My Word + Goals for 2020

HAPPY FEB 22!!! We have sooo much to talk about!!! We’re fifty-two days into a new decade and the Lord has already done some transforming work on my heart that is far greater than anything I learned in 2019– and I learned A LOT in 2019. But a few things that I’m leaning into this year; this decade is obedience, love, stillness, and outreach.

My word for 2020 is “GO.”

*A LITTLE BACKGROUND* (because you know I love me some background info) I’ve been choosing a word of the year for the past three years (three counting 2020; I started in 2018), but not the traditional way. In 2018 and 2019, I chose my word of the year after the ended. Umm what?!? Jess, I’m pretty sure that’s not how that works. Here’s why I did that: I didn’t want to put limitations on God. SO, once the year ended, I took some time to reflect and chose a word that described the way God consistently pursued my heart in that year.

My word for 2018 was “LESSONS” because although I was actively pursuing the Lord when I was by myself or at church, I let distractions from the real world wedge themselves between my Heavenly Father and I. I knew it too, but was too afraid to turn away from the worldly things that I thought made me happy and I said “no” to Him on many occasions, so like any good father, He had to get my attention. As the year went on, I felt less and less like myself: less worthy, less strong, less valued… just less. My identity was lost as I tried to find it in the world until one day the Lord whispered a truth into my life that would soon restore my soul: “You are worth more than this life. I love you so much that I died for you. This earth is temporary and I have better for you. Trust me; surrender.”

That year, I made a huge life change from the things of this world to the things of Heaven. I learned to surrender and I have never been the same. A LESSON had to be learned before growth happened. That’s why my word for the year was LESSONS.

My word for 2019 was SURRENDER. After learning to surrender my everything in 2018, it was time for daily surrender to happen. This was my senior year; A LOT of life changes were about to start happening and A LOT of big decision were about to be made. My grades started to slip as classes got hard & I had to learn to offer myself grace. The Lord whispered to my heart: SURRENDER, your grades don’t define you. I also had NO CLUE what I wanted to be when I grew up & felt a lot of pressure when I got the questions “where are you going to school? What will you be majoring in? What are your goals?” It’s very discouraging when your answer is “I don’t know,” and it seems like everyone else has it all figured out. Again He whispered SURRENDER to my will. It is better than any plans you’ve already made– or not made. Eventually, after a long journey of daily surrender and covering my future in prayer, my eyes were open to the true call that was being put on my heart– ministry. Ministry through writing more specifically. Why would I devote my career & my money that I make in my career to Jesus? Because it is HIS breath in my lungs; because I am a CHRISTIAN, without Christ I Am Nothing. Everything that I do in this life should be for the glory of the one who saved my life. AND Y’ALL THATS EXCITING!!! It’s exciting to be a humble servant of the Lord!!! Daily surrender: because He wants to use you in unpredictable CRAZY ways but He can’t be unpredictable if you put boundaries on His power. So, my word for 2019 was SURRENDER.

*OKAY BACK TO WHAT WE WERE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT BECAUSE NOW I’M JUST RAMBLING* In 2020 though, I felt the Lord “tugging on my heart” (as my mom used to say) to chose a word going into the year to guide my growth, thoughts, and prayers. So I began to pray about what my the Lord would allow my word to be for the year and almost instantly He whispered to my heart spend more time going than growing. A conviction that I felt often: I’m not much of an evangelist. I’m introverted and taking to strangers about Jesus; doing the awkward wasn’t my thing, so 99% of the time I only grew myself & allowed myself to believe the lie that “someone else will do it,” and anytime I made the goal to actually do a little evangelism, my motivation; my fire would fade to where I believed it wasn’t a big deal. But when the Lord spoke those words over me, I had a feeling that this time it would be different. So throughout my week at Passion, I continued praying for my word and for God to change the posture of my heart to see that it IS a big deal. So one of the themes that was being preached WITHOUT CONNECTION I MIGHT ADD was disciplining ourselves in the ways of God so we can go and touch the hearts of lost people because that’s our most urgent command from God: go. This generation needs a transformation and our hearts should be stirring with overwhelming love for one another; loving the creation as much as we love the creator. *reference above where I talk about the concept that love is not a chore. ps. Passion blog is coming soon that goes more in-depth of how God moved at the Benz that week*

THAT WAS MY ANSWERED PRAYER!!! When the Lord is calling you to something, you’ll never have to question it because He will always bring confirmations that could only be crafted by His hands. Everything at Passion spoke volumes to my heart!!! PASSION WAS MY CONFIRMATION!!! My word for 2020 was GO. 2020 is my year; THE YEAR to go in obedience and discipline to the places my comfort zone couldn’t take me. 2020 is the year to say YES for real. As Sammie, my prayer partner for Beach Reach (more to come on that as well) says my yes is on the table.

I’m going all inMy every yes is yours — Want It All by: Sean Curran

This year, I’m called to live in full obedience; full surrender & spontaneity of how the Lord wants to use me. That’s crazy, isn’t it, how He knits our day to day together so perfectly that each year would be a flowing river of growth and I didn’t even realize it till now? Check this out: 2018: the year of learning to truly surrender, 2019: the year of daily surrender & laying my life at the cross because I cannot do this alone, 2020: the year of yes & going faithfully in surrender to build the Kingdom for His glory & not my own. Crazy right?!? AHHH I LOVE THE OMNISCIENCE OF GOD!!!! IT FILLS MY LIFE WITH NEVER ENDING JOY!!!!!! LESSONS –> SURRENDER –> GO!!!!

Goals for 2020::

1. Love— purely & honestly, vulnerably & consistently, as Christ loves me.

2. SAY YES!!! Being obedient even when it’s awkward, hard, or the most scary. The end result of anything done to the glory of the God, solely for His glory OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE will be more rewarding, more Kingdom building, and more “well done my good and faithful servant” than anything done in His name inside my comfort zone. To quote Pinterest “great things never come from comfort zones.” There’s something so biblical about that though, isn’t there?

Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. – Hebrews 13:11-14 NLT

So let us go out to him, outside the camp— going all in. Sacrificing our comfort for our yes. Sacrificing our comfort for the cross. Sacrificing our time for eternity. Sacrificing our lives for the life that was given up for us. Beautiful!!! Say yes & do not fear, for our home is YET TO COME!!!!

3. Great Commission HARD!!!!

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-19 NLT

The lyrics by Lecrae have been on my heart lately: this is not a suggestion, create disciples. This is not a suggestion. There’s so much urgency in that statement; in the mission that we’ve been given; urgency that the Holy Spirit has been placing in my life to physically see so far in 2020. Jesus is coming soon, so great commission hard.

4. Be disciplined in the things of God. As I mentioned earlier, throughout my life I’ve always found myself on the other end of a once sparked fire for Jesus with a “someone else will do it/I’ll do it later attitude,” which would always lead to going months without spending time in the Word of God.

One thing I’ve been doing on my road to being disciplined in my faith is setting my alarm 45 minutes before I have to get up to go to class and spending that time in intense prayer, and ending the day by diving into scripture. Jesus– my first thought when I wake up, my last thought before I close my eyes! LIFE IS SWEET! Hebrews 12:11 says:

No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. – Hebrews 12:11 NLT

Isn’t that beautiful? After discipline comes a peaceful harvest. YALL THE POWER OF PRAYER IS REAL!!! By giving up 45 mins of my time in the morning to journal some deep, intentional prayers, I’ve not only seen the Holy Spirit move, I’ve seen Him move in EVERYTHING. And the beautiful thing is, I’ve seen Him move the most in the prayers I’ve prayed over others. I’ve even gained a few new friends from prayer! CHOOSE OTHERS OVER YOURSELF YALL— it’s the move. another thing is, when you get up early & pray and then see God moving in others lives, you’re not only being disciplined in the things of God but you are excited when you’re alarm goes off at 7am. You appreciate the sunshine a little more & prayer (& time spent with God) isn’t a burden at all— AS IT SHOULD BE!!!

And hey guess what? That’s the peaceful harvest that Paul was talking about 😉

I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago called Georgia Brown Faith & Friends (my high school & college aged girlfriends— this podcast is for you ;)). On this particular episode I was listening to, Georgia was just chatting with one of her guy friends about his experience prayer journaling (and keeping a journal in general) & this thing he said really stuck with me: journaling isn’t girly it’s godly. I was like AMEN!! CAN SOMEONE SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!

Anyway, that being said, I highly encourage anyone, this is not just for my girls, but for my guys as well: journal your prayers. Just try it. It has been such a helpful tool in my faith so far in 2020.

I pray that you are encouraged today and I’m so thankful for you! Let me know what your word is for 2020 and I can be praying for you!

XOXO, Jess 🙂