Welcome back dear friends! 2014 seems to have run right past us and 2015 has made a wonderful entrance! I pray your New Years' Eve celebrations were full of fellowship, good friends, family, and sharing of how good God has been and what He is going to do this next year!
The time of Advent has come and gone, and reading through books together as a family has helped to keep "His coming" at the forefront of our minds during what could be very stressful, busy, busy times, as well as chaotic and difficult, because of circumstances from the previous year. They still come, but when our thoughts are continually on Christ, the minute details fail in comparison with how good our God is.
FOCUS
After praying and reading through Mike Ashcraft's book, My One Word, God has laid "focus" on my heart to be my word for this year of 2015. I have no idea what He may show me through my word, but I trust that even if the only reason is to focus all my thoughts, decisions, plans, and life on Him, that is all I need.
I have had to begin wearing my reading glasses, agh!, all.the.time...My dad always said our family needs them in our mid 40s. Yes, I guess I am there. But, as I thought about words, I would begin to read, and my focus just wasn't what it was a couple of years ago, much less several years ago! I am grateful to have the glasses to bring things into focus, and as I kept thinking of other words for the new year, God just kept having me need my glasses, and I would see the word and hear the word focus everywhere I looked. God works like that, doesn't He? He can speak through even one word.
So, choose a word to have ever before you this entire year and see what God may do. My word this past year was seek and I had it put on a bracelet, which I wore every day since I got it. There would be busy days, slow days, crazy days, down days, but as I wore the bracelet, or would see where I had written my word on our chalkboards, they would remind me to seek Jesus. Something so simple can be very powerful in the hands of a mighty God.
Yes, Christmas is past, another holiday has come and gone. Decorations are being taken down, the Christmas songs have been put back for another year, yet, we need to always remember Jesus coming to this earth as a baby, not only this one month, but all year long, and as we see Him years later hanging on a cross, for what? For whom? For you, for me!
He died so we may live!
Oh, what a wonderful, risen, living Savior we do serve! As the words, "O Come, All Ye Faithful," are still in our minds, strive to do just that...come to Him, come before Him, before His throne of mercy and grace, and drink from the cup He gives, the cup which was broken for us, so we might have everlasting life with Jesus, our Lord.
When putting away the decorations, don't hide the joy, or the reason we just celebrated. Put away the tinsel, the ribbons, the packaging, but keep Jesus right there with you, not so others will think you "spiritual," but so you will be reminded He is what matters. He is why we go another day, why we do anything we do. Jesus should be our breath, our life, our words, our all.
So, if you choose a word to live by this year, I would love to hear about it! Please, ask me about mine and see what God is showing me in the months to come and how my focus may have changed.
"Set your mind on the things above,
not on the things that are on earth."
Col. 3:2
Always Experiencing Him,
Jody
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