Thursday, December 31, 2009

One Resolution


Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9

Recommended Reading
Hebrews 13:5-6

Today is the day when most people make up a list of New Year's resolutions— and splurge in anticipation of the rigors of the coming year. If the goal is to lose weight, they enjoy a final dessert. If the goal is to stop buying on credit, they make one final purchase using their plastic. And if the goal is to begin having a morning quiet time, they sleep in one last day.

Research shows that most New Year's resolutions are not kept in spite of our best intentions. Perhaps a better way to approach the New Year would be to have one goal: to be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). That means keeping short accounts when it comes to sin and listening for His guidance and appropriating His strength every day. It is likely that after a year of walking with the Spirit, much more change will have occurred than by trying to keep the most noble of human resolutions. Begin the New Year with the objective to live a Spirit-filled life—and see what will be accomplished in and through your life in the coming year.

One goal achieved by the power of the Spirit would be better than a multitude of unfulfilled good intentions.

He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Scriptures in his hands has all he needs.
Alexander MacLaren

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