2014: The Year Of New Hearts

things that are impossible with people are possible with God.  (Luke 18:27)

I began the year in 2012 by declaring it to be a year of blessing for my family.  Waking up in the morning I would say, "God morning Lord.  Thank you for this year of blessing".  I would tell Jackie often; "This is our year of blessing."  And indeed we were blessed in many ways that year.  Building on a good thing I declared 2013 to be a year of double blessing for our family, and it really was.

After praying about the theme for 2014 I had a dream about a week ago.  It was at about 5 in the morning and was one of those dreams where you are half asleep but also half awake.  I was on a beach filled with hundreds of people and to the right of me was the rock singer Bret Michael.  He was probably in my dream because on my way to work I pass a billboard about him coming for a concert in Grand Rapids.  Mr. Michael is standing by something like a keyboard or a desk and he declares to everyone that things are not going to be the same as before.  We wouldn't recognize Christian bookstores or Christian radio anymore.  Things are going to change.

After hearing this all the people started to leave the beach.  Many to the right, many to the left, a few inland.  Something rose within me and I stood up and yelled for everyone to come back and listen.  I told them the Lord says that if a big wave came and every grain of sand was removed from the beach, two miles to the right or two miles to the left or out to the depths of the water, was not God able to replace every grain of sand, put in grass and shrubs and make it even better than before?

I went on to tell the people that the Lord says there is nothing impossible for Him, either with material things or with the things of the human heart.  Over and over God was saying through me to those people on the beach, 'cannot I do this?' or 'cannot I do that?'.   Finally the anointing left and I was laying awake, feeling that this was probably a word from God for the coming year.

This morning I had another dream.  Waking up at 8 am and realizing that this was New Year's Day and that I really didn't have to get up I fell asleep for another two hours.  During that time I dreamed that I was sitting in a chair in the living room of a certain house and there was going to be a prayer meeting there.  There were people that had just arrived, milling about, a few of them not wanting to come inside but they were going to watch through the windows, and the hostess was bringing in more chairs.  Sitting next to me was someone I had been praying for quite awhile to get really turned on to the Lord.  I was pleased because he looked anxious to get the meeting started. 

Standing across the room was a woman minister who pastors a very large church with her husband.  Wanting to strike up a conversation I say to her that there must be so many things to do to run a big church like theirs.  Does she just cover a few areas herself and then delegate the rest?   She replies that before their church started growing her husband would go from putting out one fire to another.  Finally they decided to change their focus.  "What is the big picture?  What does God really want to accomplish through us?"  They refocused the purpose of their ministry and the church started to rapidly grow.

So what is the big picture?  How can I get a breakthrough in the burden I have for those family and friends of mine who are living in spiritual darkness?  What does God really want to accomplish through me?

I am declaring, in prayer and in praise, that this will be the year of new hearts.  I don't know how God is going to do it.  I can't make a person want to love Jesus.  I can't make them want to be free from physical and emotional and spiritual burdens.  I can't make the decision to believe for them.  And God will never force Himself on anyone.

Yet I believe this.  Things that are impossible with people are possible with God.