Stretch Your Tents in 2010!

I heard the Lord say, "Stretch", and I knew it was a word for the body of Christ in the coming year.

According to Webster's Dictionary, the word "stretch" is defined in the following ways: to enlarge; to cause to reach; to expand; to fulfill a larger function; to raise up from a cramped, stooping, or relaxed position.

Isa.54:2,3 - "Enlarge the place of your tent. Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your descendents will possess nations......"

Zech.1:16,17 - "I will return to Jerusalem with compassion.... and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.... My cities will again overflow with prosperity..... "

Nugget of Gold: The Lord is taking us out of our comfort zones as we enter into the new decade. We have to be willing to release those things that He is directing us to let go of (hopes, plans, fears, relationships, schedules, etc.) in order to move into the new place that He's taking us. Even now, the Lord is "stretching out a measuring line" over our new territory. He is causing us to have to "reach" in order to fulfill a larger function in His kingdom. Where we've been comfortable and relaxed, we will now feel an urgency to move and to exercise our gifts in a way that we haven't known before. New ministry opportunities will open to us as we are teachable and continue to move in complete obedience to the Holy Spirit's promptings. Our new "territory" will involve increased responsibility and will necessitate that we be properly connected and firmly planted in the Body as He ordains.

As we enter this new year and new decade, the Lord's mandate to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness" (Matt.6:33) will be imperative. May our prayer be as Jabez (1Chron.4:10):

"Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep me from harm, that it may not pain me!"

"And God granted him what he requested."