\u201cThis is to my Father\u2019s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.\u201d \u2013 Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Praying into 2023, the Lord spoke to my heart that we are invited to \u201cflourish and grow\u201d. Obviously this isn\u2019t a new invitation from Jesus because the calendar turned to January 1. It is simply a reaffirming of His heart for our lives as we approach a new year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To\u00a0flourish<\/strong>\u00a0(develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment) and\u00a0grow<\/strong>\u00a0(undergo natural development, to progress to maturity) isn\u2019t measured by the size of our following, our bank account, or our notoriety. Any external measurements of growth (not that those are always great to go by) are worthless if not founded on and forged from the depths of our person and the expression of our life in Jesus at the core of our being and the those most intimate to us. Jesus came to give us life, that the old life, with the old selfish cares would be replaced with Him at the center \u2013 He is the seed, we are the soil!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I intensely believe this is to be a year where our eyes are open and we are invited and expected to thrive. No more of the same patterns, cycles, or trips around the same mountain for us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I saw a picture in prayer of someone climbing a mountain and reaching what they thought was the summit \u2013 but when they got to the top they saw there was more trail to go. But, instead of continuing the climb and clearing the pass, they chose to settle on the false summit. \u201cI\u2019ve come far enough, this will have to do\u201d was their resolution. God\u2019s heart aches for those of us, or places in us, where we settle or let cycles of behavior or health, broken processes of relationship and functioning become our destination rather than something we pass through in our growth process. It\u2019s easy to say \u201cI\u2019ve done what I can. I\u2019ve come far enough\u2026\u201d, and justify our journey by the distance we\u2019ve come rather than clearing the pass and experiencing the \u201cgreen pastures and still waters\u201d (Psalm 39) He is leading us into.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith.\u201d (Hebrews 12:1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion\u2026\u201d (Phil. 1:6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is time to leave false summits where we\u2019ve set up life, and press on to the pass. \u201cThis is to my Father\u2019s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.\u201d \u2013 Jesus Praying into 2023, the Lord spoke\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":551,"featured_media":767504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":170,"footnotes":""},"categories":[141,87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-767496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-and-ministry","category-encouragement",""],"blockli_fields":{"post_type":"","post_action":"","post_type_icon":"","background_image":""},"bb_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"app_bookmark":{"bookmark_id":0,"is_bookmarked":false,"bookmark_date":0},"comments_count":"0","content_native":[{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" \"This is to my Father\u2019s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.\" - Jesus<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"\"This is to my Father\u2019s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.\" - Jesus"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Praying into 2023, the Lord spoke to my heart that we are invited to \"flourish and grow\". Obviously this isn't a new invitation from Jesus because the calendar turned to January 1. It is simply a reaffirming of His heart for our lives as we approach a new year.<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Praying into 2023, the Lord spoke to my heart that we are invited to \"flourish and grow\". Obviously this isn't a new invitation from Jesus because the calendar turned to January 1. It is simply a reaffirming of His heart for our lives as we approach a new year."}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" To flourish<\/strong> (develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment) and grow<\/strong> (undergo natural development, to progress to maturity) isn't measured by the size of our following, our bank account, or our notoriety. Any external measurements of growth (not that those are always great to go by) are worthless if not founded on and forged from the depths of our person and the expression of our life in Jesus at the core of our being and the those most intimate to us. Jesus came to give us life, that the old life, with the old selfish cares would be replaced with Him at the center - He is the seed, we are the soil!<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"To flourish<\/strong> (develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment) and grow<\/strong> (undergo natural development, to progress to maturity) isn't measured by the size of our following, our bank account, or our notoriety. Any external measurements of growth (not that those are always great to go by) are worthless if not founded on and forged from the depths of our person and the expression of our life in Jesus at the core of our being and the those most intimate to us. Jesus came to give us life, that the old life, with the old selfish cares would be replaced with Him at the center - He is the seed, we are the soil!"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" I intensely believe this is to be a year where our eyes are open and we are invited and expected to thrive. No more of the same patterns, cycles, or trips around the same mountain for us!<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"I intensely believe this is to be a year where our eyes are open and we are invited and expected to thrive. No more of the same patterns, cycles, or trips around the same mountain for us!"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" I saw a picture in prayer of someone climbing a mountain and reaching what they thought was the summit - but when they got to the top they saw there was more trail to go. But, instead of continuing the climb and clearing the pass, they chose to settle on the false summit. \"I've come far enough, this will have to do\" was their resolution. God's heart aches for those of us, or places in us, where we settle or let cycles of behavior or health, broken processes of relationship and functioning become our destination rather than something we pass through in our growth process. It's easy to say \"I've done what I can. I've come far enough\u2026\", and justify our journey by the distance we've come rather than clearing the pass and experiencing the \"green pastures and still waters\" (Psalm 39) He is leading us into.\"<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"I saw a picture in prayer of someone climbing a mountain and reaching what they thought was the summit - but when they got to the top they saw there was more trail to go. But, instead of continuing the climb and clearing the pass, they chose to settle on the false summit. \"I've come far enough, this will have to do\" was their resolution. God's heart aches for those of us, or places in us, where we settle or let cycles of behavior or health, broken processes of relationship and functioning become our destination rather than something we pass through in our growth process. It's easy to say \"I've done what I can. I've come far enough\u2026\", and justify our journey by the distance we've come rather than clearing the pass and experiencing the \"green pastures and still waters\" (Psalm 39) He is leading us into.\""}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith.\" (Hebrews 12:1)<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith.\" (Hebrews 12:1)"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" \"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion\u2026\" (Phil. 1:6)<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"\"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion\u2026\" (Phil. 1:6)"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}},{"type":"core\/paragraph","render":" It is time to leave false summits where we\u2019ve set up life, and press on to the pass.
It is time to turn our ruts into a route toward the flourishing and growing He is inviting us to.
Where are you going around the mountain instead of over it?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is time to turn our ruts into a route toward the flourishing and growing He is inviting us to.
Where are you going around the mountain instead of over it?<\/p>","content":[{"type":"text","data":"It is time to leave false summits where we\u2019ve set up life, and press on to the pass.
It is time to turn our ruts into a route toward the flourishing and growing He is inviting us to.
Where are you going around the mountain instead of over it?"}],"data":[],"style":{"textAlign":"left","color":"","dropCap":false,"parent_style":{}}}],"app_access":{"can_access":true,"restrict_message":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/551"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lwrv.org\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}