Behold watercolor

 

 

The words are swirling through the air this time of year, exultations of promise and faith to lead and guide us through the coming year. Of course, it is not a new phenomenon, as this has been the way of many who are hedging hope on the very WORD of God looking ahead to the coming days and weeks of the New  Year.

I didn’t realize how much a part of my prayer life these words have been until the looking back opened my eyes to see just where He has met me in my journey to this thing called grace.

I don’t know why I am consistently in awe of the things He has done, I mean… I walked them out, right? I patterned a path after Him as I pursued the peace only He can give, and I lived it… yet, sometimes I forget. Sometimes I don’t remember the things He has already done, and I have to rehearse the wonder, just like the Psalmist reminded  us to do.(Psalm 75)

I find myself standing in AWE of this God of my heart, this Master of Creation, the Original Mover, and the Author of Love. He is amazing.

Breath-taking beauty escalates out of the very essence of His presence and we should be reverent in our pursuit of His Holiness, because the One who takes our breath away, by the sheer glory of His fullness, also fills us with the breath of heaven and the light of hope.

And this…this is what strikes me… Without His fullness within our hearts we can never truly BEHOLD the beauty of the Lord the way we are meant to, because we will never see as we should unless He first gives us sight.

So I ask you what does it mean to you, in your dictionary of life-living, to SEE?

The word used in Psalm 27:4 for behold is the Greek word optomai , which literally means to gaze with eyes wide-open at something remarkable.  This is a pattern of the heart of one whose gaze is fully fixed upon the LORD.

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

Embracing majesty,BEHOLDING glory!

I have been asking the Lord for months to show me what  I am called to embrace this year. What purpose, lesson,  or prayer  should be my focus for 2015?

I have been remembering the things He has done, looking back with wonder at the season He has led us through. I have found myself settling in silence as I waited for Him to show me.

When the words are bouncing together in our hearing, we can sometimes confuse the message. Sometimes, we just need to toss them around, refining them as they tumble and turn in our thoughts and wait for His leading, wait for the vision to see truth.  The waiting on the words, I am sure is meant to refine us as well but it is sometimes unsettling because you may feel you have missed something.

Do you ever feel that way? Do you ever feel like perhaps you just missed His voice in the vast wilderness of clanging noise in the symphony of the day?

Be Still… and Know I am God.{Be Still and Know I work in your midst.}I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. – Psalm 46:10 {emphasis mine}

My word for this year was not as easy to decipher as in years past. Yet I found it while camping in the red-letter words of my Savior…looking for Him instead of a word. And isn’t that the way of it?

When we seek the One who is the WORD, it usurps all the rest.

Looking, regularly, through the promises that He left us to read and absorb released me to receive that one that I felt I had missed.  I waited.  I read.  I prayed. I focused on His words rather than looking for the one word that epitomized a collective anthem for my 365 days to come.

Slowly digesting the books of John and Hebrews, I have been trusting that  He would speak to me through His Word as he often does. Immediately, this first chapter of John spoke to my heart about the power of Words, because He is the Word made flesh for us. Resting and re-reading the Truth layered in the 1st chapter alone I saw a nugget I failed to mine before.

This time of waiting reveals our layers that need to be pulled back and removed, because the light of the Gospel exposes the darkness within.

I find it incredible how the Word always points out the deep things of our hearts, because it does that you know… it pulls back the layers we wear as shields of protection. Our education, our titles, our influence, our friendships, our jobs, our bank accounts, our shiny decorations…whatever it is, friends..they are as chaff that blows in the wind.

Truly, I am learning this deep truth: There is no point in the covering we wear if it keeps us from truly being found by the One who can clothe us with eternity. He, who is swathed in glory, is waiting with His own mantle to drape over us, protecting  from the destructive elements innate in our pilgrimages of this world.

Jesus reveals Himself in words of affirmation and authority when He finds us looking.

Jesus  revealed Himself to each of the disciples in a way that testified of His authority. Yet, the lessons were not just for those early Christ-followers, they are there for us to take in and absorb, too. He met them where they were. He knew exactly what they needed to hear, in order to believe.

He knows exactly what we need to hear, also. He speaks the language of our heart.

When Jesus met Nathanael, this true descendant of Jacob with whom there was no duplicity, He unraveled the words that were uttered right before He spoke, and further de-robed the layers of the doubt that were haphazardly thrown over the heart, just like we can do, now, in our everday living.

He said, “I saw you.”

A disbelieving Nathanael was now aware, for the first time, really aware of what it meant to be found and he was given new sight.

This beholding the Lord has for us, it is our undoing. It will strip us bare to the point that we are no longer able to stand before Him in any other way than humbled and awed, just like Nathanael did when he was found.   And in this.. this moment of undoing, we BEHOLD both the promise and the vision of redemption.

sunset behold rev 21 5

When God sees us, WE are getting a glimpse of glory and a chance to see all things anew.

As the words tumbled in my mind of all I wanted to commit to the new year ahead, a resolution of sorts, I guess, many started with the word, BE.  Be Intentional, Be full of Worship, Be Present, Be faithful. Be Consistent. Be diligent.

In one moment of clarity, one word,  He revealed that my focus this year is to BEHOLD.

BEHOLD Him in splendor, glory and truth. Here in this place of rest and adoration, my eyes will be remade with clearer vision and focus. This one thing, the right thing, it is necessary  and as I respond to the call, everything else will fall into place. BEHOLD Him, as the prize and desire of my heart and I will find:

  • Intentional living through my days and my relationships.
  • A heart full of reverential awe and true worship.
  • Consistency  in prayer, service, and joy.
  • Diligence in the little and the big moments.

The words we share often point us to lessons we need to learn.

2013 revealed the power of HOPE repeatedly. It prepared me for the coming year where I would LEAN upon God continually. These hard lessons bring me to this place where  I am now,  willing to submit the sacred places I had formerly  withheld from His capable hands.  As I lay down those precious dreams and goals, I can almost hear Him sigh audibly with that patient love filled heart, a sweet melodic, “Finally”, whispered into the cavern of my soul.

Why does it take us so long to get to this place where freedom is only a breath prayer of submission away?

Once again, this destiny of promise was waiting for me in His Word with a fulfillment and confirmation of the direction He is taking me. To gaze deeply, contemplating with pleasure and mentally preparing my heart and my mind to perceive, to be aware, to fully know.   To Behold!

And he sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Also He said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.  Revelations 21:5

 

Friends, this gift of His Word and a Word, they are filled with promise and hope. They bring us closer to this place of sanctification through Christ. Has he given you a WORD or a prayer for 2015? I’d love to stand with you in prayer as you Embrace His Majesty and Behold His Glory in this coming year.

May  He make all things new and blessed in you!

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I have created a Preparing for 2015 Prayer Journal to help you as you pursue His heart for your 2015. I’d love to share it with you.

 

Linking up with friends who are sharing their words and stories of faith:

SDG Gathering, MADM,Inspire Me Monday, Playdates With God, Unite,One Word, Coffee For Your Heart, #TellHisStory, Three Word Wednesday, Wednesday Prayer Girls, Thought Provoking Thursday, Fellowship Fridays, Missional Women, Counting My Blessings, Faith and Fellowship Blog Hop, Equipping Godly Women,Saturday Soiree, My Freshly Brewed Life, Give Me Grace