Gtcotr/ws123009
Each New Year we are given another chance to make a resolution, start fresh, and begin again. So often the difference between those who encounter success and those who fail, is that those who are successful tend to take advantage of the opportunities they are given.
Wise people do take advantage of the chances they are given. Friday, January 1, 2010, will be your opportunity to make some needed changes in life. Never underestimate the power and affect of a decision.
People who make a commitment are 100% more likely to keep their commitment than people who never make a commitment at all. (That was meant to be funny but nonetheless it is true.)
Many people are commitment challenged. They remain reluctant to obligate themselves or pledge themselves for fear that they might fail. They never realize that where there are no definite goals, there are no definite winners. Commitments hold us true to our planned course.
Fear of failure will keep a person from making the very commitments that will help them succeed. Life is a battle and the battle in the mind and, the battle is for the mind.
Everyone has a tough day now and then. Everyone has something in life that concerns them, something that tries to control them through fear.
Jesus faced days like this: Days in which fear tried to get its ugly grip on His mind; Days in which the difficulties at hand consumed His time.
When Jesus was facing the most stressful situation of His life … the most difficult and harrowing decision He would ever encounter, He found strength. In doing so, He showed us how to handle our hard times. He overcame the fears which tried to capture His soul. He took His opportunity and what He did freed Him from the powers that were trying to control and ultimately defeat Him. What did He do? Look with me in:
Matthew 26
36 ¶ Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."
37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.
38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."
39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
Matthew 26
44 So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
45 Then He came to His disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.
46 "Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand."
Luke 22
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
This account gives us clear direction. What should we do? We should do what Jesus did. In troubled times remember the pattern.
1. We go to God
2. We get a Word from God
3. We do work for God
To God; From God; For God
We go to God in order to get something from God so that we can do something for God.
This will work providing we believe the truth that: God is Enough
If God is not enough, then things will never be any better.
If God is enough then - with Him, you will succeed.
We go to God in prayer, we go from God in Power, and we go for God in peace.
The peace comes with the confidence that we receive when we know we have gotten a word from God, (as long as we believe God is enough!)
So, let me suggest three New Year’s Resolutions for 2010
1. A Renewed Commitment to Prayer
* I will go to God in prayer
* I will pray every day in 2010
* I will pray when I pray – not lecture, not preach – pray!
* I will pray about every decision
* I will stop and pray before anger or excitement becomes my god
2. A Renewed Commitment to Power
* I will go from God in power
* Because I have a word from God
* I will leave prayer trusting God more than I trust myself
* A Scripture from the Bible will be my comfort and my courage
3. A Renewed Commitment to Participate
* Not a spectator, but a participator
* Confident in the grace which comes from God
This is the pattern Jesus demonstrated when He, in His troubled hour, went to God in prayer, got a word from God with peace, then got up and went forward for God in power. Jesus participated with power and peace.
Begin 2010 with a commitment to be more like Jesus.
