Happy New Year!!! Our Annual Prophetic Post for the New Year - 2019 edition

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HAPPY NEW YEAR, Sweet Readers!

I don't know about you, but I know for me --for us, we are SO READY for a brand new year and a clean slate and a fresh start! As much as I had high hopes for 2018... man, he was rough on us!  I mean - sure... there were some gifts and grace mixed in, but overall - we will not be sad or sorry to say Good riddance! Bye Felicia! G'bye now! You can move along!

Here we are... January 1st... the Old has passed and the New is set before us, blank spaces and wide open opportunities just waiting for us to step out and step into... we are ready! We feel it in our weary burdened hearts, and in the hope that is stirring up from deep within!

New Years Day has dawned softly for me the same way for years and years now.  I spend the first hours as light breaks over the hills and turns everything pink and filled with glory and hope, soaking up some quiet time with the Lord.  Sure - most days start out this way with me and Him - but on this day, my intentions are clearer and my ears and heart are tuned in to hear --not only for me, but I believe for all of us who are willing to lean in a bit closer to God.

I spend some time reflecting over the last year... looking at the highs and lows and letting Him show me how He has been by my side through all of them.  I pray into what my hopes are for the year ahead of us and then I pray and ask what HIS hopes are, too!

I ask the Lord for a word or phrase that will speak prophetically over the coming year.  I also ask Him to lead me to a book in the Bible that He wants to be highlighted throughout the year.  

They tend to go hand in hand... 
He's pretty smart that way!

For 2018, the Book in the Bible was Proverbs! And I know I read through that little powerful book SEVERAL times last year and referenced it OFTEN! I mean - I think we ALL were in need of a bit more Wisdom to get us through, right?  

The Phrase that the Lord gave me for 2018 was
"The Hiding Place of His Glory will be revealed!"

"God conceals the revelation of his word in the hiding place of his glory. But the honor of kings is revealed by how they thoroughly search out the deeper meaning of all that God says." 

Proverbs 25:2 TPT

Here's the deal... 

I didn't even really do the math or fully realize this until I began typing out this post, but God did this for us, over and over... 

And here's the other deal... 
(The one we don't love...)

The hiding place of His glory, it turns out,
is most often than not found
in the trials and tribulations.

I know? I told you we don't love it!

I wrote last year that I believed we were being called
to thoroughly search out the deeper meaning of
all that God was saying to us throughout the year...
and in our searching, we would find His Glory!

Now, when I wrote that I had some sort of
a dreamy expectation that His Glory would be
more life-changing and less life-saving.
I wanted it to make a difference,
more 'out there' than in here!

I thought somehow finding His Glory
would catapult us into a brand new world...
lands of unicorns and rainbows,
of immediately answered prayers. 
I mean -- you know... not really.  
Or at least not like that. 
But if I'm honest 
-that was my hope!  

My hope was that finding His Glory
would make everything easy -ier... 
or at least better!

And I'm sure it did.  How can it not, right? 

But this is what I learned: 
His Glory hides in the darkness... 
It hides where we least expect to find it... 
It hides, waiting for us
--knowing that this is where
and when we actually
need it the most!

It hides beneath the surface and
in the folds of our limited understanding...
"God conceals the revelation of His word..."
--so that we will be desperate and willing
to dig around a bit... in Him and in ourselves...
to excavate and unearth some things that need
to be uncovered and revealed. 

It can be hard and heavy work,
but the pay off is catching a glimpse of His Glory
and finding that no matter what is found... 
He is in the midst of it and He is working it
out for our good!

We have learned to trust that truth.
We have felt it tested and tried this year...
and I can assure you, He stands!

Truth is a Person...
and He can be trusted!

Now... let's move on to this year!

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Wave hello to the New Year! 
We are SO EXCITED to meet you!

This is what I heard for 2019:

I prayed, asking the Lord for a Book in the Bible that He felt would offer us Truth that we need to cling to this year and this is what I heard: 

--The Book in the Bible:  

The Book of  Colossians

I felt the Lord drop this gem of a book in my spirit for 2019 a couple of weeks ago but I didn't really pray into it much and I avoided opening it up until this morning because I like my routine and I wanted Him to confirm it on this day -January 1, as is our custom!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this book and spending some concentrated time in it, praying through it, and putting it into practice! As I was praying on 'my' end of the couch, My Honey said out loud something like, "Man! Colossians!!! It's so packed full of goodness!"

And there you have it: confirmation!

Paul wrote Colossians to remind the church of the Truth of Christ and to protect them from the false teaching and humanism that was running rampant in their time. (Sound familiar?)

Listen, Paul wrote this letter while in prison... and yet, there is so much JOY in it. For many reasons, this speaks to me and stirs me up! I encourage you to read through Colossians at least a couple of times this year... it's short but Dave is right! It IS packed full of goodness! Read it in a few different translations, too! 

You're gonna love it!

  "We pray that you would walk in the ways of true righteousness, pleasing God in every good thing you do. Then you’ll become fruit-bearing branches, yielding to his life, and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in his fullness! 11 And we pray that you would be energized with all his explosive power from the realm of his magnificent glory, filling you with great hope." Col 1:10-11 TPT

...and: 

"I am contending for you that your hearts will be wrapped in the comfort of heaven and woven together into love’s fabric. This will give you access to all the riches of God as you experience the revelation of God’s great mystery—Christ. For our spiritual wealth is in him, like hidden treasure waiting to be discovered—heaven’s wisdom and endless riches of revelation knowledge." Col 2:2-3 TPT

(--Just to get you started!) 

Next up comes the phrase or saying!

I ask the Lord to give me a few words that reflect His heart and reveals what He has planned for the Body in the coming year!

--The Phrase:

"Saturated in His Goodness"

Again, I began hearing "saturate" or "saturated" a couple of weeks ago but didn't dive into it, wanting to wait until this morning. However, last night during our New Years Eve party while we were all in prayer together (*-- yeah... that's how we like to party!) I clearly heard the Lord whisper, "I want My people saturated in My goodness this year!"

Well, that sounds pretty - uh-- good, right?
    I mean... I am pretty down with that idea!

Saturate Definition:

: to satisfy fully : SATIATE 

: to treat, furnish, or charge with something to the point where no more can be absorbed, dissolved, or retained: to fill completely with something that permeates or pervades, to load to capacity

Symonyms of Saturate:

drench, drown, impregnate, soak, steep

So... that all sounds pretty fantastic, don't you think?

As we were still praying, I saw a flash of a vision of editing photographs in a Photoshop program on the computer and I saw the photo before and after enhanced Saturation. 

As I prayed into this phrase more this morning, this is what I felt Him saying: 

This is what will set us (His Bride) apart this year...

When you saturate something (in photography, for instance) you kick it up a notch... intensify and enhance... you don't ADD anything, but just bring out and accentuate what is already there! 

God has been speaking Identity over the last several years to get us to know He made us on purpose... He created us individually, uniquely, beautifully and He has been telling us that His plan was never to create cookie cutter Christians. Now that we are grasping our own identity in Him, Saturation will bring out who we already are --with more of HIM easily seen in and through us!

I believe He is going to so bless and pour out His favor on us this year, that this alone will draw people to us, wanting to know and understand why... 

It will be the Saturation of His Goodness that will attract them to want to know more!

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I know many who are ready for a fresh start
and an invitation to something new! 

What about you, sweet reader?

If you have not taken a moment or two
to ask God if He has a word for you for 2019,
I encourage you to do so!
It can be just one single word or a phrase
He wants to sow into you this year!
I wrote about my OneWord for 2019 last week,
and you can read that one HERE
if you want to know more.
Here's a hint... I'm choosing a Do-Over!

Either way, I am praying for you! 

I'm praying that as this New Year unfolds,
you will find that you are hearing His voice
dripping in love and kindness towards you, 
saturating you with His goodness!
I'm praying that you will discover that He is
for you and not against you...
that He is Good and True and Just...
He is not far away or hasn't turned
His back on you (and won't ever!)

I pray you will take a few moments
to settle your thoughts and clear your mind...
to wait --before you start filling in
those blank spaces and building up new dreams,
and ask Him what HIS dreams are for you this year!
Ask Him what and how and with whom
He wants you to fill up your days and
your calendar and your heart?
And maybe reflect over the Phrase
and purpose to read the Book
and just see what He has to say
to you through them both!

Happy New Year, friends!
In 2019, let us continue to:


I'm linking up with these lovely communities:
Sue Donaldson for #LetsHaveCoffee