Advancing with Intent: Breaking Cycles and Stepping into "The Coming"

Advancing With Intent

As we step into a new year, I want to offer something deeper than resolutions. Resolutions focus on behavior. What I am sensing in this season requires alignment.

The phrase that has stayed with me is advancing with intent.

Not drifting.Not reacting.Not repeating.

Advancing.

This is where the idea of Advent comes back into focus for me. Advent is not just about waiting. It is expectation with responsibility. It is understanding that what God is bringing requires preparation before manifestation.

Breaking the Rhythms That Keep Us Stuck

Most people do not realize they are stuck because their lives feel busy. Movement can look like progress until you realize you are circling the same place.

I call these rhythms.

They are patterns of thought, behavior, reaction, and response that repeat themselves so consistently that they become normal. Like a familiar musical cadence, they feel predictable. Comfortable, even. But what feels familiar can also become a cage.

Some of us have been faithful inside cycles that God never intended to be permanent.

If we are going to move into what God is bringing, those rhythms have to be confronted. Not emotionally. Not casually. But with truth. The Word of God does not just comfort. It interrupts. And interruption is often the doorway to breakthrough.

Advent Requires Preparation

Expectation without preparation creates frustration.

Advent is not passive hope. It is expectation with an assignment attached. God does not pour new wine into old wineskins, not because He withholds, but because capacity matters.

Preparation looks practical.

It means learning how to manage time, especially the early hours of the day. There is something sacred about first moments. Prayer before noise. Word before notification. Alignment before activity.

Preparation also means faithfulness in obscurity. Everyone wants visibility, but formation often happens unseen. If you abandon your calling because you feel overlooked, you may disqualify yourself from what visibility was meant to carry.

And then there is discipline. Restraint. Learning to say no. Not everything you can do should be done. The flesh is loud, but the Spirit is precise. Staying aligned will often require denying impulses that feel justified but lead you out of position.

Understanding the Nature of Warfare

As I look toward this year, I do not sense quiet. I sense shaking. Locally. Globally. Personally.

But spiritual warfare does not begin with an obsession over the enemy. It begins with a revelation of the King.

You cannot properly engage warfare if you do not know who is leading you. The Lord of Hosts is not a title of intimidation. It is a reminder of authority. He is the Captain of the armies of God. And when you understand who leads you, fear loses its voice.

Warfare is not panic. It is positioning.

Coming Boldly to the Throne of Grace

Hebrews tells us to come boldly to the Throne of Grace. That boldness is not arrogance. It is confidence in access.

Grace is not only about forgiveness. Grace is strength. Grace is courage. Grace is what sustains you when obedience becomes costly and waiting becomes long.

There are moments ahead that will require more than enthusiasm. They will require endurance. And endurance is supplied at the Throne.

Move Forward On Purpose

This year is not about doing more. It is about moving intentionally.

Breaking old rhythms.Preparing your heart.Understanding your authority.And drawing strength from the presence of God.

What is coming deserves your preparation.

Advance with intent.