Church Chronicles: Intro: 2025: A Year of Divine Surprises and Jubilee Blessings

0:00 Hello and happy new year and welcome to the Diary of a Black Woman. I'm your host Connie Morris and today we are diving into an extraordinary declaration for the new year 2025, the year of divine surprises and jubilee blessings. Yes, this is not just a theme, it's a prophetic word that It carries power and purpose. So as we step into this new day and this new year, we as a team are claiming God's promises of restoration, freedom, and miraculous breakthroughs. It's a year where there, what was lost will be returned and what seems impossible will be made possible.

0:46 And blessings will overflow in ways that we can't imagine. So I want to just set the tone for today's devotional. It is a proclamation of what to expect in 2025. The Lord gave this to me probably in the beginning of December, but then it started to all start to come together. So I want to share it with you. I don't know how long it's going to be. I'm probably going to put it in two parts because I don't want to overwhelm you, but I want to set you up for success for 2025. I also want to thank you for your support for the year of 2024.

1:27 I started the Diary of a Black Woman podcast in July of 2024, and it's been really a success. It's been slow going, but it's still a success. One person listening to it is more than just a thousand, but it's been way, way over than what I expected. And I expect it to go over and abundant for the year of 2025. So what I want to do is to set you up on what to expect from this devotional for 2025, just to get you started. I am going to post it on the website, Diary of a Black Woman, LSE, so you can get the full scope of it.

2:09 And you can go over the decrees, go over the declarations, go over the scriptures and get it into your heart. And so I'm gonna do my best to put it as much as I can on the podcast, but it's always good to put your eyes on the word of God, get the scriptures in your heart so you can know what to expect from God this year, the year of 2025. The year of divine surprises and jubilee blessings. So let's set the foundation. Let's start with Isaiah 43, 19. It says, see, I am doing a new thing.

2:49 Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it? I'm making a way in the wilderness and the streams in the wasteland. This scripture reminds us of God's ability to do the unexpected. He doesn't just provide, he exceeds expectations. He brings life to barren spaces and creates pathways in the impossible. Today, we're going to explore how 2025 is set to be a year where divine surprises and jubilee blessings become a reality in your life. All I got to say is buckle up, buttercup.

3:33 So buckle up, buttercup. So how do we, I want you to understand what divine surprises is. You know, if you're one of the people, if you're like me in any way, you like to plan things. But how do we know? We know that God is, he can do unexpected things. We can pray for something for a long time, and then we'll forget about it. But God has not forgotten what you have prayed. He has his scribes writing down our prayer requests. Come on now, he has already written down our prayer requests. He knows exactly when he wants to bring that prayer request alive and in person into your lives. Amen.

4:16 So let's begin with the idea of divine surprises. Have you ever had a moment where God showed up in a way you didn't anticipate? That's what divine surprises are all about. God exceeding human imagination to remind us of his sovereignty and faithfulness. Think about the Israelites in Exodus 3, 21 through 22. God didn't just free them from Egypt. He gave them favor in the eyes of their oppressors. They left slavery with wealth. Gold, silver, and fine clothing. You know, come on. They didn't leave empty-handed. I love that scripture.

4:56 You will not leave here empty-handed. They were in slavery for 400 years, but when they left, they did not leave empty-handed. They left with gold, silver, and fine clothing. That's the power of divine surprises. Or consider Joshua 6. The Israelites didn't use weapons to bring down the walls of Jericho, they use obedience and faith. Sometimes God's strategies seem unconventional, but they lead to victories that only he can orchestrate. So pay attention to divine strategies in 2025.

5:39 Divine surprises, divine strategies, divine breakthrough. Let's talk about jubilee blessings. What are those? This is just an introduction. I know you're excited. I'm excited, but this is just an introduction to what we're going to be discussing regarding what God has planned for you and me in 2025. So let's talk about Jubilee blessings. In Leviticus 25, 10, God established Jubilee as a time of restoration and freedom. Deaths are canceled, captives are released and what was lost was returned jubilee wasn't just a historical event it's a spiritual reality that we can live today come on now what was lost was found what was stolen was returned.

6:32 Come on now, captives were released, lost return. This is a year of jubilee where God is going to reset us. Get your faith ready for a reset from God. Amen. Jesus proclaimed jubilee in Luke 4, verse 18 to 19. The spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. What does that mean in 2025? It means freedom from fear and shame, restoration of relationships and purpose, and stepping into the abundance God has promised.

7:20 It's the year to claim, Joel 2, 25 to 26. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten. You will have plenty to eat until you are full and you will praise the name of the Lord, your God. When I think about that scripture, I think of, you know how when your team win a game and you are running around giving high fives. This year will be a year of high fives, high praises and boasting on your God. You're going to just be like, oh my gosh, give me five, give me five, give me high praises.

8:01 Just running around the neighborhood, running around your house, just knowing that God has heard your prayers and God has given you plenty to eat and you will praise his name. Hallelujah. This year, God is declaring restoration over your life. Now, how do you prepare for this abundance and this overflow? Here's the key. You must position yourself. We must position ourselves to receive these blessings. We do that. How do we do that? We do that through faith. Obedience, and expectancy. Faith, obedience, and expectancy.

8:44 Faith, obedience, and expectancy. We see that when, if we look at the stories I just shared with you, and these are just a few, we saw Isaiah 53, Isaiah 43, 19 says, do you not perceive it? So you have to perceive it. So you have to expect it. We see in Exodus 23, 21, that it was a surprise, the Red Sea opened. So you got to believe God for not just a door opening, but something big opening, right? You got to believe God for the unexpected blessing, right? And then we see here in Leviticus, a year of Jubilee, a total reset.

9:26 Your faith has to be high. It has to just stay high and expect to say that God will do like Ephesians 3.20 more than we can ask, think, or even imagine. And then we continue to proclaim from our mouth that this is a year of the Lord's favor. But yet in Joshua 6, we see that the Israelites had to march around the Jericho wall. So God may have a strategy for you that you better be ready to go. It might look a little different than what you're used to. So be ready for that strategy. Be ready for what God has for you to do.

10:09 It might look a little different. He might be transitioning you out of your one job into another job. It may look totally different, but it's God's plan for you. His breakthrough break out for you to walk in his divine purpose for you. So I just want to just, faith reminds us that God is working, even when we can't see it. Obedience positioned us to experience his miracles, just as the Israelites obeyed at Jericho and expectancy keeps our hearts open to the unexpected. Once again, faith reminds us that God is working when we can't see it.

10:53 Obedience position us to experience his miracles, just like the Israelites obeyed in Jericho and expectancy keeps our hearts open to the unexpected, knowing that God is able to do unmeasurably more than we can ask or imagine as Ephesians 3.20 tells us. So I just want to encourage you to start this year with a heart full of hope and a spirit ready to receive, reflect on where you need God to move in your life. What areas like a wilderness or a wasteland, write them down, pray over them and expect God to do something new.

11:34 This episode was just an introduction. It was just the beginning, just to get you stirred up to what God wants to do in 2025. Just want you to take hold onto the truth that God is doing a new thing. He is orchestrating divine surprises, opening doors, and restoring what was lost. This is a year of jubilee. And I want to just thank you for joining me once again. Happy New Year! Happy New Year. And this is from all of us at the Diary of a Black Woman, LLC. And I want us to step out in 2025 together with faith, hope, and expectation.

12:18 Stay tuned for the rest of the episode as we unpack what God has in store for us this year. Stay faithful, stay expected, and stay blessed.