Whenever a new year begins, we are all typically eager and thankful for the fresh start. We make plans to do better and be better and become better. Honestly, it all exhausts me. The thought of needing to do more than I’m doing right in this moment literally feels impossible.

So instead of adding on, I want to challenge us to evaluate and rearrange as necessary. You see, I think a lot of us are working toward great things. We’re striving to be better at ministry so that kids can know, love, and follow Jesus. I know you’re working to make your homes a sanctuary for our God and your children. We’re trying to improve our marriages, our careers, our communities, and more.

He was, is, and forever will be more than enough.

A New Goal for A New Year

It’s not the goals that have betrayed us, it’s our priorities. The do tends to take over and outweigh the magnitude of our be. What I mean by that is we are trying to do more within ourselves based on what we know to be true about Jesus and His call, rather than trying to be more in Jesus so that we can do the work He has given us.

So instead of the busy, or the challenges, or the do; I want us to reflect on the being. I want us to sit with Immanuel, God with us. How great would it be to be so close to Him that the fruit of all we do is from a holy God who is good.

Sure, this new year, let’s strive for more. But for more of Him, His work, and His kingdom.

I’ve included a writing of sorts below that I shared with teammates at David C Cook last year. It’s something I think we can all reflect on as followers of Jesus.

May you be encouraged to abide with the Life-Giver. May you sit with our good and gracious God—Father, Son, and Spirit. And may your year be full of overflow from the work He is doing within you. He was, is, and forever will be more than enough.

New Year Same God, How to Start the Year off Right

What I Still Find Amazing About God and Me

What I still find amazing about God and me.

Imagine with me. Do you ever notice the little things?

The warmth of the sun shining on your face, the feeling of a gentle breeze in your hair, the tickle of grass on your toes. The tenderness of a hand placed in yours, the way your heart swells when you find love, the sound of a newborn’s coo, of laughter, of voices all around you, the twinkle in another’s eye.

Can you taste your favorite meal? Smell it? Recall your favorite memory?

Each encounter with God’s creation holds life—amidst joy and pain—life full of hope and wonder.

Do you ever notice the big things?

The vastness of our universe and how God placed each star and knows them by name. The way God spoke, and it was.

Do you notice the way we each hold His Imago Dei as His very breath is breathed into us? Do you recall the amazing plan of rescue that began for us before we ever were? Imagine the distance between East and West, the heights and depths of His love, His forever promise to not leave us nor forsake us.

All great things.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

He knew me before I ever was, He loved me in spite of my mess, He called me before I ever heard Him, He saved me and brought me to Himself, He beckons me closer with every encounter. And in His greatness, He is near.

He has gifted me with this life I get to live—get to. One full of love and sorrow and joy and pain and hope and faith and all the things between.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

He calls me His own, He protects me from evil, He guides me on this path of righteousness, and His presence surrounds me. His Word upholds me, directs me, and sustains me.

I’m amazed by His favor that outruns me, His love that consumes me, His ways that are higher, and His thoughts that are better.

You see, His silence doesn’t equal absence. He is near. In every year, every season, every month, every week, every day, every hour, every minute, every second—He is near.

He clothes me in His righteousness, and He does the same for you.

He chose me. He could have come right off the cross, but He didn’t. Jesus stayed, He suffered, He endured. Why? Because He chose me. He still chooses me. And He chooses you.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

All powerful, unwavering, Holy He is called.
He could be found anywhere He wanted—in power, you name it. But He chose the whisper. He chose to be near, to me, to you, to us.

And no matter how much I say it, I still can’t comprehend.

He’s so good, in fact, that in my suffering—He still gives joy as He draws us to Himself. That we may draw near to Him and know and be known by Him.

And to think that in Him there’s no striving to be, to become—only abiding.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

I’m amazed that the more I seek Him, the more I find, the more I am consumed by Him, the less of me I see.

Everything I need is everything He is—the I Am. His grace is more than I could ever ask for, and He meets me where I am.

If you only knew my story, you’d see. His mercies are new every morning, His love is better than life. And though my body fades more each day, I am renewed in my soul as I look toward an eternal promise—His presence. Real, tangible, forever.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

My need for Him is more than the air I breathe. He gives me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control through His Spirit.

It is not I, but Christ who lives within me. Love incarnate is He.

I could go on for hours, days, weeks, really. Because He is holy, holy, holy. It’s echoed in Heaven. But He still calls me friend. And because of who He is, I am who I am.

I will choose to forever praise His name, the name higher than any name—Jesus.

  • EL Shaddai—Lord God Almighty
  • Adonai—Lord, Master
  • Yahweh—Lord, Jehovah
  • Jehovah Nissi—The Lord My Banner
  • Jehovah-Raah—The Lord My Shepherd
  • Jehovah Rapha—The Lord That Heals
  • Jehovah Shammah—The Lord Is There
  • Elohim—God
  • Jehovah Jireh—The Lord Will Provide
  • Jehovah Shalom—The Lord Is Peace
  • EL Roi—God Who Sees
  • Prince of Peace
  • The Most High God
  • The Lord Our Righteousness
  • The Lord Who Sanctifies You
  • The Lord of Hosts
  • The Everlasting God
  • Immanuel
  • The First and the Last
  • Our Helper
  • Our Advocate
  • Wonderful Counselor
  • Mighty God
  • The Author and Finisher of Our faith
  • The Word
  • Healer
  • Bread of Life
  • Light of the World
  • Hope for All Mankind
  • Good Shepherd
  • Comforter
  • Messiah
  • Great High Priest
  • Rock and Redeemer
  • Holy One
  • Our Intercessor
  • Lord of All
  • Judge and King
  • Way, Truth, and Life
  • Father, Son, Spirit

What I still find amazing about God and me.

And in all my days of life—if I give Him every second of every moment of every day—it would never be enough for what He has done. But because of His grace …

You see, without Him I was … really, I am … lost, broken, desperate, empty, spiritually blind, deaf, and given over to myself.

But because of His grace … I am forever grateful.

Grateful for this relationship, grateful that He wants time with me, grateful to be in the shadow of His wings, grateful for the very breath in my lungs. I am grateful for the inheritance promised, grateful for mercy and goodness, grateful that He found me, that He chose me, that He’s given me today—this moment. I am forever grateful that He loves me and that He is for me.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

Getting lost in Him is the best way to be found, over and over, day by day.

You see, I was made to love Him. He’s all I need and all I want, because when I laid down my life, I found it.

I was lost but now am found. I was dead, but now I live.

What I still find amazing about God and me.

So today and every day after, may you find your rest and joy and hope and energy in Jesus. May He direct your steps, and may you take your next breath knowing it is from Him.

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