Hello again,
This post is a little off topic. I normally like to offer advice on how to make your Christian website more attractive, but today, I thought I’d do something a little different.
My Pastor asked me recently to bring a message to the congregation, which is always a big honor for me. I wanted to share here, what I shared with the church.
With the new year upon us, I believe we are all hoping for this year to be better than last year, at least I do. I don’t know about anybody else, but 2010 was a year I’d like to forget. The poor economy hit a lot of us hard. That is why I entered this new year with the hope that 2011 would be a year of increased blessings, peace, joy, abundance, etc.
Then, I realized the problem.
I was HOPING that this year would be better. I had my fingers crossed that 2011 would be different. I came to realize that HOPING was not going to change anything. Hoping, like dreaming, is good, but there comes a time when you have to wake up and take action to make that dream a reality.
What I shared with the congregation was that we have to do more than just HOPE.
We need to take action to make this year better.
That’s when I came up with my 10 New Year Resolutions to Have a Blessed 2011.
I’d like to dedicate the next ten post of this blog to these resolutions. These are promises that I’ve made to God for the coming year. I believe that by keeping these resolutions, He will in turn bring me a year that is more blessed.
The biggest part of this will be keeping these resolutions. As with most New Year Resolutions, after about a month of dedication, most of us slack off, and we find ourselves falling back into our old habits and routines. Then we wonder why things don’t change.
I’ll try to add a post every day for the next ten days, so if this has piqued your curiosity, keep checking back.
Ready?
Here we go!
Resolution Number 1: Eat More
I know what you’re thinking. “You want us to eat more, Sam? Isn’t that going against the most common New Year Resolution of eating less?”
Yes, you’re right, but I’m talking about eating more – spiritually.
Here’s what the Bible says:
John 6:32-35 (King James Version)
32Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
When I promised God to eat more, I was talking about getting more of Him and His Word into my life.
In this life, it’s so easy to get away from reading His Word or listening to a sermon or a message from a minister. The Word of God is our food.
What I told the congregation is that coming to church twice a week is not enough to get the adequate amount of spiritual nourishment. Just like our natural bodies need to eat every day, our spiritual bodies need daily feeding too.
If we fed our natural bodies two days a week, I told them, we wouldn’t die. We would be very weak, however. Our bodies wouldn’t be able to fight off an attack of a virus or an infection. We would get sick easier, and that could eventually kill us.
It’s the same with our spiritual bodies. If we don’t eat God’s Word on a daily basis, our spiritual bodies will be weak, and when the enemy comes to attack, we wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves. God’s Word is what we need to keep us spiritually fit.
So my first promise this year is to eat more – get more into God’s Word. I want to be better prepared to defend myself when the enemy shows up to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).
The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). I believe pleasing God is the first step to getting Him to move more in our lives. How do we get more faith? Again, the Bible says, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). So more Word=more faith. More faith=the more God is pleased.
What about you? Can you make the same promise with me? Let’s eat more this year, and we will see God make this year the most blessed ever!
Come on back tomorrow, and I’ll tell you my second New Year Resolution.
Thanks,
Blessed!
Sam
Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ickypic/