Happy New Year!
I am glad we are done with 2013...I don't have any specific reason, but I was relieved when the clock struck midnight and a new year was welcomed in.
Naturally because it is the new year there are countless discussions online and elsewhere about making resolutions and setting goals for this brand new year...have you made any? I am not sure if this is a new phenomenon but I have been seeing many people sharing their word for 2014. This one word represents to them a direction they want to go, a perspective they want to maintain or grow in...whatever that word is, it is their word that they hope will influence this coming year for them.
I loved this idea! So many of the things that I struggle with are battled out in my mind. Can you relate? So, this one word could be like guard rails for my thoughts that help keep me on the path that the Lord has marked out for me. Wow, this concept encouraged me to pray and ponder what word would the Lord have me focus on this year...where are those guard rails most needed? I love to ask God something, and to be blown away by how He answers. The word Assurance started swirling around in my mind, then before I knew it I was singing the beautiful hymn by Fanny Crosby "Blessed Assurance". OK so it is two words, but it is definitely the area that I would most like to grow in this year. I love how she sums up the assurance we have in Christ in this stanza...as I meditate on MY words this year, this is what I will think about...
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood...lost in His love!
Blessed Assurance encourages me to consider only Christ. Not my fears, not my failings...not my feelings. I have to say that I am excited. I am looking forward to what this year brings and how I will grow in Blessed Assurance.
My prayer for you is that you will find a word (or words) that will challenge you throughout this year to grow and that maybe you too will be lost in His love!