Growing Spiritually in the New Year

A few years ago I decided to start writing out a plan to ensure I didn't end the year in the same place spiritually as I was when the year started.  Year by year, we might not notice a lack of spiritual growth in our lives.  

You'd be surprised how quickly the years can pass without having memorized one verse of scripture, without confronting a habitual sin in your life, without having shared the gospel with an unbeliever, without having experienced a point in your walk with God that lit a fire under you and caused you to live differently.

Instead of making "new year's resolutions" each year, I sit down with God and ask "How can I grow closer to you this year?"  By being intentional about setting goals to prioritize my relationship with God, I've found the result is growing in my relationships with my family and friends, as well.  Setting some spiritual goals for the next year also helps me ensure that there is fruit developing from my life each year instead of being a sponge that continues to soak it all in, but gives little out.

Here are some examples of a few of the spiritual goals that I've set through the years, many of which repeatedly stay on my list from year to year.  Try a couple of these, and maybe even come up with some of your own, so that you are one year closer to Christ—and to those you love—by the time next January rolls around:

1. Meet with God before anyone else in the morning.  Do you have a plan to meet with God first thing in the morning before anyone else?  It's one way of prioritizing Him above anything and anyone.  It's also a way of making sure you're at your best, emotionally, by the time you start interacting with your family.

2. Get into God's Word every day.  If you've owned a Bible for years but have never read the entire book, this is a great time to start.  There are several good resources available to help you read through the Bible in a year.  Try it in a different translation than you usually read.  Or, ask yourself where you want to be in your relationship with the Lord by the end of the year and then set tangible goals for getting there through study.

If you need to slow down and learn to listen for His voice, study all the Word says about "rest" or "hearing" or His "voice."  If there are character traits you know you need to work on, consider an in-depth study of some or all of the fruits of the spirit. (See Galatians 5:22-23)  Or, you can do as I do, and read at least 5 pages a day starting with Genesis all the way through to Revelation.  At that rate I can read the whole Bible in one year.

3. Participate in a weekly small-group Bible study or lead one among your friends and neighbors.  If you don’t go to a Bible study or a once-a-week Bible study group, either at church or in someone’s home, you’re missing out on a lot. We can grow at a faster rate in community because we are able to share our experiences with one another and hold each other accountable.  I believe it will help you grow closer to the others, but most of all, you’ll grow closer to God by loving His other children.

4. Create a prayer journal. Record your blessings and answered prayers.  For some reasons this has been the most difficult for me.  You don’t need any fancy, leather bound journal book to make your own prayer journal.  All you need is a pen and a single notebook.  Write the date and day of the week somewhere at the top. Next, in the far left, write the person’s name or issue. Then write out the problem and the prayer request.  

What happens is that over time, you’ll look back at people you were praying for, the problems they had, and what the prayer request was, and it will show you just how good God is.   By writing out these types of things, you will not only be more keenly aware of how God is working in and through your life, but you will become a person who is able to "…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

5. Pick a verse reflecting a theme for the year.  The psalmist gave us good cause to memorize Scripture when he wrote, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11)  There are two things he is saying, I will hide God’s Word in my heart (memorizing it, for example) and do it in order that “I might not sin against you.”  That’s what this verse means.  Sin can help keep you out of the Bible, but the Bible can help keep you out of sin.

Make some of these action points a priority in your life this coming year and hopefully, by the end of 2019, you'll not only be another year older in your body, but another year older in your faith and walk with Christ.

How will you grow in your faith and walk with God this next year?

Can God change your life?

God has made it possible for you to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.

Discover how you can find peace with God.

A Christmas Thought

One of the people who gets eclipsed during Christmas is Joseph. This man is the person God chose to be the earthly father of Jesus.  Admittedly there is very little that the Bible tells us about Joseph, but what God’s Word does say might give us a bit of insight into the people God wants us to be.

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:18-19)

The Bible tells us that Joseph was a “just” or “righteous” man.  Noah is said by God to have been a “just” man who was perfect in comparison to the wicked people of his generation, and he also walked with God in close fellowship as Enoch had done (See Gen. 6:9).  In other words Matthew is saying that Joseph was a true believer in God and would have been careful to obey the law of God.

In a predominantly religious culture, such as Israel was at this time, it was very important to look like a righteous person, to follow the Law.  For Joseph to be called a righteous man means that he was zealous for God’s Law.  While he may not have had in-depth theological training a Pharisee like the Apostle Paul would have, he would know what the law said and would follow it to the best of his ability.

I also think it’s important to have an understanding about first-century Jewish marriages which may help clarify these verses.  Various texts translate the key words of this passage differently.  The NIV describes them as “pledged” to be married, the NASB uses the term “betrothed,” while the KJV says Joseph was “espoused” to Mary.  

No matter how you translate it, it’s important to note that the bond between Mary and Joseph at this time was contractual, not merely social, as would be the case when talking about “engagement” in our day. That is, espousal/betrothal/pledged constituted the legal contract and commitment of marriage.  What we call the wedding was the time when the bride and groom were accompanied by friends and feasting to celebrate the occasion of actually joining their households.  

So, to put it simply, what we call engagement was more like their marriage, and what we call the wedding was the time when they actually moved in with each other.  For all intents and purposes, then, Mary and Joseph were married but had not yet moved in with each other or consummated their union.  Therefore the great distress of finding that Mary was already pregnant.

And the Old Testament Law is very clear on what is to happen to a person caught in adultery, they were to be stoned.  The evidence of a pregnant Mary told Joseph that she had been unfaithful, and a righteous man would want to make sure the Law was obeyed.

On this side of Jesus we have a different understanding of what it means to be righteous, therefore, it is hard for us to picture a righteous man as one who would allow such an inhumane act to take place.  The reality is that the early readers of the Gospel would have understood very well what the Law required and what it meant to be righteous.  This is exactly the place I think we can catch the best glimpse of why God chose Joseph to be the father of Jesus, the person who would have the greatest responsibility in teaching Him about the Law.

Joseph knew the Law and the penalty which it demanded, but he also had compassion.  He was not going to subject the woman he loved to public ridicule, but neither could he accept her infidelity.  He would allow her to going on living, but Joseph would not let her become his wife.  Joseph’s compassion was greater than the immediate satisfaction of the legal requirements.  

What can we learn from Joseph’s dilemma or Mary’s dilemma?  Certainly it is that God can and sometimes does place us in difficult situations that are not the result of our own doing.  However, as we will later see, He does so within His will and not without providing us with a choice that will honor Him.

I do think it’s important to imagine the distress that would have consumed Joseph (and Mary if he made his intentions known to her).  We’re accustomed to thinking about the beauty and wonder of the birth of Jesus, and that’s appropriate.  But let’s not forget the upset, sense of betrayal, disappointment, and a host of other emotions that Joseph must have experienced, or the fear and hurt that Mary would likely have also felt as they sorted out their divinely complex relationship.

How do you respond to tough decisions?  Will you sort out the options and choose that which honors and glorifies God even if it doesn’t make sense to you or turn the event in your favor?  Joseph is a wonderful and often overlooked example of such a response.

God also sees our infidelity, which is real, unlike Mary’s, and He has compassion on us.  He doesn’t want to see us publicly disgraced and go through the agony of Hell.  Instead God suspends the immediate requirements for justice and allows us to go on living. 

We deserve death, but God allows us to live through Jesus Christ!

Can God change your life?

God has made it possible for you to know Him, and experience an amazing
change in your own life.

Discover how you can find peace with God.