One Word

For years, perhaps more than a decade, I have asked God to show me using one word an aspect of his character I should study and meditate on for a year.  I know this is a popular thing to do now and some people have written books about this concept.  I mean even Al Roker and Natalie Morales chose a word for 2014 on the Today show.  Just like Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, so I am not the genius who had this revolutionary idea but failed to make it known before someone stole the idea from me.  Please take note that I have been doing this for quite some time and did not just jump on the bandwagon.  Imagine me winking at this point and when I say imagine, I mean just that because I can’t wink.  I just move my cheekbone really high into my eye and I look way cool.  Anyway, please feel free to join all of us around the world as we choose our “One Word”.

So what is my word for 2014? 

Kingdom. 

Let me share with you how this came to be my word.  Back in August I became more attuned to all the events unfolding in Syria.  I felt the need to pray for the Syrians and the conflict.  However, I felt inept.  What did I really know about this situation? How should I pray in my ignorance?  Well, I decided to follow Jesus’ example and use a line from the prayer he used to teach us how to pray.  So I began to pray, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  As the weeks passed I began to pray this over other situations my friends and family were encountering because ultimately in everything we face wouldn’t it improve if God’s kingdom came?

Praying this short prayer often got me thinking about what is the kingdom of God.  What am I asking for God to bring to this earth?  What does it look like?

If I continue to maintain this new discipline of blogging and you continue to read you may find yourself on this journey with me discovering more about God’s kingdom and hopefully seeing more of it in your life.  You see I have learned that it is when I study God’s word that I am inspired to write.  My journals are filled with my observations, connections, and questions about the Bible.  And now I am letting some of those entries bleed over to this public journal.  There will be other topics I will discuss, as I can’t keep my focus on one topic just like I can’t keep one book open at a time.

Two verses that keep popping up around me and swirling in my head in regards to God’s kingdom are:

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Romans 14:17

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

Who doesn't want joy, peace, goodness, and hope?  I want it.  I want it like I want chocolate chip cookies or a Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha, which is like heaven in my mouth, or the best ice cream ever, Turkey Hill Double Dunker.  Actually, I want God’s presence with me even more.

As we enter into 2014 I look forward to learning more about God’s kingdom and watching it grow in my life and in the lives of loved ones.

A side note:

Most of you have stumbled onto this blog from my Facebook status update.   I will continue to let you know about new posts this way, but as many of you know Facebook doesn't always relay the message to your newsfeed.  So if you would like a more reliable way of getting my updates then look on the right sidebar to the field that says follow by email.  Just put you email in that little white box and you will begin receiving emails with the new posts.  Not interested in subscribing?  That's ok. I will try to post once a week, probably on Friday.  Thanks, my friends!