‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — If‭‭ my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Happy New Year! Today is a new year, a time to seek God and His will for 2025. When selecting my word of the year, today’s key verse was a God Wink. It contains both seek, which was last year’s word, and humble, my word of Year for 2025. Recently our country went through an election year. It has been a time of prayer for our country, state, and community. I would like to take this Water Walking Wednesday as an opportunity to step out for 2025 through prayer.

God has chosen us as His people. For 2025, let’s declare a spiritual blessing in Christ for our country, state, and community through ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

@biblegateway @youversion

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬ —Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. As we head into a new year, I want to share my word for 2025: Humble. Although I feel I am a humble person, as I grow in our ministry and my service, I want to bring glory to God. James instructs that God will lift us. We don’t need to do the heavy lifting, we can choose to take up our cross and humbly come before God.

Sunday I shared the song, Simple Kingdom by Bryan and Katie Torwalt. From that song, I have selected my mantra for 2025: “Live and breathe His praise.” I will stumble but through my brokenness, I want to be a blessing to others. From the same song, I have also selected my prayer for 2025: Hallelujah, hallowed be thy Name.

Let’s take a moment and pray through ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬ —

“This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

@biblegateway @youversion

Join us in meditating on this week’s scripture!

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — If‭‭ my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

John‬ ‭3‬:‭30‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — He must become greater; I must become less.

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬ — To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

@youversion @biblegateway

Romans 15:13 NIV — 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.

Join us on our YouTube Channel as we reflect on Deborah’s mantra and words for 2025

Let’s recap our week on practice. Take a moment to read Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV @biblegateway or @youversion.

Think about who is within your influence. Are you encouraging them to develop healthy practices? And are they encouraging you? Be reminded that iron sharpens iron. May we all be encouraged and use our talents for God’s glory. We must press on because God will continue to work in our lives for our good and for His glory.

This week, Jon Gordon‘s Daily Positive suggests we shift our mindset and put into practice: “I EXPECT great things to happen TODAY. I will look for the good and be open to the opportunities around me.”

Keep practicing, keep putting in the effort, and God will bless it! 

Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This week we are talking about the practice of doing things repeatedly. I have been practicing with baking sourdough for almost a year. I have had many successes and many failures. I feel the process of the journey has been worth the practice. I can confidently say that my family and friends have enjoyed the goodies along the way. I have even given a few starters away. The biggest concern seems to be failure. We must learn to let go of failure because we will have days when what we make is not perfect and that is OK.

In meditating on today’s key verse, think about how God has created you to do great things. Notice Paul writes that God has prepared good works in advance. He doesn’t say anything about perfection or how many tries it will take. The saying goes, “practice makes perfect.” Simply meaning, keep practicing, keep putting in the effort, and God will bless it! 

Let’s pray. Dear God, thank You for creating me to do good works for Your glory. As I practice through this life, help me be reminded that You do not expect perfection. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.