A Pursuit for 2012

Happy New Year!  I am really hoping to find a bit more time to blog again this year... this past year I had numerous blog posts rambling around in my head that never made it to the computer...  but that is not a reason for me to stop altogether...

So for 2012 I really hope to share snippets of what God is doing in my life and what He is teaching me as I study the Word, attend Bible studies, and just go through life day by day, being a wife and mom. 

As I had my quiet time this past Sunday morning, which was New Year's Day, a couple of words literally jumped off the page and into my heart and mind...

"Pursue love..."  1 Corinthians 14:1  NKJV

Short, simple, and to the point...

Then I looked it up in the Amplified Bible, and went back just a little bit to see what was written before that:

"...(love - true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us), these three; but the greatest of these is love.  Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire this love [make it your aim, your great quest]; 1 Corinithians13:13 - 14:1

And God has sweetly confirmed to my heart that that is what He desires for me to focus on this year... pursuing love.  In church on Sunday, our pastor shared how God has laid upon his heart to pursue humility before the Lord and before the church... to pursue...

And I read these verses today...

"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.  Let all that you do be done with love."  1 Corinthians 16:13-14  NKJV

And then amplified a bit...

"Be alert and on your guard; stand firm in your faith (your conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, keeping the trust and holy fervor born of faith and a part of it).  Act like men and be courageous; grow in strength!  Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God's love for us.)" 1 Corinthians 16:13-14  The Amplified Bible

So I look forward to what God is going to teach me this year about love... I have a feeling I have a lot to learn, and that I will be stretched and pulled out of my sweet little comfort zone...  but God's love has a way of doing that for us, taking us away from what is cozy and comfortable, and placing us in places where we are so uncomfortable that we want to squirm out and run away.  But if we stop resisting and allow God to work in us and through us, we find joy without measure and blessings we never could have imagined in those most unlikely places...

Pursue love...  What are you pursuing this year?