It’s not often I feel down and a little lost on how to pick myself up, but this is how I felt a few weeks ago. I won’t go into why, but needless to say I was a bit stuck and found myself one Saturday morning thinking, ‘I could quite happily stay in bed today.’

I didn’t know what to read or listen to because of how I was feeling.

I remember saying ‘Lord please know my heart, and help me’. Then there was a knock at the door.

It was our lovely Sarah and she had brought a daily devotional book for me.

You know, although the gift was lovely and greatly appreciated, what lifted my spirits, was seeing my friend at the door literally 2 minutes after I had cried out to the Lord.

Why am I telling you all this? Because this is my experience since becoming a Christian.

He’s always listening and hears our hearts cry.

I remember once when I’d been stuck at home for weeks while every child had chicken pox one after the other, saying ‘Lord, how will I ever make a difference in this world if I never see anyone?’ (7 weeks guys!) Then there was a knock at the door. It was a neighbour from a few doors away. She said, ‘Annie, I don’t know what or who you believe in, but please will you share it with me, because whatever it is, I want it’. That week she gave her life to the Lord.

I just feel to reassure us today, that the Lord is listening and He hears us. He is always loving, always faithful, always guiding, always protecting, always strengthening, always encouraging. We just need to ask.

Psalm 145:13-17(NLT)

13 For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.

You rule throughout all generations.

The LORD always keeps his promises;

he is gracious in all he does.[a]

14 The LORD helps the fallen

and lifts those bent beneath their loads.

15 The eyes of all look to you in hope;

you give them their food as they need it.

16 When you open your hand,

you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.

17 The LORD is righteous in everything he does;

he is filled with kindness.

In the meeting last week, we were encouraged to realise there is a mountain of God we can climb, instead of just cruising in life we can put effort into and push ourselves to go higher with God to push in to His presence. That is where the blessings really are.

My normal routine with God is telling him all about what I'm concerned about and then going into praise, but I was challenged to put praise first (Ephesians 1:3), to bring to mind the goodness, greatness and wonder of God and express it to Him before anything else.

The result of doing this, this week, is that I've been more full of joy, excitement and childlike lightness in my spirit.

I'm thankful to God when He tells us to give to Him in praise, especially when we don't feel like it, because He reaps back to us so much more.

I'm excited that He promises this year to pour out more blessing, to take us further with Him and that He's going to do more of the supernatural and things we can't explain if we will push into Him with praise and seek Him first.

I've been drawn recently to this scripture;

Luke 15:8 'Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully, until she finds it.'

In this simple verse, the Lord showed me three action points to encourage us with, for the year ahead:

1. Light a lamp - in psalm 119 it says; your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Make reading the word a priority more than ever this year, it will guide you and hold you fast, giving you everything you need.

2. Sweep the house - be Holy as God is Holy. Where there is sin or things hidden in your life, deal with them, love and forgive others, think on good things, choose to rise above arguments and disagreements that would distract you from His calling.

And finally ...

3. Search carefully - give careful consideration to the words you speak, our words are like a searchlight in the darkness. They have power to search the hearts of men, to reveal what is hidden, and draw people out of darkness into light. The power of life and death is in the words that we speak over ourselves and others. There will be much fruit when we choose them carefully.

Philippians‬ ‭3:12‭-‬13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I am not sure how 2023 went for you. Maybe it was amazing or maybe it was a slog. It might have been your first year as a christian or maybe you have walked knowing Jesus as your saviour for many years.

However 2023 was for you, God wants you to go deeper, further and higher with Him in 2024!

Deeper: God wants you to draw deeper in your relationship with Him. James 4:8 says to draw near to God and He will draw near to you. God wants to spend time with you but He also wants you to want to spend time with Him. God wants to be closer to you in 2024 but He also wants more fruit from you in 2024. In John 15:5 Jesus talks about our closeness with Him and how with this closeness we "bear much fruit".

Further: What dream has God put on your heart? What did God ask you to do in 2023? Did you step out into a new area? If so, then well done on dreaming, well done on listening and well done on being brave to take the step of faith. Now in 2024 "press on" Philippians‬ ‭3:12‭-‬13‬. God wants you to continue to run the race! Now the thing about running a race is you don't stay in the same place. The longer you are in the race, the further you go.

So that dream, God wants to make a reality. That prompting, God wants to make a happening. And that thing you started, He wants to propel you.

Higher: So in 2024 get closer to God and go further with Him and this will help you to succeed and take you higher, wherever 2023 has left you. Genesis 39:2 & 21 both say the Lord was with Joseph and He showed favour to him. Due to this Joseph prospered where he was and moved higher up in position. So whether you are unemployed, the cleaner in a company, middle management or the CEO, God wants to be with you and show you favour.

So let's be people that go deeper, higher and further with God in 2024!