A One Word Resolution - Just A Thought #50

Compassion sent a challenge out to their bloggers this week to seek the Lord for a word for 2012 instead of making a New Years Resolution.

Literally, ONE word.

If the Lord was to give us one word for 2012 what would it be?

I knew mine before I was even sent the email from Compassion. The Lord gave me that word a few weeks ago...and it began with a dream! Actually, it began in January of 2011!

2011 has not been a good year at work. Staff went out with injuries and illness, clients were--how shall I say it--not on their best behavior, and things just seemed to snowball from there. At home my son broke his leg and shortly after he was back to good health, my daughter broke her arm! Not to mention my own health issues this year and some stressful church issues. I thought I was going to end 2011 in the fetal position, sucking my thumb and waiting for the bad things to go away!

Then I had the dream. It began with a tornado off in the distance. It looked so far away that my wife and I decided it was no threat and we went to sleep. We awoke to sirens blaring and when we looked out the door, we were in the eye of a tornado! We never felt it hit us, but once we woke to what was going on, the destruction was all around us. We began praying for safety and praying for the tornado to stop. The more we prayed, the smaller the tornado became. Finally, the tornado vanished and we saw clear skies everywhere.

I feel like my word is the one God gave me when I awoke from this dream! PRAYER.

I have been chewing on this for weeks and praying harder than I have in some time. I feel like the storms are shrinking...though they are not completely gone yet. So I will keep praying. Funny (scary) thing is, prayer has always been the area I have felt the weakest in my walk with the Lord. So this journey will be interesting, but I look forward to 2012 and all that God has planned for me. I am holding on to this word (prayer) and the Scripture God has been speaking to me all through the fall, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10)

I know that prayer does not always make the bad things disappear, but it does give us peace in the midst of the storm.

Prayer and the Word. Yeah I look forward to 2012!

So what is God speaking to you for the New Year?

The Bell - I KNow Who I Am

I was sent this in an email and really liked it so I thought I would share it with all of you. Merry Christmas!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
2 Corinthians 5:17

.

THE BELL
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3 :20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8: 31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph.. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13 )
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3).. I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 5)
I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5)
I belong to God
Do you know
Who you are?

The Names of God Bible - A Review

I have never reviewed a Bible before, so when I received The Names of God Bible in the mail I thought I should ask for some help.

I went to my teenaged daughter who checked it out and gave this heartfelt endorsement: "Awesome Bible!" Not receiving much help there, I went to my more articulate wife who looked through the Bible and said, "Cool Bible!"

So being left to my own devices, I decided this needed a more mature review. I really love this Bible.

Ok that wasn't it.

The Names of God Bible was like a breath of fresh air. I sat down and turned to Genesis Ch. 1 and right away I was drawn in by the beauty of the Hebrew names of God in the midst of the test. The Bible is advertised as restoring to the original Hebrew more than 10,000 occurrences of specific names of God--like Yahweh, El Shadday, El Elyon, and Adonay--to help readers connect with the Hebrew roots of their Christian faith and experience a deeper understanding of God's character.

I believe it achieves it's goal. My daughter is reading the Bible when we drive to town and my wife and I are both wanting to dig into the numerous features found in the Names of God Bible. I love the idea of following the use of El Shadday throughout the text.

Among the features found in this Bible include:

• background information associated with the most important names and titles of God
• key Scripture passages in which the name is revealed
• devotional readings for each of the featured names
• specific Bible promises connected to each of the featured names
• I should also note that this is the God's Word Translation.
  

If you get the chance to pick up one new Bible this year, I would highly recommend The Names of God Bible. You won't be disappointed.

"Bible has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

The Birth of Christ: The Announcement!

Women and new fathers love baby announcements. I say new fathers because most guys don’t usually ask details. We just find out a baby is born and grunt. Women want all the details. ALL.

When both of our children were born, when I shared that we had a new child, ladies would ask about weight, length, time, how long the labor was, etc!

(OK I know the women are now curious so here you go.)

Hanna – 8lbs 3oz, 22” long, 10:12 am
Caleb – 7lbs, 2oz, 22” long, 10:30 pm

When we sent out birth announcements for Hanna, they were printed on card stock and mailed to all our dear family and friends. When Caleb was born I did the birth announcement via email and sent it to all our contacts. Of course I was sleep deprived and had to send a corrected notice with his ACTUAL name.

I've been thinking about the Biblical birth announcement found in Luke ch. 2.

The angel said to them, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David's city.

How’s that for a birth announcement?

Notice the detail…in the announcement of His birth, his purpose for being born was also declared: YOUR Savior.

Jesus was born to die, to give His life on the cross and to save us from sin/death and hell.

When the Sheppard’s came to find Jesus in a manger, they told Mary about the heavenly birth announcement and she treasured these things in her heart and thought about them often.

It’s easy to get caught up in selfmas. The purchasing of gifts for ourselves and others. We should strive to remember His birth year round, focusing on His birth and the purpose for which He came.

So how can we celebrate?

1. Counting our blessings.
2. Tell others of His love, birth, death and resurrection.
3. Focus on the reason He was born and how it applies to our life.
4. Worship HIM!

Just a few rambling thoughts on the season.

What Did Jesus Do?

I was at the thrift store recently when one of our volunteers made a comment that got me to thinking.

He said, "Why do we ask what would Jesus do? What we should be asking is what has Jesus already done."

I had to chew on it for a bit but what he said makes sense. Both are valid statements. "WWJD?" was all the rage a few years back and everyone seemed to be asking the question. Of course the number or people who actually dug into the Word of God to find out what Jesus would do in a certain situation may not have been as high as the number of people who wore the t-shirts, bracelets, etc. It did get some people thinking though.

I actually like the second part of my friends statement. What has Jesus already done? There are times that we, as believers, seem so indecisive when it comes to actually MOVING on the things God has called us to do. We are called to be imitators of Christ! (Ephesians 5:1) What did Jesus do?

He loved people. He showed grace and mercy. He prayed for the sick and wept with those who mourned. He would walk miles to share God with one person. He was passionate about His heavenly Father. He spoke truth...in love. He was about His Father's business.

Asking what Jesus already did makes me realize that I don't have to wonder what He would do in a situation, all I have to do is read His Word and see what He has already done. I need to "Just Do It".