HAPPY 2022 ~ #ONEWORD for the NEW YEAR!

 

...and it's that time of year again, where instead of resolutions, we have chosen to be resolute and intentional about changes and things in our lives for the New Year. The time where a lot of churches and individuals, and even businesses and worldly business and secular minds take time to choose their #oneword or #onelittleword for the YEAR ahead.

My #ONEWORD for 2021 was PURSUE... to pursue and seek after more of God, in these 6 areas specifically. (spelling out the word pursue)

Prayerful -- 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Understanding/Wisdom -- Exodus 35:31

Righteousness -- 1 Timothy 6:11

Spiritual Truth -- Psalm 86:2 & Psalm 78:2

Unwavering Faith -- Matthew 21:21

Excellence -- Proverbs 31:10; Ruth 3:11; Matthew 5:16; & Philippians 4:8

As I am still in pursuit of more of God, and these areas above, I still will cling to the word PURSUE but also include MINDFUL or RENEWAL... We completed a ZOOM study this year (technically 6 weeks in November and December) on choosing a changed mind, using a booklet by the same title, "Choose a Changed Mind" by our friend and Evangelist Anita Pearce. In this book (which I highly recommend to you - see below to order) she digs deeper into the words/principles found in Philippians 4:8 (which was one of my verses above). The eight principles or thought patterns in the Scripture include true; noble; right; pure; lovely; admirable; excellent & praiseworthy (depending on the translation you read, but basically the same meanings). She ends the chapter with "By renewing our thought patterns according to these principles, our characters will be transformed. We will become reflections of the holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ." So one of my goals for 2022 is to continually RENEW my MIND... which includes being more MINDFUL of what I choose to think on.

We can CHOOSE our thought patterns, and this is a tool that is useful to know and remember. It is OUR choice alone to hold onto the good and get rid of the bad... better yet, don't even let the negative and bad ones in! Stop them at the door and deny them entrance. One sentence that came to me (through Holy Spirit) while reading the book was "BE A BOUNCER of YOUR MIND!!" Those bouncers outside clubs, etc don't just let anyone in. They use their muscle to keep out the ones who don't belong -- even those with a fake ID. Don't even let those words of false prophets in! There is a lot of deceit in the world today that is masquerading around as truth. Keep the lies out and bring in the truth!!

How do we go about living out our #ONEWORD??

For me, it's starting with DAY 1... gaining wisdom again through reading the BOOK of PROVERBS! There are 31 chapters in Proverbs and 31 days in January. I am going to be more intentional with reading and writing about wisdom gleaned! Writing this BLOG POST today on DAY 1 will also hopefully help keep me accountable, and I hope to share some revelations and fun from my Bible Reading adventures this year (not just Proverbs this month, but as the year continues) -- so that next year, my blog post for 2023 won't be right after this one. (OOPS!)

For YOU... first, choose your word... through prayer, through much thought and deliberation... and however else you want to choose it. Maybe through reading the Word, or through reading this post a word pops into your mind... If you don't have a relationship with God and are just choosing a word that your business is following, or if your church is choosing a word... you can definitely use that word too... but there is a personal word out there for YOU for 2022, find it!! Then make a call to action... DO IT! Choose to do something that will help you get to where you want to be... where God is calling you to be!! If you need some help, contact me and I will creatively share some ideas.

BUT... most of all, FOCUS on the LORD and make 2022 a great one!! "Set your minds on things above, and not on earthly things!" Colossians 3:2

** IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ORDER THE BOOK "CHOOSE A CHANGED MIND" by ANITA PEARCE - visit her website INSPIRATION MINISTRIES here, and order from her shop, or I think they are on Amazon.ca too. **

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Be Blessed to be a BLESSING!!

WOW~! It's a NEW YEAR again... HAPPY 2022!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR... again... feels like I just wrote it... (and looking at this blog I did)

I originally tried to focus more on my writing and it being one of the cre8tive outlets that I would use more in 2021... and again, that wasn't done as well as I had hoped. Thankfully, I have other outlets and did use my writing in other ways (I did set up an Instagram with @mitzshewrote after one of my favourite TV shows growing up Murder She Wrote, where Jessica Fletcher (aka Angela Lansbury) was a mystery writer.) 

However, this year of not writing here on the blog was not seen as a failure. I did also grow in other areas, and of course, we all know that even though 2020 was an interesting year, 2021 was also interesting and had its own ups and downs. As we grow older, we see that time seems to fly by quicker. The old saying was always "Time flies when you're having fun", but clearly I don't have to tell you that 2021 was not all fun and games (and I love games)! But seriously, this year seemed to fly by. 

As 2020 came to a close, and 2021 began, we were still bogged down by the Cov!d pandemic and the effects of it, whether it hit your home, close to home, or at least someone you knew. Whether or not you believe in the complete pandemic, there obviously has been a lot of things attached to it that have changed the world we live in. (Not going to get into it - move on!)

As 2022 begins, I am in a more contemplative state of mind and have had a lot of days of relaxation and time to myself (which is yes unusual)... but it reminds me that God is the ONLY one who brought us through. Although things around us have changed greatly, He has NOT changed. He isn't surprised by what is happening. Whether you believe in Him or not, He is there, and He is the One who sits on the High Throne. As believers, we can boldly go before that throne due to His love and grace. This year is a year to help bring in the Prodigals and the Lost souls to the Kingdom... time is moving quickly and time, as we know it here on earth, is quickly coming to an end.

NOW is the time... TODAY is the day of salvation... January 1st, 2022... is the PERFECT day for you to begin your FIRST STEPS (or steps again) with the FATHER, His Son JESUS, and our comforter and guide HOLY SPIRIT!! In the story of the PRODIGAL SON, which I just re-read in one of my devotions, it says, "So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20) You have to do your part and take the first step towards the Father, whether it's a first step or a u-turn back, and then God in His great love and compassion will run to you! IF THIS IS YOU... then take the time to "come to {your} senses" (Luke 15:17) and come (back) to the Father in repentance. We are ALL sinners, and we all have felt those feelings of unworthiness. But the Father calls us back as a SON, not just a servant!

Now, maybe you are like me, still a sinner who is saved by grace, but you haven't truly run from the Father, you've stuck close like the older brother. (He still sinned in his own ways, but the Father forgave him). Where was the older son while all this was happening?? In verse 25 it says, "Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working...". The older son was working and doing his part. Taking care of the fields was his responsibility. The verse continues, "When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on." Then he hears the news of his brother returning home, and goes into a form of self-pity. Instead of being happy that his brother has returned (and can now take some of the responsibility for the work), he wallows in his own self-pity. Self-pity leads to our own fall, which can lead to anger, depression and despair. The Scriptures say that "The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in." (Luke 15:28) BUT GOD...  His father came out and begged him... and again wallowing and his anger turned to depression, and he complains to the father about all that he has done for him, and that he never even got a young goat for a feast with his friends. The father then reminds him that ALL he had was always the sons all along. The Scripture says "His father said to him, 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours." (Luke 15:31) So, the older son could have had a young goat for a feast with his friends... he could have had anything that belonged to the father; to the family (other than the wealth inheritance that was given to the younger son earlier in the chapter).

Now normally, this parable is spoken of or taught, in regards to the Prodigal Son, or in regards to the Father welcoming the son home and it is compared to the Father welcoming those who have strayed from the faith... the Prodigal Son has been compared allegorically to those who once loved the Father and were 'Christ-followers' who have now walked away from their beliefs. The Father obviously is God the Father. He has so much love and compassion for all to come to know Him and be in a relationship with Him, as a 'son'. The older son should be happy for a lost soul to come back to the Father. But this time around (& I'm sure I've thought about it before, but it hit me this time), I'm stuck on the fact of the older son and those words found in the 31st verse above, "Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours." The older son was faithful to the father, therefore like a believer who has been faithful to the Father, doing the work and staying by Him. In the parable, the older son at that moment was mad about a young goat for a feast, but really, the father said 'EVERYTHING that I have is yours'... so it got me thinking, what else does the FATHER have for us that we have not 'asked for' or just taken hold of... because everything that He has is ours.

I always hear of different preachers or teachers speaking of "open heavens", and the verse that has come up a lot in recent teachings is "we have not, because we ask not" (James 4:2)

So let 2022 be a year of new chapters, clean slates, salvations/lost being found, prodigals returning, and believers asking and receiving more and more from the Father... 

BE BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING!

Happy 2022 Blessings to you and yours!