on 2020, because if we do, we will go into 2021 with the wrong mindset, and we won’t be able to experience the “new things” that God has in store for us. Let me provide some insight on why my outlook is still positive.

As I mentioned on the Hebraic calendar it is a new year. The number for the new year is 5781. Each year also has letters associated with it, that have certain meanings. 5780 was the year for 2020 and marked the entering of a new decade. The letter associated with the number 80 is peh and means mouth. So, in 2020, we entered the decade of the mouth, which is why this is considered the decade of demonstrative declarations. To declare something means to say it out of your mouth. It is imperative that what we say out of our mouths creates life and not death (see Proverbs 18:21). 2020 is also associated with vision. This vision is not perfect vision, but it is clear vision, which is why I believe God revealed to me that the first thing we would experience in this year was clarity. However, if we throw in the towel on 2020, we’re basically turning a deaf ear to the voice of God, which will cause us to miss the strategies that He has for us to succeed in the midst of this chaos. The Hebrew letter for the number 1 is aleph, which means oneness with God. Now that we have entered the year 5781, we are to use our mouth to be in unity with God, or to be in alignment with God’s word.

In 35 days, the presidential election will take place. Regardless of who wins, as believers we have to be prepared for the response of the world. Now is the time more than ever to receive clarity on not only on how to vote, but also on how to stand in faith after the results of the election are released. We must consistently speak the word of God over these next 90 days in order for us to confidently go into 2021, knowing that we will conquer every obstacle thrown our way. On October 1st, I want you to join me on the 21 days of faith challenge, where for 21 days we will make declarations that will cause us to “faith up” in every area of our life. I’ll be posting daily and going live periodically during those 21 days to encourage us to stand in our faith. If you’re up for the challenge let me know in the comments with #faithup. Until next week…

Be blessed, but first comes obedience!

Rev. Robin