Happy New Year! 2020 has come and gone. For some, you couldn’t wait to turn the calendar page and have a fresh start. I totally get it. I am done with lockdowns, masks, hand-sanitizer, social-distancing, etc., etc., etc. (or in the words of good friends, and so forth and so forth!!!)
Quite honestly, I am glad we are in the New Year. I have to say that we were beyond blessed to see how God worked at America’s Keswick in 2020 despite the pandemic. There are so many stories to tell the demonstrated how God cared for us, protected us, and provided for our needs.
One of our catchphrases was “You can’t script this out” when it came to the ways God was at work. I must tell you that as the new year has rolled in, I shared with my team that so far, the new catchphrase is “You really can’t script this stuff out.” More on that in the weeks to come.
I only received three emails with guys sending me their word for the year! If you missed last week’s Freedom Fighter, please go back and check it out and send me your “word” for the year.
As I told you last week, my word is PREVAIL. In the first 48 hours of this new year, the word PREVAIL has shown up five times in my devotional readings.
Our 2021 theme is UNSTOPPABLE LOVE—Living in Light of the Gospel. If there was ever a time in our world that we need to understand the love of God and loving each other. The only way we can love in this world is to love like Jesus has commanded us to love.
This leads to our theme verses: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are MY disciples if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35
The way the world will know you are a DISCIPLE is not how many titles you have before your name. I have been awarded two HONORARY Doctorates, which for me, who never completed college, was an unbelievable honor. I have had a dozen people who have EARNED doctorates tell me to my face that what I have doesn’t count – one Pastor told me that what I have is a “dead doctorate” degree. LOL!
Titles don’t prove you are a disciple of Jesus. Neither does your resume, how much you tithe, how many times you go to church a week, how many people you have witnessed, and even led to Christ.
The proof that you are a disciple from the LIPS OF JESUS is this: If you love one another as He has loved you, they will know you are one of HIS disciples. Wow.
You want to know something – whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you don’t have to like the President or the President-elect. You don’t have to like the Governor of your state.
I remember that late Dr. William Raws shocking all of us by saying he didn’t like Osama Bin Laden, BUT he was praying for his salvation and asking God to help him love him in the same way Christ loved him. WOW!
There are very few people that I can say that I dislike. If you are reading this, guess what? You are not one of them. Even though my list is short, God reminded me this morning that it isn’t even about liking them – it’s about loving them.
Humanly speaking? That’s not easy. But if we are a child of God, filled with His Spirit, we can love those “sandpaper” people in our lives IN LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL.
Will you join me this year in memorizing these two verses? Guess what? I can tell you for sure, for certain – God will test your faith in this area. But it will be worth it.
Think about it.
Living in light of the gospel,
Bill Welte, President/CEO
America’s Keswick
Write to Bill: bwelte@americaskeswick.org
Written by Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: Bill has been married to his childhood sweetheart for 40+ years and has four married kids and 12 amazing grandkids. He loves music and is an avid reader.
