Happy New Year!! I am entering 2012 with great peace and contentment. Does that mean life has been perfect? No.....far from it but 2011 was such a good year for me spiritually. It has left me in the embrace of God. Can't think of a better spot to be in!
God took me on a journey in 2011. I was tried and pushed beyond my own limits to say the least. Yet life with God allows one to reached a point of living beyond any circumstance by living in His embrace. How? Prayer, praise, obedience, perseverance, and faith. It is amazing how such peace and comfort can come, even in the worst of times, when you keep looking up. As I journey back through my scripture cards and the verses I have memorized in 2011, a reflection of the year magnifies God's work in my heart, my mind, and my life. So far from perfection but so much closer to my God!!
"The things that preserves a man from panic is his relationship to God." ~ Oswald Chambers
Are you excited to see where God will lead you and use you in 2012? I am! The glimpses He has given me up to this point is leading to a deeper focus on glorifying Him. First I heard Him say "Lose control for what I want you to do for Me". I so want to!! I have begun to feel a yearning to reach out in ways I haven't before. It will not come easy for me. I will have to step outside my comfort zone. Serving comes easy, being bold about my faith with others maybe not so much. I don't like being in front of a crowd-not something you would expect from a previous college instructor, right?
Coming from a fallen and broken life filled with plenty of grief and disappointments, it's hard to stand up strong and radiate God when you fear the past is all others will allow themselves to see. Moving beyond ones regret can be so difficult but not impossible. When a person is able to step beyond their unwanted past, they are able to experience an amazing God and that is where I stand today. It's a humble place to be but also the best place I have ever been.
Other little things have illuminated the path ahead for me on to this new journey for 2012-such as a new church with some of the most amazing worship and sermons I have ever experienced. He spoke to me through a new worship song: "From the Inside Out". In this song He convicted me that I need to give Him more control
...I'm still being selfish with some areas. OUCH. My life, my heart, my mind is made to consume Him from the inside out by giving Him praise in all that I say, think or do. I didn't think I could hunger and thirst for more of Him but I do and that makes me want to do more for Him. No more selfishness, no more living in the shadow of my past but instead 2012 calls me to live in the shadow of His cross OUT LOUD!
...I'm still being selfish with some areas. OUCH. My life, my heart, my mind is made to consume Him from the inside out by giving Him praise in all that I say, think or do. I didn't think I could hunger and thirst for more of Him but I do and that makes me want to do more for Him. No more selfishness, no more living in the shadow of my past but instead 2012 calls me to live in the shadow of His cross OUT LOUD!
Another message came from the childrens Christmas program at this new church. As they were reaching out to save a mission about to be closed, they changed "LOL (laugh out loud) to "Live Out Loud". God has laid on my heart a deep desire to not only live out loud with my life in Him but to also reach out in a big way. This confirmed Isaiah 58: 10-12 was indeed to be my scripture for 2012 (captured by my heart a few months ago when I started asking God what He wanted of me):
...and if you offer yourself to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted one,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.
The LORD will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.
Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live. ~ Isaiah 58: 10-12 (HCSB)
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your night will be like noonday.
The LORD will always lead you,
satisfy you in a parched land,
and strengthen your bones.
You will be like a watered garden
and like a spring whose waters never run dry.
Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
you will restore the foundations laid long ago;
you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets where people live. ~ Isaiah 58: 10-12 (HCSB)
A more recent message came from a Bible study I have the privileged to lead. Within this study I was lead to the memory verse above. This verse is about making peace with our past. It's about coming into God's light one step at a time. It's about putting on the armor of prayer, praise, obedience, perseverance, peace, and faith. One step at a time in His light. Trusting Him and stepping out.Living out loud...giving out loud...from the inside out...praising a most amazing God. Hold me accountable friend.
What are you living for in 2012? What mission has God laid on your heart? What path is He illuminating for you? Live it out loud with me!!
Striving to Live Out Loud~Pamela
1 comment:
Living out loud! You do it so well. Praying God's amazing grace and strength carry your forward into the promises of 2012!
peace~elaine
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