Get Ready…RESET…GO!

I love the imagery of a new year: each one of us are given the opportunity to reset, to begin fresh, to ponder where we lost our way and to reorganize our resolves…. yet another time. The New Year offers us a blank canvas on which God provides a colorful pallet and a variety of brushes with which to discover a lovely portrait of grace!

I was startled by a dear friend whose endless stream of grace only slow-dripped toward her own soul: “I no longer set New Year’s Resolutions (or goals) because every year I watch myself fail at keeping them. If I don’t set them, I don’t disappoint myself! ”

For me, the profound joy of stepping into a new year is that soothing opportunity to spread some gracious salve on my soul, facing the truth of what I didn’t accomplish while celebrating what I did accomplish. That salve allows me to humbly accept God’s endless forgiveness for the countless ways I squandered my days and failed to respond to His many promptings.  It reminds me to anchor my hope to His endless measures of strength, wisdom, vision and the many new opportunities to join His magnificent purposes.

Paul’s final words to the church of Corinth capture the final words I delight to leave you with as we close out 2014:

2 Corinthians 13:11-12 I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful, grow in maturity, encourage each other, live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you!

I can’t think of more fitting resolutions to frame the structure of our New Year:

• Be joyful ~ Let’s search for the valuable gifts hidden amidst the details of each day. Though abundant, they are often buried beneath the fragile veneer of contentment that only arouses itself amidst events, pleasant and peaceful. I would encourage the reading of Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts this year as one way to discover the art of joy within the mundane or  frantic moments of life.

 

• Grow in Maturity ~ Let’sre-prioritize our life to guard some vital space for personal growth. In what areas of your life do you feel a bit anemic or recognize you have grown stagnant? What would growth look like in that area? How will you carve out time to discover God in brand new ways? What activities in your life are time robbers to your personal growth?  Time and dollars spent in personal maturity are never wasted investments!  They will ALWAYS provide the diligent student with a fruitful harvest!

 

• Encourage Each other ~ Let’s look for opportunities within our family, friends, and community to be a source of joy and hope.   During your quiet time with the Lord, ask the Father to open your eyes to an opportunity to be a source of encouragement to an individual. Don’t dismiss the idea as insignificant.   Simple responsive acts of kindness will open greater doors of opportunity to encourage the  world around you.

 

• Live in Harmony and Peace ~ A wise woman builds her house but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1 Let’s seize the opportunity to build a lovely castle of strength, security, vision, hope, love, joy, laughter, forgiveness, grace, and patience within our homes as we make choices daily to respond with peace instead of with quarreling and strife.   Ask the Lord daily for his divine help in building the relationships that surround your life. Ask Him to set a guard over your lips to enable you to counter conflict in ways that promote harmony and peace.

I pray that you will experience this promised fruit that follows these four simple resolutions: Then the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Cor 13:12)

I am confident that beauty Awaits YOU in this New Year!

Patty

Anchor of Hope: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you All! 2 Corinthians 13:14

 

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(photo credit: visualphotos.com)