I is for Imagination – God is a creative God (see Genesis 1) and we are made in His image. God wants to do for us so much more than we ask or imagine (Eph 3:20), and a sanctified imagination is one of the ways that God breathes faith into us and allows us to see beyond the natural world to what He can do. We need to be unafraid to dream God’s dreams and let Him fire up our imaginations.
J is for Jesus – Jesus is at the heart of the Christian faith. He is the bridge between God and mankind. He is both fully God and fully Man and as such is the mediator: ‘there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.’ (1 Tim 2:5) Jesus makes reconciliation with God possible.
K is for Kingdom – there are ultimately only two kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Life, once we become children of God, means following a new King. We become part of the kingdom of God – but it’s a kingdom unlike the world’s idea of force and power. Here, ‘whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.’ (Mark 10:43-44) In God’s kingdom, service is the key to greatness and death precedes life.
L is for Life, Light & Love -in John 1, we see that Jesus is the source of all life (‘in Him was life and that life was the light of all mankind.’ (John 1:4)) He is the light that came into the world (Jn 1:9) and that light has the power to overcome darkness. (Jn 1:5) Light illuminates our path and gives us guidance throughout life’s journey. Love is the very essence of God (1 Jn 4:8) and needs to be the one ingredient that characterises everything we are and do. Jesus said everyone would know we were His disciples if we loved one another, and love still remains the benchmark, the hallmark, the identifying mark of every Christian.
M is for Motivation – not just doing the right things, but doing them from the right motives! God is looking for people who will serve Him with pure hearts. Instead of being motivated by fear, we have to be motivated by love. Instead of trying to live to please people, we have to live to please God. Instead of putting ourselves first, we have to put God first. Motivation means we dig beneath the surface and look at what is going on underneath, because we know that God does not simply look at the outward appearance; He looks at the heart. (1 Sam 16:7)
N is for New – God is the God of new things. (Is 43:19), the God of new birth and new life (1 Pet 1:3), the God who has made a new covenant with us (Heb 9:15) and His creativity spills over into new things – a new song (Ps 149:1), new wine in new wineskins, to use the words of Jesus. (Mark 2:22) He is a God who calls us to transformed thinking (Rom 12:1-2) and is busy preparing new heavens and a new earth (Rev 21:1-2) We must always be open to the new thing God wants to do and to be ready to hear the voice of His Spirit calling us to new things.
O is for Obedience – saying yes to God! The consequences of disobedience are dire (the book of Jonah outlines this for us!) and we need to understand that ‘to obey is better than sacrifice.’ (1 Sam 15:22) God wants us to ‘trust and obey.’
P is for Prayer – our lifeline of communication to God. There are many obstacles to prayer, including our tendency to procrastinate, the things we do wrong which make us hide away from God and distraction and doubt, but there is a need for us to shut the door and spend time with God on our own (Matt 6:6) as well as join with other Christians to pray. Prayer involves adoring God, confessing our sins, thanking God and bring our petitions and requests (supplication) to Him (ACTS).
