On December 5, 2022, I asked God, “What is my word for 2023?” Immediately, I heard, “LIGHT.”

I felt prompted to open my little missions bible randomly. When I did, Daniel 2 lay open before me. Verses 28-30 were the first verses my eyes fell on. They are Daniel’s words to king Nebuchadnezzar about interpreting his dream. 

…there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: 29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.

Then I glanced past the middle binding of the pages to see what was on the other side of these verses. Daniel 2:20-22 These are the words Daniel spoke to God, right after He gave Daniel the interpretation for the king’s dream. 

“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. 

21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. 

22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And LIGHT dwells with Him.

Out of all the places in the Bible to open to without the word light, I opened here. It speaks of revelation and interpretative gifts. These gifts or abilities are found in God alone. 

I could not help but declare, “Truly LORD, You are LIGHT and in You is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5

I had to go deeper. Grabbing my Strong’s Concordance, I looked for ‘light’ and the scripture reference. Daniel 2:22 

The word ‘light’ used here is only found in the book of Daniel. It is used three times. Daniel 2:22, 5:11, and 5:14. It is Strong’s #5094

נָהִירוּ  And here are the letter right to left:

Nun 50 = Restoration, Holy Spirit, Jubilee. Means: Life or Action

Hey 5 = Grace. Means: Revelation – 5 is the number of Torah, Behold, Give Attention, Unfold, Look upon 

Yod 10 = The outcome or completion of something. Means: Hand, Right Arm, Power, Right hand of God’s power, a Deed Done, To Work, to Cover, Allow, Hollow, Open Hand

Resh  200 = Insufficiency, Poverty. Picture: Head Means: Head, Chief, Beginning, Highest, Most Important, a Person, Human Reasoning vs. Obedience. (When we allow human reasoning to be our master, our head, poverty of the Spirit results.)

Final Nun = 700—I’ve not found a specific Hebrew meaning for this number but do know the meaning of Nun – Life or Action. 

[Do you see that? Life is the first and last letter.]

From the meaning of these letters we find the meaning of the word ‘Light’:

The Work of God, who is Head over all. It is The Right Hand of God’s Power, His Holy Spirit, that makes Life and Revelation possible. It overcomes Human Reasoning and Disobedience. 

Or, in the simplest of terms, Light is the Holy Spirit of God giving us the Grace to live our lives with Revelation that supersedes human reasoning. Once we see and hear it, obedience will no longer be difficult. 

Daniel did not get into divination, he went straight to the source of truth and got the revelation he needed. 

Because He gave me the word ‘light’ for this year, I believe He is telling me that a fresh revelation of truth is coming. It will supersede what we’ve naturally believed the and move us into a closer walk with Him., the LIGHT of life – John 1:4 

With this in mind, I’ve continued to keep my eyes and ears open for ‘light.’ On January 11, Holy Spirit led me to Psalm 77. At first, the writer of this psalm is depressed. In his mind, God is nowhere to be found—times are hard. Questions fill his conversation. Is Your mercy gone? Have Your promises failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger turned off His mercy? 

Then, there is a huge change of gears when he makes a choice to speak the following: 

But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.” 

11 I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. 

12 I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. 

13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? 

14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. 

15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

Do you see all those ‘remembers?’

In hard times, when life seems hopeless and more than we can figure out, these are steps we all need to take.

1. Make a choice to Remember what God has done in our lives. 

2. Remember Who God is and how He works.

3. Meditate on those things. (Repeat the good things God has done out loud. Say them over and over so our ears can hear it.) Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17

4. Tell others about what He has done.

Then, in verse 13, we find this:

Your way, O God, is in the SANCTUARY…

Sanctuary is another name often used to represent the Tabernacle in scripture. So, He is telling us that our study of the Tabernacle this year will lead us to fresh revelation for our lives. There is a ‘holiness’ (which means unique, unlike any other, one of a kind) seen in the Tabernacle that surpasses all other gods. [We will cover the treasures in the word sanctuary in coming posts. ]

Now, this psalmist who was down for the count, made a choice to turn and look again at God, to Remember, to Meditate, and to Speak about his Mighty God Now he declares, 

13 Who is so great a God as our God?

14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. 15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

In the Light of Truth, our souls (minds, wills, and emotions) change. We are no longer under the circumstances the enemy brought into our lives. We are seated once again in heavenly places seeing from God’s perspective. 

This amazing year before us will be challenging and victorious. 2023 will give us many opportunities to choose this path of remembering, meditating, and declaring. Let’s remember Who our Abba is and Who our Savior is. The Light of the world cannot be overcome.

This is the scripture He told me to put on the front of my journal this month. 

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:5 NKJV

And here is another version: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out. John 1:5 GNB (Good News Bible)

When Robin Bullock spoke on Elijah Streams this past week, he said that this particular scripture is the one we need to remember all year long. He confirmed what Holy Spirit spoke to me several weeks ago. 

No matter what it looks like or how much the media or anyone else is spouting about the darkness, let’s remember the light will not be overcome by darkness. In the end, Light will be all there is. 

This is enough for now. Start this week to ask Holy Spirit to remind you of all the things God has done in your lives. The obvious things you can see but also the things He’s done that we aren’t even aware of. Make a list and start reciting the list out loud. Watch your perspective change. We have the best Abba in the whole universe. 

Shalom ♥