Releasing 2021 and Leaning in to 2022! (A One Word 365 post)

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Do Y'all still do this? I love the practice and even in those years where it seems my OneWord may have slipped away - I can always reflect back over the year and see how it was actually at work all the while!

Maybe you are not aware of the movement that is OneWord365... or maybe you are in the know and already have fully embraced your Word for 2022! I didn't write much in 2021 about my One Word and to be honest, I kind of forgot all about it for months at a time... but as I said, as I have been reflecting over this (past - almost!) year, I can see how it was always close at hand!

I've been doing this OneWord365 project for many years and yet, each December, I pray into what He may have for me and ask Him to lead my Word to me. (And --usually-- I argue and second-guess! It's fine. It's all part of my charm!)

My OneWord last year was RELEASE!

It was sort of a Do-Over word because I had picked "Releasing" about seven or eight years earlier. If you remember, I sort of argued with God about His choice because - you know - out of ALL the words...? Why use one so similar to something I'd already walked with? But I got confirmation after confirmation and when I allowed myself to sit still long enough to listen, I realized there were things I still hadn't let go of in 2021... things that were holding me back!

"Release" also showed up in laying things down (again) like old hurts and expectations, insecurities and doubts, but also releasing things like our small group and old traditions... It meant good things too, like releasing Hope and Peace into OH SO MANY anxious and stressful situations throughout the year, and releasing the false hope of trying to control or persuade something or someone into believing differently!

So... I'm so thankful I took a few moments to look over 2021 to see where or if Release showed up - because, well - it seems (even though technically I am NOT 'lighter'!) I feel much lighter going in to 2022! Less weighed down... less held back --by myself and by others! When I moved on and began praying about my NEXT Word for 2022, I asked the Lord to give me a Word that would stick with me all year long and would bring in me - if I was willing - a lasting change!

Enter the stirrings of Power and Strength!

Wrapping Up James... An Official The End to our Year-long Series!

I am simply popping in real quick and quiet-like to officially say, "That's a Wrap!" to our James Series! 

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! I know things are (still!) different and for many, the holidays were not all Bright and Joyful.  But I do pray that you had moments of knowing His Love for you remains -- no matter what else may be shaking... His Love is secure and steady!  

I can't say for you --but I know for me, this week in between all the hustle and bustle of Christmas and the unfolding of a brand New Year can feel a bit lost and without focus. These few days in between give us a little rest and recovery before we put all the decorations away and refocus and set new goals for the year ahead! So it felt like the perfect time to pop in here and simply say, Thank You!  Thank You for going through the book of James together with me this year! I know it was not all rainbows and unicorns!  James is a straight shooter and he packs some heat!  But all of the hard things he says are FOR OUR BENEFIT!

So whether you ready every single entry, or you just clicked over to read now and then --I hope you gleaned some wisdom and insight and hope while you were here! I hope it stirred you up and inspired you to dig into the Word and read in a few different translations, too! I will leave the Intro page with links to each post in the series up for another month or two - and then I will be taking it down, with plans to upload it to Amazon for purchase! My hope is to upload the James study as well as the Colossians study (possibly along with a few other 31 Days Devotional series, too!) 

Am I planning on writing another series in 2022? I'm not.  I am praying into adding a second Podcast in 2022 and I'm just not sure I will have the time or bandwidth to take on a series AND a podcast! (But - again... you know how it is with me! I'm not the boss of me so if God tells me to do it - I'll be here in this space, tapping away at these keys!)  

I AM leaning in this week and praying... reflecting over the book and phrase the Lord gave me at the start of the year, along with my OneWord, and seeing if/where/how it all showed up in 2021! I'm also setting aside time to pray on New Year's Day to ask Him for a bit of direction for 2022 so I invite you to check back in this space in the next week or two to see what He whispers to me about what's ahead for us in the next year! 

Wanderers Retrieved, Sins Covered... - The Book of James Bible Series

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You guys!??! Today is our last official post in this year-long 2021 James Series!  Man, I hope you have been with me all through the year!  If not, I encourage you to click on the Series Intro page (at the end of this post) and scroll to the bottom, where you can read each post from the whole series!  I will be taking this off the blog early in the New Year with intentions of making it available on Amazon in late Winter or early Spring!  But I'm getting ahead of myself! Today - we dive into the final two verses! (Then we may have one more post to sort of wrap it all up before the end of the year! Maybe.  Because - you know... the Holidays!)

But today's verses are JAMES CHAPTER 5, VERSES 19-20! 

WE BEGIN BY READING OUR VERSES TOGETHER HERE FROM THE PASSION TRANSLATION BIBLE:

"Finally, as members of God’s beloved family, we must go after the one who wanders from the truth and bring him back. For the one who restores the sinning believer back to God from the error of his way, gives back to his soul life from the dead, and covers over countless sins b)  their demonstration of love!" (The Passion Translation)

I know... the whole study was leading up to this! We MUST go after the one who wanders from the truth and bring him back. In the Greek translation of this verse it means, "save his soul from death." 

Yes. That. 

Let's do that! 

Here's the thing -- we have to know when someone wanders from the truth. And even before that, we have to know and remember that there is One Truth that we can wander away from! 

I know...!? This wreaks of accountability! (Gasp!) 

Want Tremendous Power? Pray for One Another... - The Book of James Bible Series

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Happy Holidays, Sweet Readers! Can you even believe it is DECEMBER? I mean  - DECEMBER? Where did this year go?  Anyway... we are nearing the end of the year as well as the end of our series here.  So without further ado, let's get right to the Word:

TODAY'S VERSES ARE JAMES CHAPTER 5, VERSES 16-18! 

WE BEGIN BY READING OUR VERSES TOGETHER HERE FROM THE PASSION TRANSLATION BIBLE:

"Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer!

Elijah was a man with human frailties, just like all of us, but he prayed and received supernatural answers. He actually shut the heavens over the land so there would be no rain for three and a half years! Then he prayed again and the skies opened up over the land so that the rain came again and produced the harvest." (The Passion Translation)

I mean... I think we all want 'tremendous power' - at least when it comes to our prayers, right? 

Brace yourself, friends... here we get James being all James-like again, explaining that in order to tap into that tremendous power, there are a couple of steps BEFOREHAND that we need to take!  This one is tricky because NONE of us like doing it! (We keep it real around here!)