Dear Sisters,
New Year, New Beginning, New Opportunities. As I was praying for this issue and thinking about all the “new” possibilities in our lives, I feel like He put on my heart a challenge to ask Him to show us new aspects of Himself, to reveal things that He desires for us to know about Him.

Sounds easy doesn’t it? And in many ways it is. We have this promise: So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ? For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10 This is not so we can receive our own unusual insights to make us feel “special”, but to draw us closer to Him in a deeper and fuller manner than we have ever known before. It will be up to Him to show Himself to us.

As each of us live in this world, we develop mind sets that include everything that has happened us or everything that we perceive that has happened. So our understanding about life comes from what really happened, what we think about what happened and what others have told us about what has happened. The challenge begins when we ask the Lord to bring His truth and His revelation to us. Hi revelations may often confront some of the things that we have taken as “truth ". We find they may not be the whole truth as God sees it. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, says the Lord.” Think about a baby. It wants to get out of the crib because it is tired and wants to be hugged. The very reason it has been placed in the crib, is the very reason it wants to get out. It thinks it is being abandoned by its mom because no one rescues it. They receive a quiet, “shhhhh, night, night, it’s time to rest”. Finally the child sleeps. In the morning the mother comes and all is well. The mother is not abandoning it. She is teaching the child that it is bed time, and sleep is what cures a tired child. In the same way we do not always see the picture from God's point of view. He desires to reveal His deeper truth to us.

When God's truth is revealed, we then are given the choice to discard the old and embrace the new. Embracing new truth always takes us through the swamp of uncertainty and that is uncomfortable. To stay with the old understanding denies the new revealed truth. It comes down to the matter of trust. God is a wonderful teacher and if we walk in a teachable spirit, He is able to communicate any truths to us He wants us to know. Developing a trust that the Holy Spirit will only lead and guide us into that which is Truth, will cause us to make the journey with anticipation, rather than dread.

Will you take up this challenge and begin to ask Him to reveal to you anew what He would like you to know about Him? What can we expect in return? A closer personal relationship with Him, a greater knowledge of who He is to share with others, opportunities which will cause us to mature (grow up!) in His ways, and the fulfillment of the promise found in John 8:31-32. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “?If you ?abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ? And you shall know the ?truth, and ? ?the truth shall make you free. What is the Truth of which He speaks? Jesus Himself said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6 He is the Ultimate Truth. This is Truth in the sense that that which is true in any matter under consideration. (Strong’s #225)

There are many things I know about Darryl—we have been married for over 31 years. However, he still surprises me from time to time with new stories, or insights that are brand new to me. Not long ago, we were sharing our “how did we meet and get to know each other” story. I have told it the same way for the 31 years we have been married and he finally admitted that he didn’t like the way I told it! There was one aspect of the story I seem to place emphasis that was hurtful to him. I wouldn’t have done that for the world! The telling was from my perspective and I didn’t perceive it as hurtful. But he did. Because I love him, I don’t want any of my actions to bring hurt. I promised him I would leave that part out from now on. A simple change in perspective was all I needed, a greater “truth” added to the truth I already had. It is the same in our growth with the Lord.

I believe there are new aspects about God that He would like to reveal. We can’t figure God out with our natural mind, but we can ask Him to reveal Himself to us. The word “know” in John 8:32, “you shall know the truth” comes from a very interesting Greek word. That word is ginosko. This word means to “learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel. It is a knowledge grounded on personal experience”. How interesting! We know that we do not walk by our feelings, but by faith. Yet here is the way we are set free—through the Holy Spirit bringing us into situations where we can have a personal experience with the things He needs to teach us. In other wards, this is not just more information or head knowledge. God has so many ways in which He brings us into these personal experiences. It is my heart cry that this year will be a special time for each of us to encounter these ‘personal experiences” with Him so that we will come to “know” Him and His ways in a deeper and more authentic manner. These deeply personal experiences with God will set us free from any lies that have bound us because of our previous experiences or of those around us. Ultimately God wants our thoughts to be His thoughts and our ways to be His ways.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-17)

Through this journey we will purpose to allow the Holy Spirit to bring revelation to us about any aspect of our God He chooses. What an exciting journey it will bring. Perhaps He will lead you to more deeply explore areas of the Bible than you have ever dared before. Perhaps you will discover His love as He brings you to love those who you previously found difficult to love. He knows the areas that will enrich our walk with Him, as well as those areas that will benefit His Kingdom purposes in and through our lives. We can be assured that we will also be strengthened in areas of truth that we have already experienced. It will cause us to have a firmer stand in these areas.

Ask Him to reveal Himself to you now.

Written by:
Martha Rodman