A New Year often comes with new resolutions, new insights and new dispositions, but nothing can truly be renewed or restored without God’s grace.

God’s grace is the blessing of God, His favour gently and generously bestowed upon those who love Him. God’s grace is generative, it gives birth to new opportunity, to faith, hope, peace, joy and love.

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

When the Angel Gabriel came to announce to the Virgin Mary that she was chosen to be the Holy Mother of God, he said: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Luke 1:28

And Our Blessed Lady, Mary received the messenger of God with joy giving her consent to God with these words: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.” Luke 1:38

The Virgin Mary was blessed by God to play a key role in God’s plan of salvation. In her, God would be conceived in the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In 2016 God’s plan of salvation continues and there continues to be an ongoing battle between God and Satan and between God’s children and Satan’s diabolical followers.

This battle was foretold in the beginning of creation. After the sin of Adam and Eve, God spoke these words to His enemy Satan.

God said to Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

In this prophecy, God spoke of the Virgin Mary, the woman chosen to give birth to Our Saviour Jesus Christ who would through His Passion, Death and Resurrection crush the head of the serpent Satan, the source of all evil, redeeming all who would believe in Jesus. Satan wounded the heel of Our Lord when Jesus was crucified and killed for our salvation.

In 2016 we all have a decisive choice to make: will there be enmity (i.e., an opposing force) between us and Satan or will we fall prey to his empty promises and temptations?

Disciples of Jesus we are called to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:11-12

St. Peter warns us to “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

To fight the good fight of faith we need to trust in God, believing in His infinite love for us and in His willingness to supply us with the grace we need to be faithful servants of God.

St. Paul teaches us to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:11-12

Let us understand how we need to arm ourselves for a decisive battle against evil in 2016 as we fight ‘the good fight of faith’.

“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,” Ephesians 6:14

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

The belt of truth consists of everything Jesus taught us: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35   If we love God, we must sincerely dedicate our lives to following Jesus, trusting in Him and letting Him work through us.

If you keep the ‘belt of truth’ buckled around your waist, Satan will never catch you with your pants down dishonouring God because you will be living in accordance with God’s will, keeping His commandments. Remember Satan wants you focus all your energies on self-gratification but God wants you to focus on giving Him glory. As we shift our focus from pleasing ourselves to pleasing God we will find the path of sanctification and the true purpose of our lives and in pursuing that sacred purpose we will find peace and joy.

When we sin we lose the breastplate of righteousness. Satan wounds our soul and we are no longer a force of opposition against the spiritual forces of evil in the world. So we must prepare ourselves for battle by confessing our sins, turning away from the choices that have offended God and begin making choices to please God.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

“For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.” Ephesians 6:15 God wills us to proclaim His love and His truth that He is a God of peace and all disciples of Jesus are all called to embrace God’s peace and be peacemakers.

The first apostles walked from town to town telling the people of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ: “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21 Let us continue to proclaim the will of God that all people work to build peace in the world: “Let him turn away from evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it.” 1 Peter 3:11

The armour we are to wear for battle consists of faith and hope that gives us the strength to do God’s will: “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6: 16-17

With true faith Satan’s attempts to tempt us will fail because we will know and love God and trust in His omnipotence to help us to live just and holy lives. We wear ‘salvation’ as a helmet because our hope and trust in God’s saving grace protects our minds from discouragement and despair. Like good soldiers we know our marching orders and the Word of God (the Bible of God’s instructions) becomes the sword we use to protect and defend ourselves from attacks from the evil one.

Remember this:

God is all powerful (omnipotent), God is all knowing (omniscient) and God is always present (omnipresent) to help you. Satan and his diabolical forces should not be underestimated because Satan is a fallen angel with higher intelligence but his power and his knowledge are limited, God’s power and knowledge are not limited and if you resist the devil, he will leave you alone because he has many easy targets to pursue.

In addition Satan is predictable in his tactics. He will always prey on your senses. He will want you to lust for money and things. He will always want you to give up that which is holy in exchange for things which are not holy Example: Satan would love for you to have no time to worship God, no time for your family and friends.

Beware of work – life balance. Satan wants you to love money above everything else in your life. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10

Satan will tempt you by using “FUD” tactics. FUD stands for fear, uncertainty and doubt.

If you are afraid of being unpopular, you may follow a crowd into many sinful experiences, including drinking, drugs, sexual promiscuity etc.

If you are uncertain about who you are and have no real sense of identity then your excuse for sin will likely be “it just happened”.

Disciples of Christ are clear about who we are: we belong to Jesus! We are not afraid of saying no to things that are against God’s will. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

Finally if you doubt God’s love for you, then you will be an easy target because Satan wants you to doubt God’s ability to keep you safe in His heart.

In 2016, let us focus on making choices that will honour God and let us embrace the most powerful weapon we have: PRAYER AND TRUST IN JESUS!

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18

I invite you to make a daily pilgrimage to Calvary as you contemplate the Passion of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I will bet that in this daily contemplation of the suffering of Our Lord Jesus something very powerful will happen to you: You will fall in love with your Saviour and you will understand the meaning of these words very intimately:

“We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

Satan has taken so many souls and Jesus wants them back!

If you love God then know your true mission is to work with God to save souls.

How do we fight for souls?

Answer: By living holy lives and by praying for all souls as we invoke the omnipotence of Our Lord Jesus Christ to save and extend His merciful love and saving grace to all!

Please synchronize your watches!

Everyday at 3pm (in your local time zone) stop to remember that 3pm is the time Jesus Christ died on the Cross for you and me and all souls. It is the Hour of Mercy! Stop to worship Jesus at this time and pray if but for a few moments as you remember how much He suffered to save you.

“They will look on the one they have pierced.” John 19:37

May the price that Jesus paid to set us free be always upon our minds so that we can be faithful to the Holy One who gave everything to give us an eternal right to peace and joy with Him in paradise.