The
past year has been full of challenges as well as blessings, but what I am most
excited about in the coming year are the great things God is going to do. He has made so many promises that once again
we must expect lives to be changed and greater accomplishments to be made.
I
have a few thoughts on what makes a person great. These are generic. These are things I have found true and have
experienced from God. Therefore, you and
I have a choice. Will we prepare
ourselves to experience the best God has?
Or, will we wait, sit back and let others receive the blessings God
wants us to have?
Greatness
is a matter of choice. Choose God.
Colossians 3:2 NASB
Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Set
your mind. The mind is the place where
our will and our emotions find their root.
It is not about happiness. It is
about allowing the plan of God to take the most important place in our lives. Set your mind on God and on what will last
for eternity.
Great
people of faith set aside worry. Choose
prayer.
Don’t worry about anything;
instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all
he has done. Then you will experience
God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard
your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Our connection to God makes
our anxiety levels get smaller and smaller.
That is where our faith grows through the protection of God’s peace over
our hearts and our minds. Again, the
mind is where our will and emotions find their beginning. But it is the heart where our faith finds
it’s birth from God. What we feed is
what grows. Worrying less means our
faith will be fed and grow more in the New Year.
Great people serve other
people. Choose to serve.
Galatians 6:10 NLT
Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to
everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
There
are lots of opportunities. Be
watching. Choose those time when we can
do the most good for others. Why do we
have the resources we have? It is so we
can bless others. It is far easier to
hoard things than to give them away. It
is far more important to share with others and let God fill us with
blessings. Doing good points people to
what will last and to what matters just like how our choice of God and prayer
point us to the right places.
2015
will be a great year when we make much of our God. Choose His mercy.
Psalm 119:156 NLT
Lord, how great is your mercy;
let me be revived by following your regulations.
Those who understand forgiveness have had their lives radically changed
by God. His mercy takes us places that
we cannot go on our own. Mercy is
something that God gave us and that we can give to others. What I really like about this verse is the
connection of mercy and reviving. Mercy
revives people. When I receive God’s
mercy, I am revived, strengthened and grow closer to my God. When I share God’s mercy with others, they
are revived, strengthened and grow closer to God.
May God help all of us make the New Year the best possible by choosing
to focus on God, to spend time in prayers, to serve others and to contemplate
and share His mercy. Great things are
ahead. Are you ready for 2015?
Will you give? There is still time to make an end of the
year gift that can be credited to you for this tax year, please give online at THIS LINK before the end of today.
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