As the new year dawns, I find myself somewhat pensive. 2024 was filled with a great many changes for me. A divorce, selling a house, and preparing to move across the country, all while starting a journey to learn more about myself, discover what I like and dislike, and on some level, what makes me happy—things that at least to some degree, I haven’t really known for a long time. One of the things I have always been clear on is that I want to see Jesus have His full reward and that I want to see the pain of this world, even the cosmos, be wiped away with His goodness, kindness, and love. And I believe that someday I may even be alive to see it—and I hope that not only am I here for it, but that I have played some role in making it manifest. As we step into a new year I have found myself doing what many do at this time—pondering what I want to accomplish in this coming year. And while on some level it is an arbitrary time to ponder this, it is a rhythm most of the world follows, so it works well to do this at this time.
For me, having spent my fortieth year in a massive and difficult transition period, it is my hope that year 41 holds something much better. And, in truth, it almost has to be, so I’m sure it will. But what I was thinking about as I was looking at goals for this coming year wasn’t just a list of things I want to do. I mean, I was doing that, but that’s not all I was doing. I began to think about the HOW. As the saying goes, “Goals without plans are just dreams.” I don’t want to just have nice ideas that don’t get given wings, so I began to think about how these things might occur. Of the many goals I have, the ones that are more relevant to ministry include launching teaching/training courses, publishing multiple books (including “The End of Revival” about the transition of ages we are in right now, and “Understanding The Gift of Encouragement” which is about exactly what it sounds like), as well as partnering with Overseas Missions, a short term missions organization a friend of mine runs, supporting Legacy Church (the church I will soon be relocating to join), and launching a podcast. I also want to launch a publishing house to help self-published Christian authors write, market, and launch their books. These are all plans, anyway, and we will see how many of them get accomplished this year.
What I got to pondering in the midst of all of this is something my friend Barry Maracle says often—that the gifts of the spirit are voice-activated. And this extends far beyond just the gifts of the spirit. If I want to see even a portion of the things I have planned for this next year come to pass then I will need to extend the force of faith over those things, begin to decree and declare them into existence, engage the power of my imagination (ie the power of my spiritual will) to envision those things having already been completed, and in so doing partner with the angelic host and my heavenly Father to see those things that are currently invisible become manifest. It is easy for me to look at a list I wrote and think of all the human ways I can try to work really hard to accomplish my goals, but it is far more sensible to begin the process with what the Bible teaches us in Hebrews 11—that by faith those things that were invisible were made visible. That when we engage with the substance or force of faith we have the evidence of the unseen already within us, and that evidence gives rise to substance.
It isn’t enough to just come up with a human to-do list. What we need to do is begin to engage Heaven. Voice-activate our destiny. Use the power of our words to co-create with God. You see, one of the things people get wrong about using sowing and reaping principles (also referred to as “manifesting” or “Law of Attraction” in other circles) is that if we begin something solely with human effort and will then we will also need to sustain it with that same effort and will. And if we truly want to enter God’s rest and do things His way then we cannot simply rely on our own power and ability to create—we have to co-create with Him.
My plan as this year begins, and my encouragement to anyone who is looking to make their own goals for the year, is to begin with a simply prayer. Ask God to guide your goal-making. Then ask Him to show you how to accomplish those goals. Then begin to declare the resources, the energy, the vision, the emotional fortitude, and all manner of divine intervention and guidance from heaven into the situation. Decree heaven flowing through your entire year. Release the angelic host on your behalf to go accomplish the will of God through His sons and daughters as you go forth to accomplish all that is in your heart to do this year. And remember, you don’t have to beg God to do the things He already promised in Jesus, our older brother. He’s already declared in His word that He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. It’s time to activate our heavenly supply lines to live in the fullness of the resources He has already prepared in advance for us.
I pray you have a blessed year and that all of the things you set your hand to as you engage greater union with the Godhead prosper you greatly, release the life of heaven in and through you, and I pray above all else that you find true happiness and that you delight in Jesus, the Desire of the Nations, in 2025. God bless you richly and abundantly as we walk into this new year together.
