Happy New Year!
I can’t say I entered 2021 with any cheer, as I was recovering from the Covid cray, but I am alive. My family did communion to ring in the new year and that felt good.
Today, I am on my porch in 60-degree weather. As I was sitting at His table to find my true center, a thought came to me. There is something about a reset that causes me to stop and ponder. I have been reading a book by Jeremy Riddle called The Reset: Returning to the Heart of Worship and the Life of Undivided Devotion. Here is an excerpt:
“In the medical field, what often appears to be a ‘harsh’ treatment is only a physician applying the necessary force the healing of an injury requires. A broken bone that has never healed properly must be broken again in order to be reset. Otherwise, the person would remain permanently crippled. The same is true spiritually. There are more than a few broken bones deeply crippling the ministry of worship, and they must be reset. A bandage may appear to be the more merciful response, but bandages do not heal broken bones.”
This sounds painful, but the alternative is to be permanently crippled. I don’t know what might have broken you emotionally, financially, or relationally in 2020, but the reset is here for the taking for those willing to go through the breaking. If I could give a charge here at the beginning of the year, it’s this one:
Instead of saying, “Ready set go!!”
What about, “Ready to reset and then take it slow!!”
The new year can be very daunting with resolutions for the future. But then, February comes and you can’t keep up with the commitments you made internally. So, what if you just took it slow? Make smaller growth commitments. Each week find a goal, but keep it small and take it slow. The more you grow, the larger the tasks you can hold.
This is what I’m asking: Can you steward the things in your hand well? Will you hold them or fold them? Slow and steady wins the race, they say. So, find your pace and you’ll find His grace. It’s your individual responsibility to find your pace where you can feel His grace. The more you know yourself, the easier it is to adjust and readjust again.
2020 is behind us. IT IS FINISHED! Thank goodness! However, not everything about 2020 is complete. For those abiding in His Holy Spirit guiding, it’s business as usual. We are living connected to the Vine. It takes a slower rhythm to stop and receive from the Mender, but it’s oh so sweet to sit at His feet. Every day you choose to sit and read His guide called the Bible. He takes you on a ride. I pray and ask for eyes to see and for the Spirit Word to breathe all over me. When it breathes on me, I start to see more eternally. And, a peace comes when I’m communicating with the Son.
This brings me to a song by Maverick City Music. Here are the lyrics:
God of Abraham, God of covenant and of faithful promises
Time and time again You have proven You’ll do just what You said
Though the storms may come and the winds may blow I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn when You speak a word it will come to pass
Great is Your faithfulness to me
Great is Your faithfulness to me
From the rising sun, to the setting same
I will praise Your name
Great is Your faithfulness to me
God from age to age, though the earth may pass away, Your word remains the same
You’re history can prove there’s nothing You can’t do, You’re faithful and true
Though the storms may come and the winds may blow I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn when You speak a word it will come to pass
Great is Your faithfulness to me
Great is Your faithfulness to me
From the rising sun, to the setting same
I will praise Your name
Great is Your faithfulness to me
I put my faith in Jesus
My anchor to the ground
My hope and firm foundation
He’ll never let me down
(Promises by Maverick City Music https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q5m09rqOoxE)
I watch the live Passion conference on New Year’s Eve and Christine Cain spoke about the anchor. She referenced this passage and thought:
“that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 6:18-20 NKJV
She also said this:
“Our hope isn’t anchored in the bottom of the sea. It’s anchored behind the veil in eternity.”
🔥🤯🙆🏼♀️
What a powerful image and statement!!!! GLORY!!
Our hope is anchored in heavenly places behind sacred spaces. Don’t you enjoy having a best friend that you have inside jokes with? It’s the same with Jesus. He wants to bring you inside and sit you down at the table of the Lord and share a meal. When you eat with Jesus, you not only feel seen and heard, but full and alert.
So, stay hungry, my senders! Stay hungry for His Spirit’s breathing word. As you ingest it, you start to rest in it.
Here is my 2021 recipe challenge:
First, start with Rest
Then, add Courage
Next, a flashlight to Search for the broken places inside
Next comes a Reset with the Holy Spirit’s guidance
A little bit or a lot of Patience
And finally, Restoration - Wholeness
It’s a simple recipe, but even simple recipes take time. Time is a precious thing.
“There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season. There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants. There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance. There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them. There is a time to hug and a time not to hug. There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away. There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak. There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NCV
All these moments are a daily choice in our personal history. Let’s choose wisely in 2021.
2021 here we come. We don’t know what it will look like, but with You all things work together for good. So, Good News is coming your way! Yeah, Good News is coming your way!
Signing off until next time,
Micah D.