January 2023
NEW YEAR 2023 DEVOTIONAL
GO HIGHER
Look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ –
that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective.
Colossians 3:1 The Msg
Over the past 25 years, we have worked through questions with another couple on New Year’s Eve. One of our four, has kept a journal of our responses and we can look back and see where we were at any point since 1998.
Over the next 12 months, all of us will be asked to do much, to volunteer and to manage expectations which are on us. We will have desires to accomplish. We will run fast (at least we think we can), we will have full schedules, and we will wonder, at times, what is this all about? We will have A Lists, B Lists, C lists, etc.
Someone recently said to me, “Bruce, do not miss the mountain tops this year, with all of your planning!” Good counsel.
In Genesis 8:4,5 we read, after 40 days, Noah and his ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat and the tops of the mountains were visible.
If Noah and his family had stayed in the bottom of the ark diligently planning, not quite certain if they should go higher, wondering if they were going to survive this, they would never have seen the tops of the mountains. We know from theology that the ark is a symbol of Jesus; in Him is safety and security, yet He does not take us around issues, rather, through them. What does it mean to go higher with Jesus, so we can see the mountain tops?
Paul in his letter to Galatia writes in Galatians 4:4, “When the right time came, God sent His Son.” What greater things does God have in His timing for you and me, in this coming year?
In 2023, I am focusing on 5 pinnacles, which you could also call mountain tops, to keep looking higher. Remember the quote, I have often quoted from Dr. Roger Birkman.
“The reality of life is that your perceptions, right or wrong, influence everything else you do. When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions, you may be surprised how many other things fall into place.”
Oh, we so need the right perspective.
This is not all there is. We are created in Christ Jesus for eternity, and He will grant us all the grace and help we need to get there. We need to live with eternity in our sights.
Do not search horizontally for what we’ve already been given vertically. The Message tells us in Colossians 3:1, “To look up and be alert to what is going on around Christ, that is where the action is.” See things from His perspective.
Learn to live in the “nowism”. I confess, that I have lived more in the future for planning, trying to anticipate and answer the “What ifs”. Jesus did not give His life for only your past or your future. He gave it for what you face right now, today! Leave tomorrow with Jesus. He is much better at handling it than you are.
Release the past and forgive yourself. I recently wrote about a four-step process to silence the voice in your mind, that focuses you on the failures and disappointments of the past.
Acknowledge that you have not forgiven yourself. Call it what it is
Ask God to forgive you for not forgiving yourself
Read Romans 8: 1-2 and choose to believe in and accept the freedom that comes from the power of the Holy Spirit living within you
Deliberately choose to forgive yourself. You may want to write down the issue, tie it to a rock and throw it in the ocean or a lake.
5. Seek to live in community.
No one gets very far on the path of Christian spiritualty without two things – space for contemplative reflection and engagement with others who share the journey.
David G. Benner
On New Year’s Eve, we focused on 6 questions. This is one of them.
Our mission is to live for God and make a difference. Life is going by quickly and it seems to speed up as we get older. Is there something still outstanding you need to focus on? It does not mean changing the world, rather in your sphere of influence.
Together, let’s go higher in 2023.
Bruce
