We begin a new season: Welcome to 2025!
As we step into this new year, many are establishing fresh goals and dedicating themselves to various projects. This article outlines how to initiate any project you have in mind, along with the goals and aspirations you wish to accomplish.
The essential principle is revealed in Genesis 1:1,
“In the beginning God…”
Let these four simple words serve as the cornerstone for any endeavor you wish to undertake in 2025. Start with God.
Psalm 127 opens with the following verse:
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).
This article reveals a three-step process that illustrates how to begin with God, maintain your journey with Him, and ultimately achieve success by ending well.
It also demonstrates how Jesus employed these steps during his earthly life, thus providing us a template to follow as we begin this new season.
1. How Jesus Began His Divine Project
Before Jesus began his ministry of preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, he began by seeking God and His power. He achieved this by getting baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him.
He received the divine power to begin his divine project on earth through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the first step of the process when undertaking any project is to begin with God.
Step 1: Begin With God
Make God the cornerstone of everything you pursue in 2025 and beyond. As you embark on any journey, allow God to lead the way. Start each day with Him, and witness the remarkable transformation in your life when you base all your actions in Christ.
Begin each day by connecting with God through prayer, Scripture reading, or worship. Allow the word of God to nourish your spirit daily; commit to reading it first thing in the morning, before checking texts, emails, or news feeds.
Take a moment to be present with God. Inquire about the word of the day, and He will reveal it to you through your reading of the Scriptures.
Starting your day with God can set a positive tone for all your tasks. Dedicate your projects to Him and trust that His mercies are renewed each morning, leading to the success of your efforts. Also remember to take your time; approach each day one step at a time.
God created the heavens and the earth in six days, He took a moment at the end of each day to pause, reflect on His work, and acknowledged that “it was good.”
Likewise begin with God, work, pause, reflect and express gratitude to Him. Everything begins and ends with God, through Christ, who is the Alpha and Omega. Jesus initiates and perfects it all.
If God has laid the foundation, find peace in knowing that what you’re building will reach completion as long as you continue to obey and trust in His word. Keep laying the bricks, take time to pause, reflect, and offer God your praise.
2. How Jesus Continued His Divine Project
Soon after Jesus received the Spirit of God he went into prayer and fasting for 40 days. Believers, we too have received the Spirit of God that enable us to commune with God through prayer, fasting and meditating on His Word.
After the fast, Jesus yielded to the Holy Spirit, who led him to be tempted. In the temptation, he still obeyed God by yielding to His eternal word.
He submitted to God right up to the cross, fulfilling every task assigned by His Father with utmost perfection. Thus setting the standard that all men are to obey and be led by the Spirit of God, this is the second step.
Step 2: Obey God And Be Led By The Spirit
Obedience to God is letting go of our desires and allowing His word to take precedence over our lives. It gives us the assurance that we will end well.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 lists great promises for obeying the LORD and keeping His commands.
Additionally, in the latter days of his life, Solomon came to this one conclusion after trying to amass wisdom, living in luxury, indulging in fine foods and music, and more:
Ecclesiastes 12:13 NLT
Fear God and obey his commands
Obedience to God is facilitated by being led by The Spirit, without the Spirit of God, it is impossible to live according to God’s will. And by His grace, the Holy Spirit has been poured to all believers that we may live being led by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25 NLT
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
3. How Jesus Finished His Divine Project
Jesus began with God, obeyed God throughout His life and finished well. It’s for this reason that at the cross, he said, “It is finished” in John 19:30. His goal of redeeming humanity and preaching the Good News was successfully complete.
Believers are proof of the finished redemptive project of Jesus Christ. No longer are we alienated from God, we can now enter his presence with boldness knowing that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sins.
Step 3: Finish Well
Dear reader, do not jeopardize starting with God but ending poorly. Moses began his journey with God, trusting and believing in Him, yet he missed the promised land due to disobedience.
Therefore, the key to ending well lies in total obedience and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and guide our lives.
Another biblical example to illustrate this is found in the life of Saul. He started well as the anointed king of Israel, but did not end well because of disobedience. He lost his kingship, but the biggest tragedy was that the Spirit of God departed from him (1 Samuel 16:14).
If you disobey along the way, confess to God immediately, and ask for His mercy to take you back in alignment with His will.
By the year’s end, I believe we will all be able to utter the phrases, “It is finished” or “I have fought a good fight.” These concluding words were spoken by Jesus and Paul, respectively, as they approached the end of their lives. They experienced no regrets, having faithfully followed God’s will and fully realized their divine purpose.
Dear reader, if you are reading this article having began without God, do not be dismayed. When the disciples embarked on a journey by boat without Jesus, a storm swept down upon them and the sea grew very rough. But Jesus walked on water and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am here!” (John 6:20).
Accept Jesus to join the journey with you, this assures that you will finish well. This event concluded by something so profound and has been recorded as follows:
John 6:21 NLT
Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!
Like the disciples, I trust you will be eager to bring Jesus onboard. Even though the raging seas may persist, his presence guarantees that the destination will be reached.
4. How To Know If You Have Finished Well?
It will end in thanksgiving and praise. As simple as this soundS, you will know at the end of a project that you have finished well when you end in praise.
Solomon upon completion of building the Temple of the LORD ended the project with praise and thanksgiving (1 Kings 8:14).
Paul wrote to the people in Philippi how he gives thanks to God for the Good News being preached. He gives them this assurance:
“I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished” (Philippians 1:6).
God is not just a beginner, He is a finisher!
To buttress this notion of praise and thanksgiving, when Jesus ascended to heaven, Luke 24:51-52 records that Jesus blessed his disciples.
While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple praising God.
5. Final Remarks
Begin, continue and finish with God. Stay obedient to Him, this guarantees that you will finish well. Keep the faith, because the journey will not be a straight path.
The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time (Psalm 34:19).
Isn’t this an incredible promise? Regardless of the challenges we face, the pain and disappointments, God will ultimately deliver us from all of them.
It’s akin to entering a battle with the certainty that we will emerge victorious in the end. While we must confront the battle and may endure some tough moments along the journey, we can be confident that the ultimate victory will belong to us.
This is what kept Jesus silent when he was being wrongfully accused and condemned to die. He knew that at the end of it all, he will be seated at the right hand of the Father.
Dear reader, I trust you will begin with God, obey Him throughout whilst being led by the Spirit, and finish well by giving Him all the praise, thanking Him for his love, protection, kindness, grace and more. And finally, worshipping Him for being the great God that He Is.
Have a blessed 2025!
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