Chuck Pierce at the Head of the Year Conference in September said, “Pay attention to the signs on your path, this year.” I listen to so many messages, meet with so many people, hear so many things, but this phrase has stuck to my spirit like a message from the Lord for this year. I am paying close attention everywhere to the “signs” on my path. Now not everything is a sign on our path, but there are things that happen, things we see, things we hear, that if we lean into them we can tell if they are a sign we are to pay attention to, or just something we walk right past.

In the game Mario Brothers, Mario would run in this place that had coins to grab, obstacles to overcome, turtles to hurdle and what looked like chimneys that you stand on, but if you pushed down, while standing on the chimney, you could find an underground world of an abundance of coins to capture. Many of us see signs on our path, but we don’t lean into them, we don’t push down on them a little bit to see if there is something there that is not visible at first glance, the first brush with it. Lean in my friends, there are treasures hidden in places most don’t see because they don’t lean in.

This morning I was praying Psalm 141 and it says, “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.” The Lord spoke to me and said “In this year 5784, the year of the door, remember your lips are a door. It is the year of the open door, so open your lips and speak, sing, shout, declare what I say. This is not a year to be silent, but to speak!” That was a new way to hear that verse, I told the Lord. Door of our lips was a sign He wanted me to lean into and I am glad I did.

Friends, in this year of the open door, we need to open our lips and let our voice of righteousness be heard; let the sound of salvation come out of our mouth; let the prevailing roar be released from us; this is not a time to be silent, but to open the door of our lips and let the voice of God inside of us be heard all around us. Open wide the door of your lips, it is the year of the open door, 5784! And lean in to the signs on your path.