Like others, rather than creating New Years resolutions, I seek a word that will brand my life by year end if kept in the forefront of my days.
We nice I have a word, I ponder it through 4 lenses:
FOCAL POINT = an attribute / name of God that serves as fuel in my tank to follow Him
FILTER = a Divine discipline that requires effort of me
FORMER / FUTURE = this is like a character trait branding iron. I ask what WAS former Kimberly & what WILL future me be marked by if I focus on the name of God & filter my decisions through discipline
FRUIT = I ask what fruit of the Spirit will be evident in me if I allow my life to become branded by this word?
I love that👆🏽process. It’s always a wrestle to 1st listen for the word & then ask:
👉🏽Which attribute of His charter will be my focus?
👉🏽What discipline will be required as my filter?
👉🏽What character trait will I leave behind & which will become evident?
👉🏽Which fruit of the Spirit will be like a fragrant aroma around me by year’s end?
This year, however, was different. Instead of a word, the Lord gave me a phrase:
“Make Room”
My Focal Point is Yahweh, my Lord & Master. I want to know Him & make elbow room for Him.I want to be so branded by His Lordship that people will proclaim, “Wow, now she makes way for Yahweh!”
Today I read a profound question posed by Jesus:
“But who do YOU say I am?”
Peter does Peter & is the 1st to eagerly reply, “You’re the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!”
Jesus tells Peter how blessed he is that God revealed this to him. The word “revealed” literally means to pull back the covers to make manifest what is immaterial.
As the first month of 2022 comes to a close, how might the next 11 change if we let Jesus ask us, “Who do YOU say I am?”
If we focused on just ONE name of God or Jesus over the coming year, how might our days become transformed into something we thought was unimaginable?
Father, pull back the covers on our busy & limited perspective to make manifest what is immaterial. Reveal Who You are, what is required of us, what you’d like us to leave behind in 2021 so we can be branded by something new! May our lives in December of 2022 become fragrant with the fruity aroma of Your Spirit!
GENESIS 50:1-26
EXODUS 1:1-2:10
MATTHEW 16:13-17:9
PSALM 21:1-13
PROVERBS 5:1-6
Comments