A new year has raced its way to our present time. We are now in the month of beginnings, of new things…of new commitments. Every year I hear stories of those people who have made New Year’s Resolutions. While I appreciate the thought of a resolution, I would like to change the name for me to be commitment. A resolution is what you try and aspire to accomplish, hoping you will succeed. A commitment is something you set your heart, mind and spirit to do… no matter what.
I want you all to know that I sense God calling me to deeper life in my faith in Jesus Christ. I am hungering for God to do something fresh and new in my life this year. Though I am not sure what that means entirely, the words of the prophet Isaiah sprang up to me just this afternoon as I am writing this article for the newsletter. He says this in Isaiah 43:19: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” This is an incredible verse…it tells me that God is waiting at the doorways of our hearts to do “something new” within us. So with that in mind, to be available for what God wants to do new in my life, I am making the following commitments for the year 2015.
- For one year, by the best of my ability, I will pledge myself to make decisions in my daily life only after asking the question, “What would Jesus do?”
- To open to the voice of God in my life. To open my hands, open my heart, heighten my attentiveness to any small way He might want to communicate to me and then to agree in advance that I will comply with whatever He says.
- To read through the Bible in one year.
- To be a more loving person.
- Because my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, I will continue to be as healthy as I can…and that means losing that next 25 pounds this year!
- There you have it. I am making myself transparent to you so you can pray for me this coming year. I encourage you to make commitments unto the Lord that will open you up to what He wants to do in your life this coming year.My prayer for each of you is that you grow in the grace of Christ and be equipped to follow Him with all of your hearts! Amen! God bless you richly. May this coming year be one of victory in our personal lives and in our churches!