Looking Forward

2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Good morning Zebras,

Each year it seems God gives me a verse that becomes the focus of my life for the following year.  It isn’t something I choose, but something God chooses for me and it usually builds on the verses He has given me before.

When I first started teaching women at the Awana conferences a few years ago the passage I used most often was Philippians 4:8:  “Whatever is true, whatever is noble…think on these things and the peace of God will be with you.”  My focus was to encourage women to learn God’s word and apply it to their lives, to quit taking their value from the things of the world but from God Himself who has created them in His image for His purpose.  And also that women needed to learn to get along and support one other because Satan is tearing us apart. It was the beginning of Zebras.

The next year I taught what I considered to be my first women’s retreat.  The retreat was centered on Psalm 46:10a, which tells us to be still and know God.  I learned so much as I prepared for that retreat about what it means to be still before the Lord and even more about who God really is. It became the foundation for my life.

The next retreat was on pursuing God, God promises in Psalm 34:10b that those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing.  It was eye opening and very challenging to study the lives of men like Abraham, Moses, David and Paul and to see what it really looked like to live a life totally dedicated to honoring God. I learned, among other things that God’s work must be done God’s way; that God does ask us to sacrifice those things we love most to Him; and that real faith means believing what God says and acting on it.

For the last year my passion has been on resting in Christ and the promise found in Matthew 11:28. This year I didn’t do just one retreat but a series of mini retreats at various churches.  I think God had me to do mini-retreats because every time I did one I learned more.  I still don’t think I know everything there is to know about who Jesus is, but I know A WHOLE lot more than when I started.

So this coming year, in preparation for the Walking in the Spirit retreat scheduled for next September, it’s time to focus on the Holy Spirit.  I can’t teach what I don’t practice and recently God has allowed me to see how often fear keeps me from doing what I am supposed to do. But God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and self-discipline and I am VERY excited to learn what that really means.

Love,
Jill