Have you made any resolutions this year? Have you already given up on carrying them out? I never make them because I know I won’t keep them. We all need encouragement at one time or another but especially at the onset of a new year. Here are ten thoughts to inspire you to get a good grip on making improvements in your life this year. You already know these, but if you do them, all your other resolutions or goals should fall into place.
Here we go…
1. Gather up all the negative events of the year now closing: its sins, weaknesses, and failures; its heartaches and griefs. All that filled your year.
2. Lay them at the foot of the Throne. Turn your back on them and leave them all there.
3. Stand bravely at the threshold of this New Year and expect to see it filled with amazing surprises and God’s promises.
4. Walk through the portal of the New Year unburdened, forgiven, and free.
5. Walk arm in arm with your Beloved Lord into the unknown of each new day.
6. Walk wherever the light of His will, love, and protection guide you.
7. Spend time each day leaning upon the breast of your Beloved.
8. Share with Him all your heart’s desires and disappointments, all your joys, and hurts, and He will share with you all His love, guidance, comfort, and peace.
9. “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Prov. 4:23 NLT) Guard against any influence that threatens to come between you and the Lord.
10. “Be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:19 NIV)
*And one extra: Crave the Lord’s will and be obedient to it.
**And most importantly: Praise the Lord no matter what! “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:18 NLT)
May the Lord’s shadow of forgiveness conceal the disappointments and troubles of the year behind you, while His light is cast as a beacon of guidance to His safe haven of the days yet to be explored.
May His hand be against your enemy and His peace reign all your days. May His servants Goodness and Mercy pursue you throughout the New Year.
Do you plan on making changes in your life in 2017? I’d love to hear about them. Let’s chat in the comments!
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Lynn, this is so wonderful and practical — words of clear-eyed realism shot through with deep faith in the mercy and goodness of God. Every new year, I re-read this poem that Elisabeth Elliot wrote when she was a girl:
Oh, Lord give me a quiet heart
That doesn’t need to understand,
But, confident, steps forward in the darkness
Guided by your hand.
Even when a new year is full of the unknown, I’m reminded that the hand of God all that I need to make every path as safe “as a known way.”
Oh, my! I’m humbled by your kind words. You have truly blessed me. And I love that wonderful poem. Thanks so much for sharing it. I need to save that one. And thank you for your comment. May the Lord bless your New Year outrageously with all you need! ❤
No resolutions… but good ideas and plans… plenty! Great post, thank you Lynn.
Oh, my sweet friend, thank you so much for your comment. I deeply appreciate you. Will wish you once again to have a New Year overflowing with all God’s goodness! ❤
Oh Lynn, just what I needed the start of this new year. Thank you friend for touching my heart with your words and helping me see how to start afresh this year. Tears of release, trust hope and even joy.
Oh, Kelly, I am so grateful to the Lord that He has touched your heart with these words. That so blesses me, you just don’t know! Thank you, dear one, for your comment. I pray the Lord fills you with a special touch of His Spirit and His presence throughout the New Year and tops it off hope and joy! ❤
Such wonderful insights and encouragement, Lynn. The only way to enter to New Year is to let go the baggage of the old… and how else can we, without confession and repentance of sin? And praise God, He wipes the slate clean and opens a pristine page for us to write our lives in 2017. Thank you so much for sharing something deeper than goal-setting.
Happy New year!
Lynn
Oh, yes, Lynn! So thankful for that Eraser! Thank you so much for your wonderful thoughts. May the Lord fill your New Year with the blessings of your heart’s desires! ❤