A New Beginning

We are about to start a brand new year, and I am SUPER excited about this one. In order to squeeze every ounce of juice I can from this season I have spent some time working on a “vision” of sorts to help me gain perspective. I’m the type of person that stays very present…a little too present at times. After awhile I glance up from my shoes and wonder “how did I get here?” What goals am I trying to achieve?” “In what direction am I moving?” To avoid getting lost in the day to day, I am approaching this year a little differently. 

During my time as an alumni I have learned even more about walking in the authority God has gifted me with as His daughter. I want to approach this year and all of its’ challenges HEAD ON. Below is an outline of how we can actively walk in greater awareness of who He has created us to be in order to be the most productive, efficient and as healthy as possible.

I’ve broken this down into three main parts; Know Your Surroundings, Know Yourself and Know Your Vision.

KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS

1. ACCEPT REALITY

Yes, the spiritual realm is very active all around us. However, the majority of us live in blissful ignorance of this reality, choosing to remain in our comfort zones of black and white. The reality is that there are spirits (good and bad) working and doing battle around us all the time. First Kings 8:39 says that God ALONE knows every human heart. Jesus, being God incarnate, exhibited the divine quality of knowing men’s thoughts (John 2:25). Although powerful and cunning, satan does not have this divine quality to read our minds. He can however pick up on patterns of behaviors and use them against us. He knows what has worked in the past, weaknesses such as lust, shame, guilt, isolation, fear, etc…he can feed us lies about ourselves on repeat until we believe them. 

The first step to protecting yourself from spiritual warfare is admitting that this is a reality. Once you accept this you can better arm yourself and fight from a place of offense rather than defense.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”-Ephesians 6:10-12

2. PRAY OUT LOUD.

“In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.”-John 1:1 

Words are POWERFUL. God spoke the world into creation through words. They hold weight and power and we can use them as tools to fight in the spiritual realm. Speaking life over people is so cool and that is why we need to be extremely careful when speaking about people.

Like I mentioned, spirits live among us 24/7, they can’t hear our thoughts, but they do hear our words. Vocalize specific and audacious prayers, use the words God himself has given us through scriptures, and declare yourself victorious in the battle He has already won for us.

“Through You we will push back our adversaries, through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.” Ps. 44:5

KNOW YOURSELF

1. HOW ARE YOU WIRED?

As a psychology major in college, I learned about the importance of knowing your personality and how it affects your interactions with people. God has gifted us in so many different ways. We need to identify these strengths in order to practice them daily. Taking personality tests such as the myers briggs, enneagram, and spiritual gifts is so important in understanding yourself a little better.

Ask yourself questions such as, “How do I receive rest?” “What do I enjoy doing?” “How do I operate when I’m stressed?” The better you understand yourself and why you do certain things, the more productive you will be in times of trials, and the more at peace you will be in times of rest.

2. RECOGNIZE LIES FOR WHAT THEY ARE.

The world we live in is a beautiful place, however it is full of deceptive and twisted theories of how we should live and what we need to do to be happy. For example, as a late teen and into my early twenties I kept hearing the lie that I was “invisible.” Little things such as being ignored when I asked a question, being looked over in class when my hand was raised, and needing to repeat myself several times because someone wasn’t listening. I didn’t recognize that I had come to believe this lie and instead embraced my invisibility factor, isolating myself from friends and family and telling myself “no one will listen anyways, why bother speaking up?” I didn’t want to admit the hurt I felt and stopped putting myself out there, no longer risking the chance of feeling rejection.

Understanding this idea and others as complete BS from the enemy has awakened my self awareness. I can quickly recognize lies for what they are and walk in greater confidence in who God has made me to be. I allow God to speak into those lies with scriptures such as Proverbs 31:25 “She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future,” and Psalm 46:5 “God is within her, she will not fall.”

The enemy tries to cut us down where He knows we will be most effective. The truth is that I love people really well, I make them feel seen and heard and safe. So naturally, satan will make me feel like no one cares about what I have to say and I’m better off alone in my room with no one around. BUT NOT THIS TIME SATAN!! HAH! If you feel like you are believing lies that you are invisible, weak, stupid or too “dirty”, call the enemy out and declare yourself free and worthy in the name of Jesus Christ. Find scripture that speaks truth into those lies and speak them over yourself until you believe it.

“If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.”-Psalm 91: 9-11

KNOW YOUR VISION

1. TAKE TIME TO DEBRIEF

In order to move forward, we must first look backward. Taking time to process a life event, change, or experience is crucial in gleaning the most information from it and using it moving forward. On the race we have to debrief regularly since we are experiencing rapid growth and new environments. In general, spending a week to debrief once a year is a healthy standard to set. Here is a really brief version of how to do this yourself;

• Sit down (don’t just list facts or what happened, invite Holy Spirit to reveal things to you)
• Process (reflect-what did I get out of it? what fruit did I bear?, repent-admit when you made a mistake and ask forgiveness, rejoice-celebrate the good things, record-remember the things you did right and what didn’t work, create a system to look back and use what you have learned)
• Stop (take a day to enjoy yourself, do something fun and rest)
• Execute (what are your aspirations in this new season, make a plan and ask someone to hold you accountable)
• Utilize (when you learn something keep these lessons for later use, own it and use it, continue to take risks and seek the Lord’s face) 

2. PICK CORE VALUES

What do you want to grow in this next season? What values do you want to intentionally seek after, pursue and learn about? Find a word bank of values and choose five. I have selected wisdom, freedom, truth, vulnerability and challenge. These are areas I want to push myself in, concepts I value highly and want to grow in this next year.

3. KNOW YOUR VISION STATEMENT

This is really simple! Put together a short phrase that encompasses your values, a summary of what you want to achieve in this next year. It doesn’t even need to include your core values, but it can if you want. Mine looks like this, “trust and seek God’s wisdom, live in vulnerability and set His captives free.” This helps me stay focused on what I want to achieve this year so that I can be the most effective as possible.

4. Be WILLING TO GET UNCOMFORTABLE.

I have seen God work in HUGE ways and I have seen Him work in the smallest details. However, I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of seeing any of it if I hadn’t been willing to step out of my comfort zone first. 

Take this year in your hand and declare it a season of growth, opportunity and realizing the Most High King even further. Decide what you want to see yourself be challenged in and be expectant and willing for God to move in your life. 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” -Romans 15:13

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!