Eight One Twelve

Eight is a number that represents new things. This eighth month, August, has always been one of my favorites because it shows signs of newness--school begins, cycles start over, signs of life everywhere.

I'm also very much about first things. You can help set the course and the tone for the future with the way you do the first things. With this being August 1st, you can help set the tone for the rest of your year (and for the new things that are in your heart) by making sure you put time and effort into the right things today. In plain English: don't worry as much about the time-consuming tasks and little things today. Focus on big picture, your future, and realigning your priorities to how they should be. Yours won't look exactly like mine, but here is where you should start:

1. Relationship with God
   
2. Family
3. Everything else

This is August 1^st, 2012 and this day will never happen again. Make the most of it by taking time to look at the big things. Asking tough questions and facing issues that you’ve avoided needs to happen. Your excuse of busyness needs to get buried.

Lord, steady my mind and heart and lead me to the things that You have for me. Let Your voice echo in my mind and heart so that I can hear You above all the noise...I want to hear Your voice and nothing else. Thanks for loving me. I love You. In Jesus Christ’s Name, Amen.

What is God Doing NOW??

One of my favorite Bill Johnson quotes is to “keep your eyes on what God is doing…do not focus on what He has not done yet.”* Though most of us instinctively turn our thoughts to what we wish God was doing in our lives, we must make it a point to rejoice in the things He is doing/has done for us already. When we focus on what the Lord is actively doing in our lives, it keeps our eyes and hearts in the right place…it keeps us from becoming cynical, builds our faith, and keeps a lot of anxiety at bay.

Today, I urge you to take some time to recognize and praise the Lord for what He has already done for you and what He is doing for you right now. Thank Him for it, and pray for more! I’m not sure what He is doing in your life right now, but I know it’s good! Here’s what He’s doing in mine:

- Providing supernaturally for me in every area of need, and He will continue to…provision in everything!

- Fresh revelation constantly

- Creativity to write music, lyrics, arrangements…letting me “have my own song”

- Stirring up new wells of love and parts of me that are completely new

- Bringing unity to believers in this city and region

- Giving me the privilege to be a part of a sold-out group of people who are genuinely hungry for the presence of the Lord, and for His will to be done

- Placing people in my life that are edifying and that listen to the Lord

- Bringing people here to become world changers via the Arise Worship Internship

- Prospects of a future partnership with a national organization to affect countless young lives for the Kingdom and to push them into their calling more effectively

- A soon-to-be-recorded EP completely backed by a growing global non-profit organization

There’s much more than that. The Lord is good! Of course there are things I’m still waiting on and looking forward to, but the present is so great! Sometimes I get caught up anticipating ‘x’, or thinking about what things will be like once ‘y’, but I remind myself to just stop and look at what God is already doing. It’s huge. All kinds of blessing. Thank you, Jesus, for everything! I love You. Bless it more, Lord. Let more come, and thank You, Lord, for all that You’ve done, and what You are doing right now. In Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s Holy Name, Amen.

*a paraphrase from the Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry DVD Session 1001: “Introduction to First Year”; not a direct quote :)