What? You don’t believe me?

You heard me right! Call me a rebel! Laugh! Go ahead. But I’ve made up my mind! I’m just NOT gonna do it! I’ve failed too many times.

 

OK. So I sorta am going to make a resolution.

But I AM going to make one resolution…one focused resolve for 2014.

 

Let me explain why.

For the last few months, actually it may have started as early as January of 2013, everywhere I turned I heard things like de-clutter; simplify; focus. And you were probably one of those people that said it to me…if you weren’t, then you were the ONLY person that didn’t. I heard it everywhere. And we, meaning Wayne and I, have done that. 2013 was a year of cleaning out the cobwebs, empting the shelves and cleaning out the closets, so we could focus. And as the year closed the message has intensified. Focus. Focus. Focus.

 

On December 17, I got an email from faithgateway.com about a philosophy and by the way, a new book My One Word by Mike Ashcraft. The idea that instead of making a list of New Year’s Resolutions, finding a single word to become your focus for that year. There’s that word again-focus.

 

A lens to focus.

Using a single lens to look at every area of my life for one year was just the strategy I was looking for. Now I haven’t read the book, but I read the entire post. Way to go girl! Huh! Here’s the link again. My One Word by Mike Ashcraft

 

I knew almost instantly what my word for 2014 would be, not focus…but believe. Actually, I should say BELIEVE! Because that’s really important.

 

I don’t really like this transparency stuff, but here goes. Sometimes, which actually, is way more often than I wish, I get so busy just doing, trying to make things happen, checking off things on my “To Do List”; that I don’t mix my actions with faith. Then when my activity doesn’t produce desired results I feel disappointed.

 

Now I realize the problem is not God. And it’s not a problem with the activity either. The problem, for me at least, rested in the fact that I had failed to mix the activity with faith. I didn’t believe.

And that’s like taking a dry cake mix and throwing it in a 350 degree oven expecting a cake after 25 minutes. The reality is, you gotta add the wet stuff, the water, the oil and the eggs; if you want to eat a tasty cake. Faith is the wet stuff in the recipe, that is essential if you want to enjoy the desired results.

 

So my word for this year is BELIEVE.

Here’s my challenge, it’s not that I didn’t try to believe, I wanted to believe. I tried to squeeze it up, like toothpaste from a tube. But that’s not how you get faith. I believed my limitations and situations more than I believe God. Ouch!

“So if I want to believe,” I processed the question, “what do I have to do?” What steps do I need to take?

 

Grow some faith.

But it’s not enough for me to think about faith or talk about it. There are some things I must do to make my faith stronger.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

 

I know that I need to read my Bible, listen to good preachers and teachers. But faith doesn’t come from just being familiar with what God says.

 

Every mom has repeated an instruction to her child and then asked them, “Are you listening to me!”

What she’s really asking is,  “I know you hear me, so get busy. Obey me.”

A child may know his mom wants him to clean his room, but whether or know that child believes he must clean his room is entirely a different thing. Faith is tied to integrity…does she do what she says she’ll do.

Faith is not an ear thing. Faith is a heart thing. You grow faith in your heart.

So that means if I want results, I must pay attention to what God says. I’ve got to purposely listen, understand and assimilate or swallow what God says. I’ve got to believe Him, not just the part I want to believe, but everything He says. And I find some things are difficult to believe. Ouch!

So I choose, that’s right I choose to believe what He says, because He will never lie.

So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence. Hebrews 6:18

And I want to please Him, from the very core of my being, I want to please Him, so I choose to believe Him.

So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6

 

My action steps are:

 

Because my lens for 2014 is BELIEVE I will:

1. Feed and nurture my spirit with the Word of God.

2. Put action behind what I BELIEVE.

 

What about you?

What is God saying to you in 2014?

Is there one over arching word that God is saying to you?

 

 

And don’t forget.

If you like the post, please share it. I believe you will! (Sorry, it’s part of my new mindset. I’m not going to do anything unless I can mix it with faith.)