It’s Your Year
You’ve probably seen or heard some version of this theme as we close out 2012 and prepare to ring in 2013, especially if you frequent social media.
2013 is your year!
It’s your time!
Prepare to receive all God has for you in the New Year!
We see this at the start of every year, and the implication seems to be that the New Year is all about fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. Not everyone means it this way, of course. But I’ve read enough posts and articles that spell it out exactly that way, to believers. It’s all about you, and all about me. Maybe 2012 presented challenges and obstacles to achieving your goals, but 2013 is your year.
Really?
When is it ever about us? When is it ever our time, as if we deserved anything? And if we’re preparing to receive what God has for us, does that include trials and suffering? Isn’t that a part of this walk as well?
The disciples thought it was their time when they walked with Jesus. Despite what He was teaching them, they thought He was setting up an earthly kingdom—and they made it all about them.
“James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus, saying, ‘Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.’ And He said to them, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ They said to Him, ‘Grant that we may sit, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory.’” Mark 10:35-37
James and John wanted places of prominence. They were ready to receive glory. But Jesus told them they didn’t know what they were asking. He said, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink . . .?” (Mark 10:38)
They wanted the glory, but could they endure the suffering?
In a real sense, it was the disciples’ time—to be tested and afflicted. Imagine someone telling the apostle Paul, “You’ve been persecuted and struck down, but now it’s your time!” Paul’s mindset was this:
“For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11).
If this is at all about us, it’s about us daily dying to self. It’s about the life of Jesus being manifested through us. Yes, we should desire and even anticipate a New Year filled with promise and the outworking of God’s plans and purposes for our lives—whatever they may be. We should be excited about seeing His glory at work in and through us. We should have a godly confidence that banishes fear and doubt. We should be ready to continue to run in hot pursuit. And our eyes, always, should be fixed steadfastly on Jesus and His glory.
Wishing all of the blog family a BLESSED and PROSPEROUS 2013!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Are you excited about the New Year? Are you anticipating God’s plans and purposes, as He seeks to be glorified through you?
28 Responses to “It’s Your Year”
Good Morning Kim and others!
This is a great post. Everything you mentioned above is true. We truly have to die to self daily. I’m also totally agreeing that we must return (or shall I say “I” must return to my hot pursuit). I am excited about this new year. I am anticipating God to move in my life like never before. However I realize I must do my part.
Praying that everyone will have a very peaceful, prosperous, joyous New Year!
Mona
Hey Mona! Yes, I think the “hot pursuit” is something we can always refresh and rekindle! The beginning of the year is a fabulous time to do so. I’m excited about the new year as well and focused on God with anticipation. Praying a blessed New Year for you as well!
Happy New Year Kim! For me, 2012 brought the celebration of my 50th birthday and my 25th wedding anniversary. It was also my first year on this planet without my precious mom who died in 2011. Taking the bitter with the sweet, the good with the bad, I march on and live for Christ. I look forward to this New Year and I’m excited to see what He has in store for me and my family. I’m thankful that He never changes or fails regardless of my life situations. The year may be new but Jesus is always the same-”yesterday, today, and forevermore !”
This post is so on point! What a balanced way to view the soon coming 2013! Joy, my prayers are with you as you process through grieving. And like you, I turned 50 this year and am celebrating my 25th year of marriage today! All glory and honor to the #neverchangingGOD
Celebrating 25 years of marriage today!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Praising God and rejoicing with you!
Happy New Year, Joy! Wow, what awesome milestones you celebrated this year! Praise God for 50 years on earth and 25 years of marriage!!! And what a great witness to have you AND Tanya celebrating 25 years of marriage…that’s something to give God praise for! I’m praying as well for God’s continuing comfort and peace as you live without your mom. “…I march on and live for Christ”…so beautiful…amen. Love that you said THIS: “The year may be new but Jesus is always the same-”yesterday, today, and forevermore !” YES and AMEN! Rejoicing in that truth as we close out the year and ring in another!
Congratulations to those of you celebrating milestone marriages this year!
Good Morning, Kim. What a wonderful message to end the Old Year and enter the New. Its all about Him! I do believe that God really does have amazing and wonderful and breathtaking things for us — even in the mundane….but it is all about Him and in fact HE is the the amazing, the wonderful the breathtaking and it is only in our submission to Him and His plans and purposes that we will fully realize what He has for us and enjoy that abundant life Jesus spoke of (this kind of life has very little to do with our circumstances and relationships and finances being what we want and EVERYTHING to do with living in abandonment to God). Its kind of ironic that as we give up the focus on “me” and turn our focus on HIM we gain everything that really matters. I am praying that Jesus, the Father and the Spirit are so real in our lives this year that we absolutely spin around for joy and that we radiate Him, that our every breath would be a breath of praise and that His heart would be absolutely delighted because of our delight in Him…and may we view every circumstance as part of God’s work in forming us and deepening our relationship with Him and glorifying Him (which is ALWAYS to our good, though it may not feel much like it at the time) and may we trust Him with an ever deepening trust that is not dependant on what our “eyes see”. This year let us judge our circumstances and experiences by our God and not our God by our experiences and circumstances. May our year be dedicated to Him — not ourselves and therein will lie our absolute delight and joy!!!
Love you Kim and continue to commit to pray for you and your family this year.
May you be blessed beyond measure with Him as you seek to make Him your focus.
Bless you Kim and all my blog sisters….I love you and pray that God will pour Himself out on you this year and that you may know Him as never before (a prayer I am praying for myself also :) )
Debbie, that’s such an important truth to grasp….that He IS the amazing, the wonderful, and the breathtaking…though it’s so easy to search for it elsewhere. “Its kind of ironic that as we give up the focus on ‘me’ and turn our focus on HIM we gain everything that really matters”….yes, yes, yes! It IS ironic. How can so much be bundled in HIM? I love Colossians 2:3 that says in Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”….WOW!
What a beautiful prayer…I read it slowly twice, taking in every word….I say “AMEN” and pray it be so for all of us. Thank you so much for your ministry of prayer. I do not take it for granted and know that God is using those prayers beyond what I/we could understand. This blog community is so very special…we actually PRAY for one another! :) Love you too!
Sis, you know we share the same heart with this. Love this post and I’m so glad you wrote it!!!!
I’m very excited about 2013… but because I love the Lord and want to be closer to him. All else the Lord will guide and direct and I’m trusting him with that. But my heart is simply James 4:8.
“Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.”
Lots of love!!!!
Kennisha
Sis, you know I’m so thankful for our like-mindedness and thankful that while this post was swirling in the back of my mind, you brought it to the forefront last week! “…I love the Lord and want to be closer to him”…amen, sis. When that’s our primary focus, we can certainly trust that He’ll order the rest! James 4:8 is an awesome verse to meditate on as the year begins. Lots of love to you too!
This was a very refreshing outlook for the coming new year. It feels good to come to the blog and not hear some of the common messages that are being played everywhere. sometimes you can get caught up in all the “me” talk, but like you said it’s not about us!
I am excited about the New Year, I pray that God will continue to teach me all that He has given me the opportunity to learn. I pray for better understanding of His will for my life. Every January Jentzen Franklin and his church do the Daniel Fast…part of the First Fruits time. So while it can be a challenge, I always look forward to starting the year off this way. Showing the Lordmthat zhe comes first I believe is a great way to come into the New Year.
Thanks Kim! I love and appreciate you!
I pray that everyone has a blessed New Year!
Kara, I love the way you put this..”I pray that God will continue to teach me all that He has given me the opportunity to learn”….sometimes we don’t even realize what opportunities we have to learn. I’ll be praying this as well, that God will show me those opportunities and teach me all I need to know in them. You can’t go wrong starting the year with a fast! I pray that God will meet you in a special way and praying my favorite Colossians 1:9-12 prayer for you, that you’ll be filled with the knowledge of His will. Love and appreciate you too!
Kim,
Thank you for this timely post. I am so looking forward to the New Year as God continues to grow me in so many ways and work through me. Praying that God will bless you and your family, and all the readers of this blog as well. Happy New Year!
Rochelle, I love that you’re looking forward to God growing you….He does that so well, doesn’t He? :) I know that God will satisfy your heart’s desire to grow you and work through you, as only He can. Praying His blessings upon you and your family as well in the New Year!
“They wanted the glory, but could they endure the suffering?”
Hi family! This part stopped me in my tracks. A few months ago I heard “people want the promise but don’t want to go through the process.” I am in a painful process right now. It hurts because I feel like God gave me this assignment but left me out in this big old ocean to figure out how to swim! I feel Iike I just want to drown and get it over with. Every time I think I’ve figured out how to swim, I get tired, take my eyes of the shore and start sinking again. I don’t mean to sound so gloomy y’all but this is really challenging for me. The encourager needs encouraging today.
My 2012 was a rather great year and I look forward to much more deliverance and growth in my life. I am also looking forward to spiritual maturity in several places as well. The Lord’s greatest victory in my life this year was delivering me from an 18 year old soul tie!!! Talk about liberating???!?!?? WOW!!! What a great accomplishment!
Hey Tamara! This stopped ME in my tracks…”The encourager needs encouraging today”….I know you’ve been experiencing a difficult assignment and you get tired, but you probably don’t even realize the strength of your position. You rely so much on God and seek His will to such a degree that even when you think you’re sinking, His right hand is upholding you. You’re not going anywhere! :) It’s simply a part of this walk that we are DAILY dependent upon Him…moment-by-moment dependent. You’re finding out what that feels like. :) He is with you, strengthening you, giving you grace and wisdom…He will accomplish His purposes IN and THROUGH you. And praising God with you for freedom from that soul tie!!! Happy New Year!
*happy tears* Thank you Kim…thank you SO much!
Tam!!! Girl I been thhinking about you. I totally understand that “the encourager needs encouragement”. I’m there too. But back on you, know that you are in the right place, even if its a gloomy place. God has u right where he wants you. He’s covering you and swimming with you stoke by stroke. And don’t even worry about trying to figure it out (sometimes we never do). His ways and his thoughts are so much higher than ours and I’m sooo glad for that. Let him do this magnificent work in your life, and when u come out you will be coming out gold! Much Love to you sis!
I truly thank you all for your kind and encouraging words! It means a lot to know how much you really care. Kristian, don’t set a time limit on God. If you want more of Him, keep drawing near to Him and He will draw near to you. Debbie, I really appreciate the love as well.
Tamara, hang on to Him by fairh dear one and keep your eyes fixed on Him. May His peace and miraculous joy be yours in overflowing measure. Sometimes it can be o hard…but never to hard for Him. Truly praying for you and I know he hears!
Kim, this was very eloquently said. To answer your question is very hard for me. Yes I’m very excited about the New Year, but at the same time I’m not. It makes me look at 2012 and see all the struggle, and hard times and pain and suffering. It makes me see and recognize those goals for 2012 that were not accomplished or fulfilled. Its a hard pill to swallow. My spirit man is feeling every which way. Even at church things have changed, and are stiL changing, and to me its def not for the better. New stuff doesn’t always mean better stuff. The apostle of our church gave us two propheccies about 2013 is the year for more and more. More blessings, more favor, more goodness. So to me that’s like anothe “the year for me”. In this prophetic word it talks about positioning yourself to receive these things. I’m at a place where in 2012 I spoke some things, wrote down some things, confessed some things and really believed for them, but they have still not manifested. I don’t want to go in the New Year complaining, so I’ve been praying for the last hour or so, but I want to keep it real. I’m at a place where I just want God. I don’t wanna set any time limits or dates or restrictions on myself or on God. I just want God! So in that sense I’m ready for More, more of him. Happy New Year Kim and Blog family! I love you all. Each of you touch my heart in a special way. I love you!
Kristian, I’m glad you’re at a place where you simply want more of God. Getting caught up in the “more, more, more” teaching does set you up for disappointment. There has to be a balance, and an understanding that our walk is about so much more. If you set your sights on pursuing God, He will walk you step by step in His will. And it looks like He’s doing exactly that, by giving you a heart to just want HIM. You can be in no better place than that. :) Happy New Year, dear sis. Love you too!
Happy New Year to you all. May you and your families receive blessings beyond measure. Just thankful for another year. Looking forward to what God has in store for me.
Happy New Year, Pam! Praying blessings upon you and your family as well in 2013!!!
Happy New Year Blog Family!! I’m so excited that 2012 is over. I’m ready to get this year started, not just because its a new year but because its time for me to release all the past pain,let downs and disappointments. I can’t really give myself to God if I’m still holding on. Its easy to say I forgive or I let go but deep down I’m telling myself a lie.So I want this year to be a year of release and restore. I want to receive everything that God has in store for me.
I pray blessings to all my blog sisters!
Good for you Ciara!!! A beautiful new you for a beautiful new year. Oh, just wait and see how good it feels to release and be really free.
Happy New Year, Ciara! Agreeing with Tamara…what a “beautiful new you for a beautiful new year!” “Release and restore”….amen. You will truly be in a better place when you release the pain and disappointment and forgive the things that need to be forgiven. You’ll feel free. May the Lord give you the grace to walk all of that out. Blessings to you, sis!