WELCOME 2015.
I, for one, am ready for a new beginning; an opportunity to make some changes that I need to, a time to be intentional about pursuing God more.
I want to be purposeful in maintaining and strengthening relationships with those I love.
I desire to be present.
I choose to extend grace and forgiveness.
I am going to choose to love when I don't feel like it; give my time when I'd rather not, give my resources when I want something. (that is probably so insignificant.)
I hope to be more of the person that God envisions me to be.
This year I am going to switch things up a bit in my previous routines.
For twenty plus years, I have read the Bible each year. I never start with Genesis and end with Revelation. I don't have any plan, I just start and then I believe, the LORD leads me.
But this year, I have felt the need to do something different. So for at least the first 4 months, I am going to read only the gospels. I want, I need to just hear Jesus' Words. They are life giving to me.
What HE says is more important than what anyone could ever say to me. I need His input- on everything!
I love blogs. I love books. I get challenged by what others say. But I need more of Jesus.
To be more who Jesus wants me to be; I need to be with Him more. I need to soak in His words; meditate on them, ponder them, believe them. I need to practice putting them into my life.
I am really looking forward to this new endeavor.
I know I will be challenged. I will be convicted.
I probably will feel like a failure at times.
But I anticipate knowing and loving my Savior and LORD more than I do today.
And how glorious and amazing will that be?
Yesterday I read Sarah Bessey's post on Facebook, asking her many readers, what had been their word for 2014 as the year began, and what would be their word as the year came to a close.
I spent some time reading what others had written and then thought about my own life.
I had chosen the word GRACE to be my word for 2014. I did learn more about grace and I think I extended more grace, but am not sure that is the word that actually described my year. I ended up choosing a couple of words that reflected my year.
TRUSTING was the word that came to mind the most. Trusting the LORD when I was so UNCERTAIN of so many things. When life took different paths than we could have ever imagined. Trusting that GOD remained in control when life spinned off the axis that was trajected.
SEARCHING was the other word.
Searching for what was next. Searching for God's direction. Thankful that He showed me.
I am not going to think of a word for 2015.
I think I will reflect at the end of this year to choose the word.
Last year I wanted more GRACE. Needed more grace. Wanted to give more GRACE. It was about what I wanted.
This year, I am going to let GOD choose the Word that HE wants for me. Or maybe a few words. Or a few verses.
What I do know is that God longs to reveal Himself to me; to you.
I heard a wonderful pastor speak these words last fall:
" There is NEVER a time when God is not wanting to reveal Himself to us".
That is what I want to hear this year. His revelations to me.
I pray that you too, will hear Him more.
Showing posts with label A new Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A new Year. Show all posts
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
A NEW YEAR
A new year. A new start. A fresh beginning.
The past is just that-past.
New hopes, dreams, resolutions.
The failures of yesterday, the past year and years ago, don't have to be who we will be this year.
We can start anew.
That is amazing and gives me HOPE.
The hurts and pain and suffering of 2013 don't have to define who we are in 2014. A chance to be the person we want to be.
THE wonderful news about all this is: it is a new year; we can start anew. But do you realize that we can start each day like this? We don't have to let our previous days missteps define how we begin each day.
I started the new year this morning as I have for the past 15 years; reading Psalm 119.
This psalm is all about the Word of God and how it is meant to give us hope in our lives. All the different words used such as regulations, decrees, commandments, ordinances and laws are just the same variation (mostly) of God's Word and how we should respond to His Word.
Today, God's Word is THE BIBLE.
It is the most widely published, Best seller of any book of ALL time.
As I wrote parts of the 176 verses in my journal this morning, I was overwhelmed again how God wants us to know Him, by how much He loves and pursues us, and how He has given us an Instruction book on how to go through life.
Psalm 119:73 says:
"You made me; You created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commandments."
God gave us His Word, the Bible, to help us, to guide us through our time on this earth.
What if we all had the sense to follow His commands?
How different would our world be if we were to always obey God?
We would be lovers of people, we would look out for the least marginalized, we would consider others to be more important than ourselves and we would seek GOD.
Our world would be a completely different place, the earth that God had envisioned.
We, as individuals, might think we cannot make a difference, but we can.
One person at a time.
If we seek God, seek to obey Him, seek to serve Him in however He may direct in each of our individual lives, our own little world around us would be different. We would have an impact. Whether it be large or small.
I am amazed of the enormous amount of stories I read of how one person can make a difference. I truly believe this is what God intended for each of us.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, but it is filled with encouragement, hope and much needed advice on how to navigate through life.
That is why I start each year reading it. I need the reminder that God's Word is relevant today; thousands of years after it was written. That it is not just the best selling book of all time, it is our guide book for life.
I read it this morning in the New Living Translation, which is a bit more modern of a translation that keeps the original Hebrew and Greek words in context, and I loved reading every line of it. It takes maybe 15 minutes if you were to read it straight thru.
I would highly encourage and admonish you to take the time, either today or before this week ends to read this Psalm in its entirety.
If you do not have a bible, you can go to
www.biblegateway.com
and search Psalm 119 and pick the version you want to read .
Oh LORD, give us the sense to follow Your commandments and You.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May you seek to know the GOD who loves us so completely in this year.
The past is just that-past.
New hopes, dreams, resolutions.
The failures of yesterday, the past year and years ago, don't have to be who we will be this year.
We can start anew.
That is amazing and gives me HOPE.
The hurts and pain and suffering of 2013 don't have to define who we are in 2014. A chance to be the person we want to be.
THE wonderful news about all this is: it is a new year; we can start anew. But do you realize that we can start each day like this? We don't have to let our previous days missteps define how we begin each day.
I started the new year this morning as I have for the past 15 years; reading Psalm 119.
This psalm is all about the Word of God and how it is meant to give us hope in our lives. All the different words used such as regulations, decrees, commandments, ordinances and laws are just the same variation (mostly) of God's Word and how we should respond to His Word.
Today, God's Word is THE BIBLE.
It is the most widely published, Best seller of any book of ALL time.
As I wrote parts of the 176 verses in my journal this morning, I was overwhelmed again how God wants us to know Him, by how much He loves and pursues us, and how He has given us an Instruction book on how to go through life.
Psalm 119:73 says:
"You made me; You created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commandments."
God gave us His Word, the Bible, to help us, to guide us through our time on this earth.
What if we all had the sense to follow His commands?
How different would our world be if we were to always obey God?
We would be lovers of people, we would look out for the least marginalized, we would consider others to be more important than ourselves and we would seek GOD.
Our world would be a completely different place, the earth that God had envisioned.
We, as individuals, might think we cannot make a difference, but we can.
One person at a time.
If we seek God, seek to obey Him, seek to serve Him in however He may direct in each of our individual lives, our own little world around us would be different. We would have an impact. Whether it be large or small.
I am amazed of the enormous amount of stories I read of how one person can make a difference. I truly believe this is what God intended for each of us.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, but it is filled with encouragement, hope and much needed advice on how to navigate through life.
That is why I start each year reading it. I need the reminder that God's Word is relevant today; thousands of years after it was written. That it is not just the best selling book of all time, it is our guide book for life.
I read it this morning in the New Living Translation, which is a bit more modern of a translation that keeps the original Hebrew and Greek words in context, and I loved reading every line of it. It takes maybe 15 minutes if you were to read it straight thru.
I would highly encourage and admonish you to take the time, either today or before this week ends to read this Psalm in its entirety.
If you do not have a bible, you can go to
www.biblegateway.com
and search Psalm 119 and pick the version you want to read .
Oh LORD, give us the sense to follow Your commandments and You.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May you seek to know the GOD who loves us so completely in this year.
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