The New Year Focus Has so Many Possibilities
The new year has so many possibilities. Doors are wide open and hopes are full. The glass shows optimism and the workout pants have their tags ripped off. We’re geared up and ready. It’s time to hit it like we’re going to win it!
Then we lose motion. February rolls around and those new workout pants have only a few rounds of sweat washed out of them. The glass is lined with a sugary drink. Hopes are eh, and the door let too many drafts in. Possibilities are still lurking around, but we would rather nap away the winter than toughen up our skin and buckle down in the promises of something new.
Thinking of the new year and remaining in a forward motion, putting truth on the forefront might help our focus before putting a new gym shoe out the front door.
The truth of the Gospel is the focus for my year. Most people try to pick a word that they study, rely on, and plaster all over the place. Instead of a word, I would like the Spirit to convict my focus each and every day. If the Lord wants me to be topical in my life, then so be it and I will follow His will. If He wants me to just dive into the Word, serve and be open to His guidance, then I won’t let one word define me or box me in.
2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
I am starting the year with the Gospel, the Good News. We find it in every book of the Bible. Looking for it in each history book and from each prophet as well as diving into the epistles and poetry books, we see Jesus shining bright. He is bringing us hope in the rescue plan that God gifted to the world.
I would like to provide a starting point with some of my favorite verses that point to Jesus. Elohim, Our Strong Creator God, shows a trinitarian God from Genesis one. Elohim, a plural word, shows that not only was our sovereign God there, but so was the relatable Son and the ever-present Spirit, from the beginning.
Please note that Paul stresses the same phrase twice in the following passage. He states, “according the Scriptures twice” to reiterate that God’s Word has been saying the same thing from the beginning, noting the good news of the Gospel.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 NIV
The Resurrection of Christ
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried,that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
William Tyndale said the following about the Gospel, “Evangelion (that we call the gospel) is a Greek word and signifieth good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that maketh a man’s heart glad and maketh him sing, dance, and leap for joy.”
Here are several verses from Scripture about Jesus and the Gospel of hope.
Please never lose the hope and wonder of the Gospel that is summed up in one verse written by our brother John (3:16) Click To TweetGenesis 49:10 NIV
The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[
until he to whom it belongs[b] shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
1 Samuel 2:10 NIV
those who oppose the Lord will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Psalm 110:1 NIV
The Lord says to my lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”
Psalm 118:22 NIV
The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
Proverbs 30:4 NIV
Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!
Isaiah 7:14 NIV
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and[c] will call him Immanuel
Isaiah 11:1-2 NIV The Branch From Jesse
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
Daniel 7:13-14 NIV
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority,glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
Zechariah 9:9 NIV
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Luke 24:24-27 NIV
Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
John 6:28-29 NIV
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Romans 10:9-11 NIV
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 15:4 NIV
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
1 Peter 1:10-12 NIV
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
Please never lose the hope and wonder of the Gospel that is summed up in one verse written by our brother John (3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that who so ever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Visiting from Jaime’s. Several “focus” one words out there – it’s a good one!
I will try this and let the whole word guide me. Taking it a piece at a time until it fills me with a new hope
Great post! I love the verses you’ve chosen. The Gospel can be found in every book of the Bible, and makes it so much better to read when we think of Jesus at the center of His Word. I hope you feel better this week :),
“The truth of the Gospel is the focus for my year.” I can’t think of a better focus! I read my Bible every day, but lately have been feeling led to really study it to gain a deeper understanding. I think I may have to follow your lead on a “focus” for the next year!
I also love how you said you don’t want to be boxed in by the focus of one word. I recently was trying to schedule every part of my day so I could be the most productive. I clearly heard God tell me not to rely on a schedule but to listen for His leading. I would too easily make my schedule a god rather than allow for flexibility when He speaks.
Thanks for these wonderful scripture references!
Thank you. I have used a focus “word” in the past and I was always trying to just stay with that one word instead of being open to the Spirit leading me.
What refreshing I just gained reading these verses together. Thank you for compiling them.