{"id":644,"date":"2026-01-03T03:28:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:28:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/?p=644"},"modified":"2026-01-03T03:28:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T03:28:28","slug":"january-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/?p=644","title":{"rendered":"January 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>A \u201cHAPPY\u201d New Year!<\/strong><br><strong>It\u2019s 2026!<\/strong> A new year!<br> Once again, your inbox, podcasts and blogs will be filled with a flurry of advice for the<br>year ahead. Look closely and you\u2019ll probably discover two types of advice: Half of them<br>say that 2026 is <strong>your year<\/strong> to become the <strong>best version of yourself<\/strong> and how it\u2019s time to<br><strong>manifest your dreams!<\/strong> The other half telling you to <strong>avoid the stress<\/strong>, to live your life in<br><strong>simplicity<\/strong>, reminding you that <strong>you are enough<\/strong> and should <strong>enjoy your life in the now!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br>The two sets of suggestions seem like opposites, but they really have a common theme:<br><strong>they are all self-centered in terms of their focus!<\/strong> What does the Bible say?\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br>The wise advice of the writer of Proverbs: <em>\u201cTrust in the LORD with all your heart<br>and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,<br>and he will make your paths straight\u201d<\/em><strong> (Proverbs 3:5-6)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br>The 18th c. minister, Thomas Charles, wrote to his friends <em>\u201cEvery new year must be a<br>happy one, while we live thus as sinners with and upon Christ\u2026 May you and I begin and<br>end every year with, and in dependence upon, the dear Redeemer, till at last we finish<br>our course with joy.\u201d<\/em> This 2026, let\u2019s depend on God for everything!\u2026 <strong>Everything!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br>Let\u2019s thank him and find joy amid whatever 2026 brings! Charles Spurgeon said in 1885:<br><em>\u201cPraise is our ever new delight; let us baptize the new year into a sea of it.\u201d<\/em> <strong>Joyful Praise<\/strong> and<br><strong>Rejoicing<\/strong> are a result of <strong>genuine freedom<\/strong> that comes from <strong>wholehearted trust<\/strong> in God!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br><em>The result of Full Trust and Dependence on God for 2026? &#8211; A truly HAPPY New Year!!<br>\u201cMay the Gracious God of Heaven \u2013 our Father \u2013 draw near to you as you draw near to<br>Him this New Year! May He reveal more of Himself to you through His Word and through<br>His Church by the Power of His Holy Spirit! And may our faith and trust in Him result in<br>immeasurable blessing and favor upon you and yours. In Jesus\u2019 Name \u2013 Amen!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><br>Pastor Vino Atienza<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitterbutton\" style=\"float: left; padding-right: 5px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share\" class=\"twitter-share-button\" data-count=\"horizontal\" data-text=\"January 2026\" data-via=\"\" data-url=\"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/?p=644\" data-lang=\"en\" data-related=\"DolcePixel:We make beautiful and sweet WordPress Themes\"><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A \u201cHAPPY\u201d New Year!It\u2019s 2026! A new year! Once again, your inbox, podcasts and blogs will be filled with a flurry of advice for theyear ahead. Look closely and you\u2019ll probably discover two types of advice: Half of themsay that 2026 is your year to become the best version of yourself and how it\u2019s time tomanifest your dreams! The other half telling you to avoid the stress, to live your life insimplicity, reminding you that you are enough and should enjoy your life in the now! The two sets of suggestions seem like opposites, but they really have a common theme:they are all self-centered in<a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/?p=644\">Read More &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-winadmin","4":"post-644","6":"format-standard","7":"category-pastorscorner"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=644"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":646,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions\/646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winseattle.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}