Dear Ones,
Happy Happy New Year! Did you stay up to ring in the New year? We never made it to midnight but did some celebrating last night and today will celebrate more. Al loves to watch football and I make his favorite snacks and it is his one day of the year to vegetate in front of the TV.
Your question for this week is what word would you choose for the coming year to especially focus on in your relationship with the Lord?
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Today I would like to confess something that I need to definitely improve upon in the New Year, that I failed to accomplish well in the past year. A friend and I both choose a word at the beginning of each New Year that we would like to uncover, spending some time focusing on and discovering more about it. My word in 2024 was “Deep” as I desired to go deeper with the Lord.
Then at the beginning of 2025, I chose the word “Quiet,” intending to practice being quiet before the Lord, just sitting and enjoying His presence each day. No words, just listening to Him and being with Him. Even though I taught this in the past and wrote about it, I failed to do it many days and just began writing a devotional after having my personal devotions. More times than I would like to admit, I began my work without taking those quiet moments to just be with the Lord in quietness.
My friend recently asked me what my word was for this past year, I missed it and said, “Deep” which was my word for the year before. I had to look up in my notebook and discovered my word was “Quiet.” Right then I knew I deserved a D or an F for missing days when I skipped that special time in quiet listening that is far more important than what I had to do during that day. Sitting before the Lord and listening is honoring Him, paying attention and giving Him the floor so to speak. The days I did sit in quiet with Him, were days that everything went better and seemed to flow along. He knows what my day holds and can prepare me for whatever is ahead.
Perhaps we have all had people in our lives that give us only partial attention. It seems like they are listening, but by the questions they ask later, we know they missed what we said. Or it could be they were interrupted by their phone and had one eye on it and only partial attention to us. I feel regretful for the times I have done that to the Lord and not given Him my full attention. It helps me to keep a notebook nearby during quiet moments with Him, as I write down something that needs attention later or special words He speaks to my heart.
I want to encourage you to pick a word that describes something you need to focus on in the New Year and ask the Lord to help you be faithful.
Challenge for today: After picking a word for the year, ask the Lord to teach you and be a better student than I have been.
Blessings in your new year and prayers and love, Judy
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