Reshaping It All

Mary loaned me a book by Candace Cameron Bure, titled Reshaping It All. It's been a good read, and I always feel like if I take notes, it was worth spending the time on. I was reading it at breakfast today and came to this:

When you are standing in the desert of testing with your back to the sea and all you can see in front of you is the enemy closing in, be still. Stand firm, and you will find deliverance. have you ever stood still long enough to witness God do His work? Have you ever stood still in His presence and let Him fight your enemy? Be still. Because when you do, God will triumph over your enemy, release you from your stronghold, and you will know that He is God.

I must have reread that paragraph five times, and thanked God for showing me the Be Still message yet again! I seem to run into it everywhere now. I love when God reaffirms Himself to you over and over again; it's so reassuring.

My One Word

So I finally have My One Word for 2012. And of course, because I like to be annoying, it's not one word, it's two, and from this verse.

I have prayed repeatedly about what my Word for this year should be, but overall just felt led to be quiet and to listen to Him. To spend daily time in His Word, which is something I have always been sporadic with. I have started reading a chronological bible that is laid out to be read in a year. Along with that I've been writing in my prayer journal each time I read, and feeling His peace; the peace that I have desperately needed with all of the drama life has thrown at me the past month or so.

I let myself get caught up in life pretty much every day. I forget Him, and then throw a few minutes at Him before I fall asleep. I pray for other people, but don't take time to listen and be still. And I think overall that I need to be still in my life, not just in those moments of prayer. He helped me find my One Word by leading me to be still, and stop striving, and just be.

My One Word 2012

It's New Year's Resolution time for a lot of us. I did My One Word last year, and am doing it again for 2012. I think 'Reckless Abandon' worked well for me, even if it didn't accomplish what I thought it would. I chose it believing it would help me to lay aside fears I had about writing, losing weight & witnessing about my faith in Jesus. It did work for the latter two, but not the first. I made the decision to lay aside the writing dream for now. The harder I tried to pursue it with reckless abandon, the more I found I didn't want to do it, didn't have time to do it and just was not ready. I hope I can come back to it in a few years, but we'll see what God has planned.
Theresa told me that her One Word for last year was 'rest', from Matthew 11:28-30. I am praying about what my Word should be this year, but I'm already feeling like God is directing me towards something similar. Time and again I find myself praying in the foxhole, but neglecting that daily quiet time. I've been looking for a verse today and found this article on doing quiet time. I like the acronym of 'ASPECT' and how you can use that as a tool for bible study. I'll post again later when I have my One Word.

A – About God – What can you learn about God through this passage?

S – Sin – Does it talk about any sin?

P – Promise – Is there any promise in the word?

E – Example – Is there any example, I can follow?

C –Command – Which command I need to obey?

T – Teaching – What can I learn from this passage?

My One Word

If you've never heard of My One Word before, then go check out their site before you read the rest of this post. (click the pic)

My "one word" for 2011 is actually two words.  (Yes, I'm cheating.)  Reckless Abandon.  A few weeks ago on an episode of The Biggest Loser, Jillian Michaels was encouraging one of the contestants to not give up. She told him to pursue this (weight loss, getting healthy) with "reckless abandon."  That stuck with me for days, and I kept thinking about it again and again.  I realized how many things I have not pursued in my life because of fear of failure.

I want to be a writer.  But I am afraid I won't be any good.
I want to witness to others about my Jesus. But I'm afraid they won't listen.
I want to lose weight. But I sabotage myself over and over.

If I want to do these things, then I must set aside my fears and pursue them, regardless of what could happen that will hurt.  My One Word isn't about making promises about what I will do this year.  But instead, anytime I feel that fear, I will remind myself that I want to pursue these goals with reckless abandon.