God is the Light

I am looking at my words for the year as illumination that God wants to help light my way on this path called life.  Without the Light from God, the path can be tricky and dangerous.  I stumble and fall without the Light to guide me.  Without the Light, I am blind. God is my Light, showing me the way He has for me.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; who shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; who shall I be afraid.” Psalm 27:1

To be perfectly honest, I sometimes take my eyes off the Light.  That is when I stumble through life, and get angry or upset that my life is not going how I think it should go.  It is when I can’t see the Light that I question where I am supposed to be, or cry that I am not where I want to be in life.   I become very selfish in my thinking, me, me, me.

All I can think about is myself, and my “sad” life.  I have had those in the last couple of weeks. Life is tough sometimes, especially when you are just looking at yourself.  You don’t see what God is doing all around you.

When I focus back to the Light, I have confidence in God.  I have confidence that God is guiding me in His journey that He wants for me.  It won’t be smooth going, because I am in the equation. Our road has been bumpy and broken, but God is always there.

“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose water does not fail.” Isaiah 58:11

My road has not been a smooth one, and some of that is my own fault.  Yet, some of those bumps have been because of sin in this world.   I have been broken and abused because there is sin in the world. Yet with God as my Light and my Salvation, He has made me new. I am a new creation.

Each day I rejoice that I am a new creation and everything in my past is just that. Everything old has been passed away.  I could live my life as the victim of a traumatic childhood event, but I don’t want to live like that anymore. I am made new by God, and He is molding me into the person He designed me to be.

We all have a story, and baggage from our past.  The thief, the devil, comes only to steal my joy, kill my spirit, and destroy my life. God came that I may have life, and have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)  I paraphrased that verse, but hopefully you get the picture.

God’s Word for our life is a Light for us.  It is God’s love letter to us.  It is our first aid kit. It is God telling us He is our rock, our fortress.  We just have to open our eyes and see.

“For You are my rock and my fortress; and for Your name’s sake You lead and guide me;” Psalm 31:3-4

Dear Lord

Blessed be your name.  I thank you for being my rock and my fortress.  I thank you for making all things new.  Sometimes I don’t always live my life like that, but you are always there.  You will never leave me nor forsake me.  You are the light, and I want to follow you.  Keep lighting my path.

Amen

Laura Maxson

Focus on God’s Word for Our Year - 2016

God showed me one more word for my year that He wants for me. That word is “focus.” So I have two words, confidence and focus. Those two words in themselves are big words, and both words are something that are going to be interesting. 

I believe that God wants to show me something God sized for my journey with Him.  Right now I don’t know what He has in mind, but I know it will be a great journey. So I embark this year with those two words are my “theme” for the year.

This journey through life is so filled with ups and downs that we have to have a safe haven.  God is that. We need a way out of the dark, and God is that way.  He is our light, our lamp unto our feet so we will not stumble.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105

The journey is just that, a journey.  God is leading us, and every time we have it figured out, God surprises us.  With our word for the year, God is shedding light onto us.  He is showing us He knows best.

Life is so much of instant gratification, instant messaging, and even instant coffee. We don’t have the patience, and we want it now.  Have we forgotten to stop and enjoy the journey, or that God wants us to enjoy the journey He has planned for us?

So, if you have your word for the year, great.  However, if you don’t, don’t worry.  God will show you. God has this journey for you, and He will reveal it to you when He thinks you are ready for it.

If you do have the Word that God has planned for your year, then pray that God will show you where He wants you to use it.  Maybe it is a second word that He has for you that is equally as important. Maybe, it is to be still and know that He is God.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God…” Psalm 46:10

Sometimes during the week my life gets so busy with the things I have to do.  This last week was one of them.  I was so busy during the week, that by the weekend all I could do was chill.  God was telling me to just chill and focus on me.

You didn’t know God talked like that? To me, He told me to just take a moment and relax with Him.  So that is what this weekend was. I had “confidence” that my relaxation was honoring to Him, because it opened my heart and mind to be more focused on Him, and not the week.

I am keeping my eyes open to what God is trying to show me.  I am keeping my eyes focused on Him, and I know that is what He wants from us. God is showing me what how He wants this year to go.

So as we continue to pray for guidance on our word for the year, we will also hear what God wants for our journey with Him.  It is going to be an amazing ride.

Dear Lord,

I thank You for this journey that You are on with me, or I should say, that I am on with You.  You are the guide, the compass, the GPS.  Please help me to not lose focus of You.  Please be with the people reading this blog.  Bless them and soften their hearts that they will follow the journey that You have for them too. Lord You are the Guide.  Please help us to not lose focus of You.

Amen

Laura Maxson

God’s Word for Our Year - 2016

If God has not already shown you your word for the year, do not give up hope.  Please, continue to pray and keep your eyes and ears open.  The revealing of your word can come from anywhere, people, a song, a Bible verse, or even a book you are reading.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him…” Psalm 37:7

Be patient, in His time, or when He thinks you are ready, He will reveal it to you.  We are significant to our God. How awesome is that?  God designed each of us in our mothers’ womb to be different. The God that designed the universe, cares for each of us, and has enough love and words to go around.

Think about this for a moment. The sun, moon and stars, God spoke, and they were in existence.  The birds of the air and the fish of the seas, God spoke, and they were in existence.  Most everything He created, He spoke and it existed.

Yet, when it came to man and woman, He formed us.  He knelt in the dirt, and got dirty. He formed a human from the dirt of the ground and breathed life into him.  God’s breath made a clump of dirt come alive.  God still comes down to us, forms us, gets dirty, and breaths into us life.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the starts, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You care for him?”  Psalm 8:3-4

Our God is a loving God, and He will continue to knock on the door of our hearts. He doesn’t give up on us, because He wants us in Heaven with Him.  God loves you and me. Isn’t that awe-inspiring?

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16

On the freeway that I have to travel to get to work, John 3:16 is carved in the lawn along an overpass.  Every day it reminds me that whatever challenges or problems I am having I need to give to God, because He loves me.  He is someone that I can rely on.  He will not fail me.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26

Each day in January that passes, I am more assured of the word that God has chosen for me. The word confidence, is more than just self-confidence. I love the meaning that I found for the last blog post. Confidence, it means the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something.

“Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5.

In other words, I need to have confidence in the Lord with all of my heart, and not my perception.  Yes, I use my faith and logic, but we see such a small view of everything.  We don’t get the big picture. We are biased because of our upbringing or past experiences.  I have to be confident in the Lord to guide me.

“In him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12

The more we get to know our God, the more we can have confidence in Him.  The more we will be able to listen for His still small voice, or hear Him when He shouts through our pain. Did you know that God whispers to us, laughs with us, and yells above the noises if He needs to?  Whatever He has to, to get our attention.

“Pain insists upon being attended to.  God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pain. It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” C S Lewis

So, God will give you the word He wants to help define and shape this year, or this month or this day.  He has a theme for our life. We just have to be open to listen or see what He wants to do in us.  Do not give up hope.  God is there.  God is here.

Dear Father, 

Thank you for all the wonders that you have shown.  Thank you for person reading this.  I pray for them as You reveal to them their word for the year.  I know that You will use a megaphone if needed. The devil is trying to derail our journey with all the evil in the world, but in the name of JESUS, the devil has zero authority over us.  You are an awesome and powerful God.  Thank you just is not enough, but for us mere humans, it is the best word we have. 

AMEN

Laura Maxson

God’s Word for My Year - 2016

This month, we have again decided that we are going to pray about the one word that will define or shape this year.  I know that it helped me last year.  It shaped, defined, and effected my year last year.  I hope that it did the same thing for you.

This New Year, the pages are blank.  It is our new book, our new journey.  It is an opportunity to start over, and try something that we haven’t ever done before.  We do resolutions, and then stick to them for about two weeks.  Well, that is not going to be this year of the word.

So, for 2016 what word does God want for me to define my year?  I have prayed, and kept my eyes and ears open to God.  He gave me the answer. It came on December 31, and again on January 1.  

God was making sure that I got the word that He wanted to define and shape my year. Confidence.

I looked up that word.  “Confidence – the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust.”  God wants me to have confidence in Him, in other, and in myself.  It is very similar to my word last year, trust. 

Yet, I feel that God is wanting me to have confidence in not only Him, but myself, and others.  Last year, He impressed me that I need to write a book of my story of God’s Amazing Grace.  I feel so unconfident undertaking that task. I kept putting it off, and putting it off.  He wants this year for me to be confident in myself, and allow Him to shine through me.

So, that is what my year will be.  I will not only be confident in my God, but in myself that I can do what God is calling me to do.  Through God, I will be confident. Through God, all things are possible.

I can do ALL things through Christ which strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

How did God show me that word?  Well, it was in an evaluation that I got from my boss on December 31. He said that I was very strong in the things that I already know, but that I needed more confidence in the things that I don’t know as well.  I need confidence that I am able to do them, answer #1. 

Then, on January 1 in church the pastor was preaching, and something was mentioned about David and Goliath.  The pastor said that David had confidence that God would show His glory, answer #2. So, I wrote the word on the bulletin.

I don’t know how God is going to show you your word for the year, but I do know that if you pray and are open, He will show you.  He wants us to grow in Him. So, open your eyes and ears and watch and listen for God to show you what He wants for you.

This year is the start of something new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (or she) is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Dear Lord,

Reveal Your word to those reading these words.  Show them what You want for this year for them. You have a special word for each of them.  You have shown me my word, and I have confidence in You that You will show each person their own.  Thank you for amazing grace.

Amen

Laura Maxson