I Resolve...

by Kris
(Pearl, Mississippi)

My inbox is full of e-mails with subjects like “10 Resolutions you MUST make this year” and “the ONE resolution you are sure to keep”. I have also seen more “Lose 2 dress sizes in 2 weeks or your money back” commercials than I can count. Added to these are commercials aimed at those who want to stop smoking and infomercials on how to live debt free.....
It seems that, everywhere I turn, someone is telling me how to be a better “me” in 2012.

I propose that in the new year we shift our focus from the superficial “band-aids” such as losing weight , stopping smoking, getting out of debt, and “being a better friend/ wife/ husband/ mother/ father”. I propose that we focus instead on living a victorious life in Christ Jesus. Jesus came so that we could “have life and have it more ABUNDANTLY” (John 10:10) Isn’t abundance the thing that we are really pursuing? Aren’t we all longing for “peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self control”? (Galatians 5:22-23)

Rather than falling into the same old routine of making resolutions that will do little other than change my outward appearance, I am resolving this year to pursue those things that God has burdened my heart with through His Word.

In 2012, I resolve to:

Love the Lord your (my) God with all your (my) heart and with all your (my) soul and with all your (my) strength and with all your (my) mind (Luke 10:27 NIV) –
I resolve to love God most... To love Him full on with everything I have...to allow my love for Him to guide me when I make decisions so that my life will bring glory to Him above all other things.

Love your (my) neighbor as yourself (myself) (Luke 10:27) - I resolve to love the people that God has placed in my life as I love myself, to value them and respect them, to offer forgiveness when needed and to be open to opportunities to pray for and to serve them.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) – I resolve to keep it all in perspective. We are ALL sinners. We ALL fall short. Not only will I use this to keep my own pride in check, but will also use this verse to remind me to be compassionate to those who fall to temptation and sin so that they may be gently restored.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV) – I resolve to cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit in my life, to remind myself that this fruit is present in my life through the Holy Spirit, and to choose to allow it to rule over my flesh.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17 NIV) – I resolve to value what God values, to love what God loves, to pursue that for which God sent His one and only Son...That all may be saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What were your resolutions this time last year?

Would you be so bold as to resolve to make an impact on the Kingdom of God through obedience to His Word?

The people God puts in our lives each day are road weary and heavy hearted. All of God’s creation longs for Him...for His touch...for His comfort... for His healing. YOU could be the one who guides them to the foot of the cross!

Perhaps you too are in need of a touch from the Savior. What better way to start a new year, than to choose to follow Him? 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! What a blessed promise as we look ahead into the new year!!!!

As we leave 2011 behind and look ahead to 2012, take a moment and search your heart. Are you living victoriously? True victory can only be found in the freedom that Christ Jesus offers.

Let’s Pray:
Father God,
As we move into a new calendar year, guide my steps, guard my heart, bind my tongue and create in me a passion for you and you alone. Lord, I DO want to live the victorious life you promise in your Word. I do not want to be bound by sin. I do want to experience the freedom that only comes through knowing you. Reveal to me any and all things that prevent me from living the abundant life you promise to all believers. Help me to not only acknowledge those things, but to remove those that need to be removed and to reposition those good things that I have placed above You. I love you Lord and I want you to be Lord of my life. I want my life to glorify you and to draw others to you.
Amen

Happy New Year!!!!!
Hugs!!!!