THE TIME IS NOW! "HAPPY 2026 TO ALL"

We made it! By the power, mercy, and faithfulness of God, we have crossed over into 2026. What a blessing, what a miracle, what a testimony. After everything we faced, seen and unseen, spiritual and natural, we are still here. We are still standing. We are still praising. We are still pressing. Many started 2025 who did not finish it, but God kept us. God covered us. God carried us. And now, with breath in our bodies and purpose in our steps, we enter this new year with gratitude, expectation, and renewed strength.

As we step into 2026, we do so with a deep awareness that it was only the grace of God that carried us here. John Newton captured our testimony in the timeless words of Amazing Grace: “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” This past year brought spiritual warfare, natural challenges, emotional strain, and unexpected storms, yet God preserved us. If the enemy could have stopped us, he would have. If the storm could have drowned us, it would have. But grace said no, mercy said not yet, and purpose said keep going. Now, as the calendar turns, the Spirit of God is sounding a clear call through 2 Corinthians 6:1–13: “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” This is not a suggestion; it is a summons. It is time to wake up from spiritual sleep. It is time to shake off delay, distraction, and complacency. It is time to renew our commitment to God with fresh fire and intentionality.

Every year, people make resolutions about what they will and will not do to improve their lives, health goals, financial plans, personal habits, and new routines. But beyond all of that, God is calling His people to a deeper, more urgent resolution: to return to Him with a whole heart. Paul warns us not to receive the grace of God in vain. In other words, don’t waste what God preserved. Don’t sit on what God invested in you. Don’t treat lightly what Christ died to give you. Grace didn’t just save you; grace kept you, carried you, covered you, and called you. And now grace is pushing you into a renewed commitment for this new year.

This commitment looks like showing up, faithfully, consistently, and expectantly, in the house of God. It looks like widening your heart, just as Paul said, and choosing to love freely, forgive quickly, and encourage boldly. It looks like growing spiritually through prayer, study, and worship, feeding your spirit as if your life depends on it. It looks like serving with your gifts, your time, and your presence, knowing that the Kingdom needs what God placed inside you. It looks like pursuing holiness, separating from what drains you, detaching from what distracts you, and running toward what builds you.

As Paul concludes the passage, he pleads, “Open wide your hearts also.” That is God’s invitation for 2026. Open your heart to His will, His correction, His calling, and His people. You survived 2025, but now it is time to live 2026, fully awake, fully surrendered, and fully committed. The time is not tomorrow. The time is not later. The time is now.

Bishop Charlene M. Jamison

All Rights Reserved - @BishopCMJamison

www.HOGCKD.org