As we turn the page on the collective chapter in our lives and enter what we can term Chapter 2021 of life, I’m encouraged to know that, while we will all be in this chapter together, God sees us as the individuals He created us to be. He is writing a specific story with each of us according to how He has woven our inner parts together in the secret place, creating us in His image with His own hands.
If you need someone who can be there for you no matter what happens to your job, marriage, kids, family members, car, bank account, etc., then you want more revelation of Jesus. If you need someone who can speak into your anxiety or fears and has the power to change them, then you need more revelation of Jesus. I think you’ll agree, or maybe you’ll discover, that His presence is everything. It changes everything in every situation or circumstance. No exceptions.
When you talk to God, He hears and He answers. If you don’t think you are experiencing Him, then be more intentional about getting quiet and listening. What do you feel, smell, hear, see? One of the ways I know He’s with me is when I get quiet and call on His name and His peace comes over me.
God will speak to each of us in the unique way He created us. Do you like puzzles? He’ll give you a challenge. Do you like history? You’ll be reminded of a historical story that is an example of the answer to what you are asking Him. Do you love nature? Your environment will have a language of its own for you with regard to the conversations you are having with God.
For Christmas 2020 I asked God what I could give Him for Christmas. I kinda laugh about it because He has everything, right? When He answered, I smiled. He said, “Give Me your time.” It made perfect sense for Him to say that because all He wants is me, time with me. I’m being more intentional about setting aside specific time that will not be interrupted so that I can put my ear on His chest, listen to His heartbeat for me, and let Him tell me how much He loves me. It is the most peaceful, most beautiful place to be, and His love lingers on me throughout the day.
Let’s start out the new year with an intentional invitation for the God of the Holy Bible to take center stage in our lives. Let’s give Him our strength, mind, love, and soul! Let us not forget Him as we move through the year ahead.
As we bid 2020 goodby, here’s to grieving what pained our heart and celebrating what gave us joy. Let’s look at Chapter 2021 with hope in the One who knows what tomorrow brings and has no fear or anxiety about it.
Father, give us the beauty of Your presence. Give us the tangible experience of Your presence. The peace that surpasses all understanding. Your goodness and kindness that runs extremely deep.
You’re invited into this place. We must have the beauty of Your presence.
We give you all of our praise because You are worthy. Father, thank You that You do not shame us over our meager worship. We’re not capable of giving You the worship that reflects Your due honor and yet You receive us with open arms. Thank You for putting us in Christ because Your extravagant love for Him is extended to us because of who He is.
To You, our praise and worship is sweet because You love spending time with us. You love hearing our voice. You love sharing Your heart with us. You are the Father who enjoys giving good things to His daughters.
Father, one taste of Your kindness and we desire more and more. We can’t get enough. Your living water refreshes our souls. Your wisdom and knowledge surpass anything we think we understand. Your grace and mercy make no sense to our earthly minds, but we are so, so grateful for it.
Father, we want to be purposeful in inviting You into our lives in this new year. Regardless of what it looks like and regardless what it feels like, the truth is that You are still on Your throne, and You are still in control. We have no need to fear the days ahead because of Your presence. Your presence is absolutely everything. It will sustain us in every situation.
You are mighty and powerful, yet You incline Your ear to our voices. You extend Your hand to us. You are always reaching for us. You are high and lifted up and yet You are intimately engaged in the lives of Your beloved. You see, You hear, and You answer. Nothing escapes Your eye or Your ear.
You are purposeful and in You nothing is lost or wasted. Thank You for taking my mistakes and failures and using them for my good and Your glory. You are known for Your extravagant ways, and I thank You that You will pour out the goodness and kindness of Your love for me.
Father, thank You for the dreams and goals You have given me. Help me to discern when I have moved away from You and into working things out on my own, protecting myself or my interests by my own power. Apart from You there is no good thing in me. All efforts in my own strength will come to ruin, but You, Father, are the security that holds everything together. Nothing is wasted, and everything is always on time.
Fill me with Your love. Let it overflow from my heart, my mouth, and my deeds. Allow me to show up in the various areas of my life in a state of overflow from You. I won’t show up in need of someone to fill me up because You will have already filled me with Your love.
Cause my heart to desire only You. Holy Spirit, I give you permission to give me such a strong desire for the Word and for God’s presence that I seek You every day throughout the day. God, put a fire in me that I can only quench by spending time with You.
Father God, I know You have a plan for me. And I know Satan does, too. I want to agree with You and You alone. I invite You to work in me so that I can accomplish Your good and pleasing will for my life.
You are trustworthy, kind, and unchanging. You can be trusted with my weakness for You will not use it against me.
As I walk out this next year, I thank You, Father God, that You will not allow me to wander away. If I get sidetracked by shiny objects, let them pale in comparison to Your beauty. If my heart wanders away for a lesser love, I thank You that You will rescue me with Your strength and passion. Help me to keep You lifted so high that my gaze is only on You, and I do not see any other competing god.
Father, there is none beside You. You have no rival and no equal. You drove death into the grave and only You rose victorious. Thank You that You have paved a way for me to intimately know Your great, deep, and wide love for me.
Thank You, Father, that the year ahead will be richly and extravagantly full of Your presence for no one else is the author of truth except You. Thank You, Father, that I will keep the eyes of my heart set on You … and that no matter what these next 12 months hold, You are writing a much bigger, more intimate love story with me than anything this world has to offer.
Equip me to live loved by You and therefore thrive in every circumstance in the days ahead. I trust you with my personal Chapter 2021.
Amen, Father!
Live Loved and Thrive!!
Self Reflection
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- What do you think is the most beautiful thing about God?
- What are you most looking forward to in the year ahead?
- What do you fear the most?
- With regard to what you fear, find scripture to rewrite that lie with God’s truth and talk to God about what you fear.
- Do you have a Bible verse for this year? If so, write it here and talk to God about what He has in store for you with regard to the verse He has shared with you.
- If you do not have a Bible verse, take the time to ask God for one.
- What are you least looking forward to in the months ahead?
- With regard to this stressor, ask God to show you the lie you are believing about this situation.
- Find a Bible verse that will speak truth into this lie. Write it out and put it in several high-traffic areas where you will see it often. Encourage yourself with it each time you see the verse.
- In what way do you need God to show up for you?
Take Action
Use God’s Word to take control over the traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises in His Word.
Here is a scripture for you to print, cut and carry with you and/or post in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s Word says about His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16 NIV0
Translation: He is worthy of all we have to give because, without exception, all things belong to Him and Him alone. Everything is for Him, through Him, by Him and to Him and He alone sustains it all.
