Decisions Determine Destiny  
January 2016 
It is the beginning of a New Year and no matter how things are for you right now you should be seriously glad and joyfully happy because the grace of the Lord made a way for you to be here.  After all that last year brought, you have now crossed the threshold of a year that you have never seen before and will not ever see again and by the mercy of a loving God you are in it!  You are in a brand new year.  No doubt this year brings to all of us the blessings and burdens of its uncertainties. 
 
There will be moments where you confront obstacles that you will need faith in God to conquer, there will be times when you are faced with blessings that will flood you like a rapidly running river that overflows its river banks, and there will be seasons where you plant and have to wait for the increase to come.  But, no matter what you are faced with in the year to come, my prayer for you is that you would win it while you're in it!
 
If Paul is in trouble he says "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed..." (2 Cor. 4:8a); if he was having a bout with depression he would cheer himself up by saying "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice" (Phil. 4:4) and if Paul was facing enemies that hated him he would declare with boldness "and we know that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord..."(Romans 8:28a)! 
 
As we enter this New Year it is my belief that God wants you to not just be in it, but to win it while you're in it!  And there is a verse that will show you step-by-step how to do it.  (Philippians 1:19-24).   
 
What Paul is saying is that I have an attitude that says I plan to win no matter what!  
If you are going to win it you have to have an:
 
Attitude Of Complete Deliverance.   There's an old saying that comes from the words of a hymn that holds true and older saints used it quite a bit.  When they did not know how things were going to work here's what they said "The Lord will make a way somehow!" 
Attitude Of Confident Discovery I have learned how to live the Christian life with a degree of expectancy.  I know that God is able and I live expecting God to do things for me that no one else could ever do.  I walk with God expecting God to do supernatural things.  I expect great things from the Lord!  It is my spiritual attitude that I live with each day. 
Attitude Of Christ-Centered Determination.  The enemy wants you to quit!  He wants you to give up.  He wants you to lose.  He wants you to worry about things that you cannot control, lose sight of things that are real, forget about God's goodness and lose!  But, if you are going to win in life you have to be determined to do it.  Here's what he says "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain."  What words of total determination!  Paul says I am going to win no matter what.  If I live, I win Jesus is with me.  If I die, I win because I've always desired to be near the Lord anyway.  If I live, I win because I help you in the faith.  If I die, I win I'll be done with all of this.  This is the year of your blessing because you are not just in, you are in it with an attitude to win it!!!
 
Your friend and His servant,
Dr. Ronnie J. Mathis

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Proverbs 3: 5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine
own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
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