Verses and Words

"In the days to come, Jacob will take root.

Israel will bud and blossom

and fill the whole world with fruit."

~Isaiah 27:6

God soooo spoke hope to me through that verse tonight, so it's now my verse for 2024...

I've never caught it before because my mind just equates Jacob and Israel as the same person, but one name represents the old self and one the new God-given name.

Steven Furtick briefly mentioned that sometimes you have an Israel-sized calling but you feel stuck in Jacob-style habits (check, check).  Then he read that verse, and the Holy Spirit filled in the gaps for me almost instantly -- one goes down, the other grows up -- one gets buried, then the other produces fruit -- gardening metaphors always get me, for whatever reason.  It's about dying to self and being reborn anew, it's about hope and promise and redemption and living a fruitful life that matters. 

And it's about seeing yourself differently, believing God really called you and has a new name in store for you, and that He really changes broken people for good.  We hear it all the time - believing it and personalizing it is harder.

Which leads me to my word for 2024:

I don't feel the need to expound much on this one.

Believe that God is who He says He is.

Believe He is with me and for me.

Believe there is power in His Word.

And approximately a million other truths I could list.  

My focus is being very careful about what I'm believing and what I'm speaking.

"I am strong and capable" over "I'm exhausted and overwhelmed."

"God is with me and for me" over "I'm on my own here."

Et cetera, et cetera.

You get it.

Now I'm really done for today. =)

❤