I have enjoyed picking words to focus on for the year and this year will be no different. But that will be a post for another time. For this Wayback Wednesday post, I wanted to share with you my previous words of the year for 2017-2020. Let’s look for some encouragement from the past. (Remember these are presented in their original form.)
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originally posted on December 31, 2016
The word is CHANGE for 2017.
2016 taught me a lot. God has really spoken to me throughout this year. There have been some ups and downs in this year, but it has been in those up and down moments that I have seen a lot of what God is doing in my life.
The weeks leading up to Easter this year were amazing in the area that I serve in at my church, and Easter weekend was totally phenomenal.
But that wasn't where I learned the most.
I learned a lot toward the end of the summer about what God is doing in my life. There was a lot going on in my life over the summer, and I could just quit and given up on God and everything. But I saw what that did to other people. My hard time was not a time to desert God, and I am glad that I didn't.
I kept moving forward trying to see what God could show me through all of this. The lessons that I prepared for the fourth and fifth-grade students at church in July, August, September, and October were some of the hardest that I have ever written. The topics of those lessons included Faith, Courage, and Trust. These topics were spot on! I needed to teach them. I needed to study them. They were some of the best lessons that I have ever done.
The dam might have broken open in some areas of life during the first half of this year, but restoration happened during the second half.
The picture below tells me a lot. We are all together and being watched by God. I can't wait to see the change in 2017! If you are reading this and your 2016 didn’t go as you planned, don’t let that carry over into 2017. It’s a new year!
God is watching over all of us! He has a plan for all of our lives!
I did this last year and I wanted to do it again. Last year on this date I chose a word for 2017 and wrote a post about it. This year I want to do the same and I hope that this word will not only be for me but for others as well.
I hope this word breaks chains and unlocks things for you in 2018. I know it will for me.
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originally posted on December 31, 2017
The word I have chosen for 2018 is NEW.
Now let me show you where this word comes from. Let me direct our attention to the passage of Scripture below from Isaiah:
“This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a NEW thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” - Isaiah 43:16-19 NIV
As you read the story of Israel in the Old Testament they had this habit of looking back to their days in Egypt. They would look back and see how things used to be and would long for things to be that way again. But never mind that they were slaves in Egypt and they kept bringing up to Moses how they had it while they were in Egypt.
But God sent Moses and got them out of that trouble and brought them to a NEW thing outside of Egypt. A life of freedom. A life of adventure. But this new adventure wasn't free of ups and downs - a lot of downs which were caused by Israel themselves - and they found themselves in Babylon captivity. God was going to free Isaiah, but He was urging them to not look at how He had done it in the past. He was going to do it in a new way.
This is what I take away from this passage. But I want to zero in on 2 verses:
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a NEW thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? - Isaiah 43:18-19a, NIV
1. Forget the former things
God is always going to help us, but He won't help us in the same way. God is always doing a NEW thing. However, God doesn't want us to forget how He's helped us. God wants us to remember the times that He has come through for us, so we can trust that He will do so again. But God also doesn't want us to....
2. Dwell on the past
God doesn't want how He has helped us in the past to be our focus for future help. God wants us to be looking for His help to come in many ways and forms. God is always ready to help (Psalm 46:1). But God wants us to grow and move forward so He will help us in different forms.
So whatever is going on in life right now or what has happened in 2017 that has left a scar on your life - don't dwell there. Don't stay in the past. Don't dwell on what could have been or might have been. God wants to come to your rescue. God wants to help you through. God will help you through - holding your hand all along the way (Isaiah 41:13, NIV). [1]
Look for the NEW thing - or things - in 2018! God will do great things this year for me and you. We just need to be looking for them.
The best is yet to come
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originally posted on December 29, 2018
It’s that time of year again where I share the word I have chosen for the year. This helps hone my focus and see what God is up too and this year’s word is a big one! God unveiled more than just a word to me this year, He revealed to me what He has been teaching me over the last 2 years and a look at what is to come in 2019. Let me tell you right now I almost yelled out loud in my office at work when God revealed this to me. But to tell this revelation we need to go back to 2017.
2017 was the first year I chose a word of the year. In 2016, a lot had happened in my life and there were some changes that needed to be made. So I chose the word CHANGE to focus on for 2017. This was to help me focus on what things needed to be changed to help my life go better. This wasn’t necessarily looking for changes to come in my life, but what God was working on changing in my life.
For 2018, God brought me my word for the year from these verses:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a NEW thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” - Isaiah 43:18-19a NIV
The word that went with me through 2018 was NEW. God was telling the nation of Israel to look for new things in life. In verses 16 and 17, God said these words:
“This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:” - Isaiah 43:16-17 NIV
God told the people how He had helped them in the past and that He was going to help them going forward but in a new way. He didn’t want them to dwell on the past and He doesn’t want us to either. What has happened in the past is in the past and we need to look forward to the new things that God has for us. But it is a part of our story so God doesn’t want us to forget the past He just doesn’t want us to dwell there.
So as I got to thinking about my 2019, I was still looking at those 2 verses in Isaiah 43 and then the word came to me as I read verse 19 again. It was almost as if God was telling me “Hey, finish the verse!” Here is verse 19 again with focus on the bold:
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” - Isaiah 43:19 NIV
My word for 2019 rang out from the words in the second half of verse 19. God says that He is making a way for me - for us. God is making a way for us in the places and out of the situations that we least expect Him to. Our wilderness places are where breakthrough lies. If we are willing to embrace the CHANGE that will lead us to the NEW things and the eventual BREAKTHROUGH that God has for us!
BREAKTHROUGH! Breakthrough is my word for 2019. I am already seeing the new things that God has for me. But I had to be willing to accept the changes in life and looking for the new things. In this wilderness that I am in right now, I am already seeing the cracks.
Breakthrough is coming for me. 2019 will bring great things and a few of those things are already starting.
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originally posted on January 1, 2020
A few months ago I was sitting at my desk at work and thinking about something that I could share as a challenge for the 4th and 5th grader I serve at my church. As I was thinking about it there was something in the news or that I scrolled by on Facebook that led me to say the phrase “why can’t people just let love guide their life?!” Then I got to thinking about it a little more and I said to myself “that’s too good to be my own saying... I wonder if it’s in the Bible?” So I opened up google right then and googled the phrase “let love guide your life” and this is the first result Google brought up...
“Most of all, let love guide your life.” - Colossians 3:14 TLB
I was amazed and what God just did there in my office. God had given me my word for 2020.
L O
V E.
But as I got thinking about it over the last month, this wasn’t something that God had given as much as He was reminding me of the word. But God was also reminding me of command that we see in the book of Matthew where love is the main reason for everything that Jesus did and Jesus commands us to love.[1]
This world today is in a desperate state and in need of a shot of love. We don’t have to look very far to see what I mean. The world needs love so bad and I am not the first to say it. Jesus obviously knew what the world needed and that is why He said that love is the key. Jesus wasn’t saying anything against the rules and guidelines of the Bible, but Jesus did say that love is the key.[1]
But there have also been many a song that states how desperate the world is for love with lyrics like:
“What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.”[2]
The Black Eyed Peas offered this question:
“People killin' people dyin'
Children hurtin', I hear them cryin'
Can you practice what you preachin'?
Would you turn the other cheek again?
Mama, mama, mama, tell us what the hell is goin' on
Can't we all just get along?
Father, father, father help us
Send some guidance from above
'Cause people got me, got me
Questioning
(Where's the love)”[3]
These words of just these 2 songs are very telling that this is not a new problem. Also, this is the main thing in the Bible. In the NIV version of the Bible, the word “love” appears 551 times. It’s all that Jesus talked about. It’s all Jesus was about.
We see in the Gospels of the New Testament [4] that Jesus let love guide His life from beginning to end. Jesus was always showing love. Always. He never let anything else be in the driver’s seat.
So I ask you and myself - what if we chose to just let love take over the driver's seat. What if we chose to show love? What if instead of flying off the handle when someone makes us made we chose to show love? What if we chose to show love in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our stores, in our homes, in our families, and with our friends.
What kind of differences could I make by just letting love have the wheel of our life?
So in 2020, for me, I’m going to do my best to remember the words “let love guide your life”. I hope you will too!
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[1] “Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.””
Matthew 22:37-40 NIV
[2] Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David
What the World Needs Now Is Love lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc, BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network
google.com search
[3] Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Allan Pineda / Giorgio Hesdey Tuinfort / Jaime Gomez / Jayceon Taylor / Justin Timberlake / Khaled Khaled / Rakim Mayers / Will Adams
Where Is the Love? lyrics © BMG Rights Management
google.com search
[4] The Gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
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