2010: The Year of Cultivating

As a church, we take time to seek the Lord on what He would want to do in our lives this coming year. We then name our year what we believe He is leading us to do. This year for the church as a whole, the Lord gave me the name: The Year of Cultivating." I am really excited about this. The past few years we have seen God lead us through some tough spots and now we are beginning to see the fruits from the struggles. And He wants to do more.

Cultivate, in the dictionary, has this as its definition: to loosen or break up the soil; to foster the growth of; to imporve by labor, care, or study; encourage; make friends with. I love that definition. I believe God wants to continue to break the hard ground in our lives (Hosea 10:12) to foster more growth and He will do that as we work for Him (getting involved), care for others, and study His word (signing up for our small groups and personal Bible time). I recently read a quote that said... "Christians are like manure, spread them out and they help things grow. Keep them in a pile and they will stink horribly." So true. We must let God begin to spread us so that we can grow and foster growth in others. We must break the pile mentality and step out into the unknown where Jesus is.

There is going to be an increase in seeing people saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit (personal prayer language), and the gifts of the Spirit manifested in all of our lives as we let God do His work in us. There has been to much hard, dry, ground in our lives for far to long that has stunted our growth. But God is going to begin to break it up, as we let Him, so that we can continue to grow. It won't be easy. I mean, who wants something digging up areas that are hard? It isn't pleasant. But in the end, it brings about growth and that makes it worth it. So get ready for all that God is going to do in 2010. And be encouraged to personally name your year.