All over the world, at the stroke of midnight, people are celebrating the start of a New Year.
It’s 2012!
Making New Year’s Resolutions isn’t my strongest suit and I think that can be said for many people around the world, who, with the best intentions, make New Year’s Resolutions, but by week two or three or hey, the next day, find themselves breaking those resolutions, before they know it.
However, over at the Internet Cafe Devotions, something caught my eye and what it was, wast that each month,an encouraging series to living life intentionally.
This not only reminded me of a sermon I heard from a pastor about living an intentional faith that is alive and growing and learning, but what is strive for, here, on Sunflower Faith….living….pursuing…intentionally….living faith in our Father in Heaven….not always perfect, but always, looking upward and forward.
The series, presented each month, by Lisa of “More to Be” , at the, Internet Cafe Devotions, was both intriguing, but is a great way to living a life of intentional and realistic biblical truths, that is about taking time, perseverance, humility and accountability to living a life on a better start.
This had me thinking about the the words from Isaiah as shared by a friend,
18 “ Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
(Isaiah 43:18-19, New King James Version)
Who among us, sometimes, find ourselves, constantly looking back, even though we tell ourselves, or others, that we wouldn’t or shouldn’t and instead of going forward, instead, like a broken record, relieving memories, feelings, hurts, bad habits, you name it, that keeps holding us back.
Instead of living life, we live broken records of the past.
With that in mind, in addition to participating in, “Living Intentionally”, some of the personal goals that I am hoping to accomplish for the year of 2012 as far as biblical growth has been the following:
photo credit: p_c_w
- Committing to better scripture memorization. Like many busy moms, this has often been the last thing that was on my mind, but with an accountability partner and scripture verses printed out to start out with, I’m hoping to truly being able to keep the words from Psalm 119:9-16 close to heart and keep our Father’s word at heart.
- Being realistic about reading through God’s word. It’s not a race to see how fast one can read through the bible, but how much of His word is committed to one’s life and understanding and even use. It’s so easy to say one thing and do another and maybe people fear of being seen as sanctimonious and in today’s world, knowing His word is not a “popular thing”, but following Christ is about a deep commitment to His word that doesn’t have a beginning and an end, but a constant journey of growth. There are plenty of great bible reading plans out there and part of finding what works, is finding what works for you and not just for everyone else. We all have different commitments and reading styles and not always a one size fits all, works for everyone; So don’t give up, find what works for you.
- Setting time aside for a realistic bible study and reading time. Be it ten minutes a day or an hour, we each have different priorities in our lives, but if we have time to watch t.v., read a magazine, or read a book or play video games, surely we can find at least ten minutes out of 24 hours, to sit down, read and and study His word. It can be anything from a short bible study that is five to ten minutes long, or really digging into His word itself or through a topical study….biggest thing is finding something that works individually and not just because everyone else is doing this week’s or month’s popular bible study. There is a great quote by John MacArthur that goes, “”God’s favorite instruments are nobodies, so that no man can boast before God. In other words, God chooses whom He chooses so He might receive the glory. He chooses weak instruments so no one will attribute the power to the instruments but rather to the God who wields the instruments. Those who pursue their own glory will sadly find God’s strategy unacceptable–and they’ll miss out on true glory and true joy.” Definitely something to think about.
So what about you?
It’s 2012.
What are your plans to try and live the start of a whole new year on a brand new foot?
Maybe new diet plan?
Maybe really taking hold on bad habits that you find are holding you back?
Share what your hopes and plans for the new year are in the comments!
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