Are You Ready To Cross The Threshold Into 2019 Committed To God and Committed To Change?

In order to make a New Year’s Resolution, you must first understand what resolution means.   A resolution is a firm decision “to do” or “not to do” something.   It is a commitment.   It is something that is done on purpose with purpose.   So when we say we are making a New Year’s Resolution, we are in essence saying that we have made up in our mind and we are committed to change the way we have been doing things.    

Today is December 31st and many people are saying with their mouth what they are going to change in 2019.   They are saying the things they are going to quit doing and they are saying the things that they will do but what everyone must understand is, true change takes commitment.   When you are truly committed to something, you are dedicated, devoted, obligated, and faithful to it.   You are not easily sidetracked because you know the purpose behind what you are doing.    So to say the least, you can’t allow what the world is doing, whether it be family, friends, co-workers, or others to cause you to get off track and fail to keep your commitment to God and to yourself.   

So as we get ready to cross this threshold into 2019, take a moment to think about what you want to change in this new year and why.    It is the “why” that you will need to reference when things get tough.  In other words, you will need remember the reason for the change you are trying to make.   Without a purpose, there will be no true commitment.   You have to know why you are doing what you are doing so that what you are doing is being done with purpose on purpose.    

Change is never easy.   It is hard to break a routine but it is not impossible.   God wants to bless you.   He wants to do more than you have ever imagined in your life.   He wants you to see Him as your source, resource, and strength.   He is ready and willing to help you in every way possible.   He just wants you to be committed.   Your first level of commitment needs to be to God and He will help you to accomplish everything else that needs to be done in your life.    

Enter into this new year committed.   Be committed to God and committed to change.    Walk in faith and cast down fear.    Do things God’s way and watch Him move in your life like never before.   

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

1 Kings 8:61 

New International Version (NIV)

61 And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”

How Are You Prioritizing Your Life?

What are your priorities in life?   Is God first?   Is your family second?  Or are you just going with the flow.   Are you being swept away by the ways of the world and doing what the world does?    Do you run to God just because you know that there is safety in Him or do you just run to Him when a problem arises?   

The Bible tells us that there is safety in God.   It tells us to come to Him and to call on Him.   It tells us to dwell with Him.   To dwell means to take up residence and to make your abode in Him.   We have to stop trying to live outside of God’s Word and will while expecting Him to shield and protect us.    We have to do all we can to live within the parameters He has set. 

So as we go into this next year, we need to make sure we have our priorities right.   We need to make sure that God is first.   When we put Him first, that means we are striving to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him.   We are striving to live according to His Word and we are doing our best to be His representative here in the earth.    After God, we need to understand the importance of family.  Cherish the family God has given you and refuse to let your job, your friends, or anything else come between you and God or the family God has given you.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Matthew 6:33

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” 

Do You Realize When You Stand On God’s Word He Will Back Up Your Words? Are You Making Sure You Are Identifying Yourself With The Things Of God and Not The Ways Of The World?

We live in a world today where everyone wants to say that everything is okay but everything is not okay.   It’s not okay to live your life any kind of way.   It’s not okay to use your mouth to just say just anything.   It’s not okay to identify yourself with the things that God has already said are an abomination.   Everything is NOT okay to do.    

As we read God’s Word, we understand that He has been very clear about the difference between right and wrong.   He identified the difference between good behaviors and bad.   He identified the difference between things which are acceptable and things that are not.   God has been very clear about what we should do and should not.    

We have to let go of the worlds way of doing things.   That includes the worlds way of thinking.    We have to take a stand for what is right and we cannot be intimidated by what someone else things about that stand.    When we take a stand for what God says is right, we have to understand that at that point God has our back.    He is our rearguard.   He is One backing up our words because we are standing on His Word.    

God doesn’t want us vacillating between what is right and wrong.   He wants us to be steadfast and immovable.   He wants us to be sure.   He wants us to represent Him well through the things we say and do.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

1 Corinthians 15:58

King James Version

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 

What Are Your Words Influencing The Environment and The People Around You To Do?

Are you talking just to be saying something or are you speaking words on purpose with purpose?   You have got understand the power of your words.   God said in His Word that every idle word that we speak, we shall give an account for.   When something is idle, it is without purpose or effect.   It is pointless and sometimes when we speak, we say things that are pointless and without value.  When something is pointless, it doesn’t make sense, it has no use, and it is without purpose.   

Understand the power of words.  It was with words that God created the heaven and the earth.   He spoke things into existence.    It was because of words, Adam and Eve was led astray.   Words carry within them an influential power.   The power to influence things to change.   To influence means to have an affect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something.    How many times have you allowed someone else’s words to influence your behavior?   Better yet, how many times have you used your words to influence someone else’s behavior.   

Words carry within them the power to cause people, places, and things to change.  The power of your words may be laying dormant when you speak them but at some point, someone may bring into their remembrance what you said to them or about them.   Make sure you are speaking life at all times.   MAKE SURE THERE IS A POSITIVE PURPOSE BEHIND EVERYTHING YOU SAY.   Don’t be the one who continuously confesses negativity over your own life or anyone else’s life. 

God has given you the power in your mouth to encourage yourself and others.   He has given you the power to speak forth change.   He has give you the power to build someone up, so make sure you are not tearing them down.   He has given you the power to speak and to call those things that be not as though they were.   Use the power that He has given you wisely.

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life [are] in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Ephesians 4:29 - Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers

God Has Called You Out Of Darkness ... Are You Allowing The Light Of His Word To Light Your Path?

Is the Word of God a lamp and a light unto you?   Are you allowing it to light your path?   The thing about going down a path is that it can be dark.   When you walk in the dark, you really can’t see where your feet are or what you are treading in or upon.   You can’t see what is before you and you can’t see what can jump out at you or even what may come up behind you.   Are you allowing the Word to light your path or have you grown accustomed to walking in the dark.   

God’s Word is light.   It dispels darkness.   In other words it overcomes darkness.   It has the power within it to show you the way that you should go but it is up to you to turn on the light of God’s Word so that you can see clearly.     

It is not God will for you to continuously walk in darkness.   It is His desire for us to see and know what’s is before us.   He was direct in saying that He has given us the power to tread upon serpents but if you walk in darkness, you can’t see those things that you should be treading upon.   Instead of treading upon the enemy, when we walk in darkness, we give the enemy the advantage and the power he needs to overtake us.    

So read and know God’s Word.   Let it enlighten and empower you.   Let it be the light in your life that God created it to be.    

SCRIPTURE MEDITATION 

Psalm 119:105 

King James Version

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.