PASTOR’S CORNER: Ain’t no stopping me now

Now, community, excuse the grammar, but unless we are able to say something like this, we’re not going to make it in 2026. This is a determination statement; if you are determined to do something, you normally will. In this new year, some of us may have made New Year’s resolutions: to kick old habits, develop new habits, drop a few pounds, or become more spiritual.

Still hitting the ground running, you are resolute in your commitment to do something better in your life this year. That’s good — we all need positive, spiritual changes. The spirit of the new year is a good time to develop good habits, but unless you have a made-up mind, two weeks into the year you may already have dropped the ball and gone back to the same old routine.

How many of us have made resolutions in past years and didn’t follow through? When the newness of the year wears off, some drop the ball. When we make commitments with our emotions, they don’t always pan out. But someone knows that when your mind is made up to do something, and you put Philippians 4:13 in front of it, and really believe it — stand on it — you usually follow through. That scripture says, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

When we activate our faith and use this scripture, there is no bad habit we cannot break, and no commitment we cannot keep. “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”

When a man and woman marry in the Lord and are truly in love, they count the cost, knowing adjustments will need to be made and that Satan will try to destroy their marriage. When they are in agreement and their minds are made up to make it work, and to keep their families out of their business, they usually spend the rest of their lives together.

The misused grammar of “Ain’t no stopping us now” expresses the idea that nothing and nobody can stop us from accomplishing what we set out to do. We are going to accomplish our goals because we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Think about it, community: when we make up our minds to do something and speak it with our mouths, nine times out of ten, we end up doing it. When we speak something into the air, it is in the devil’s realm, since he dwells in the area just above the earth — he is the prince of the power of the air, according to Ephesians 2:2. “The power of life and death is in the power of the tongue,” according to Proverbs 18:21.

Speak positively. Quit saying what we can’t do and start speaking what we can do: “I can break this habit … I can keep my commitment in 2026 if Christ gives me strength.” And He will! We all remember something we accomplished simply because we were determined to do it. In a roundabout way, we said, “Ain’t no stopping me now!” — a degree, a spouse, a job, a goal.

“Ain’t no stopping us now” is what the Israelites could have said when they left Egypt after God miraculously brought them out with a mighty hand (Exodus 12–14). David could say “Ain’t no stopping me now” when facing Goliath, a ten-foot giant. When Saul tried to dress him down with his armor, David could say, “If by the hand of God I could kill a bear and a lion, this giant will fall” (1 Samuel 17). In 2026, giants will fall! Somebody ought to claim that.

If you are on fire for God, have made a commitment, and have your game face on, determine this day that nothing is going to stop you. You can do all things, break any habit, and accomplish any goal through Christ who will give you strength. Esther could say “Ain’t no stopping me now” when she declared, “If I perish, I perish,” but she was going to see the king. Through her act of heroism, the whole Jewish nation was saved (Esther 4:16).

The Apostle Paul, on his missions, was warned by the prophet Agabus that danger awaited him in Jerusalem. The church leaders begged him not to go, but Paul was determined in his mission. He said he was ready to be imprisoned and even die for the Lord Jesus (Acts 21:11–14). Paul could say, “I’ve come too far to turn around. I am ready to be offered up and meet the Lord” (2 Timothy 4:6). In other words, Paul could say, “Ain’t no stopping me now!”

Community, there’s something about the name of Jesus. We can do all things in 2026 in that name. The devil is defeated in that name. Demons tremble at that name. Strong towers come down, strongholds are pulled down. That’s why when we praise the Lord in that name, chains are broken, yokes are destroyed, the environment changes, and the atmosphere shifts.

May we all say, “Ain’t no stopping me now.”