Daily Devotional For Sunday, December 31, 2023

Here we are on the cusp of a brand new year.  You are about to have a brand new 365 days to be different, to be more like Christ in the coming new year of 2024. I don't know what, if any, New Year's Resolutions (NYR) you will make, but I would like to offer a few suggestions:

• First, spend more time with your family. Most of us live in such a hectic and frantic lifestyles that by the time we get home, we are completely worn out.  Set goals or NYRs to spend individual time with each person in your immediate family. Just like time, so is family -- once gone, you can never get them back.
  • Look at 1 Timothy 5:8, "But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (ESV). T-I-M-E is one of the best gifts you can give your family. See T.I.M.E. with your family as: Tailored Intentional Meaningful Expressions of love. Time is the one gift you can never get back. If you do not provide time with your family, you are not providing for them. 
  • So what if you give them a house to live in, food to eat, clothes to wear and etc., but the question is: Do you give yourself to them? What our spouses need, what our children need, is us -- not some object or material possession. Even Jesus warned us about this in Matthew 6:19-21, “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. (20) Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. (21) Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be" (NLT).  Notice, what you treasure the most, is what your heart desires the most. 
  • How can you do this? Planned Family dinners! Yes -- dinners where the family sits down around the table and everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, share about their day, what they learned new, what they experienced and even what they would either do differently or not do at all or what would you want to do again? Also, what did God do in their life that day? This is T.I.M.E. -- Tailored Intentional Meaningful Expressions of love I mentioned above.
• Second, spend some time each day thanking God for all the blessings He has given you. Look at Colossians 4:2, "Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart" (NLT). We live in a culture of complainers and whiners. We live in the most blessed nation in the world and at times to hear us, an outsider might think differently. Look at Psalm 106:1, "Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever" (NL). Actress Doris Day once said this: "Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty." We all can choose to live in riches or poverty. Which one will you choose?
• Third, create a budget and stick to it. Everything we have is God's gift to us and what we do with it, is our gift to God.  Many people are living from hand to mouth these days. Look at these stats from this web site: 7 Stats Highlighting How Much Money Americans Waste on Nonessentials — Why We Do It and How To Stop:
  • 21%: the percentage of Americans who spend money on a self-storage unit in 2023, with 40% saying they use one because they don’t have enough space at home. Another 15% plan to use one in the future, according to reporting by StorageCafe.com.
  • 11.3 million tons: the amount of clothing thrown away each year in the U.S., equal to 85% of all textiles, or 81.5 pounds of clothing per person, according to Earth.org.
  • $18,000 per year: the amount Americans spend, per person, on nonessentials according to a survey by Ladder and OnePoll, as reported by Vox.
  • $3,768: the average cost of impulse buys individual Americans make each year, according to Christian Financial expert Dave Ramsey Solutions.
  • Some of you probably overspent for Christmas, but the bills will come either now or next month on those credit cards. I would suggest you use Dave Ramsey Financial Peace. Here is the direct link for you: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/ramseyplus/financial-peace/financial-peace-university-2?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADJkv4LUT_J66Bqn2tC1IBgNCmd6c&gclid=CjwKCAiAnL-sBhBnEiwAJRGigjcsbviXNnDj4p-f49NS1K5iEoOZZTxOPYfr8Ao1F9uaANFeOS7uRhoC3K4QAvD_BwE&gclid=CjwKCAiAnL-sBhBnEiwAJRGigmfvPWzDXdKtvww7awuworpBbeh4QghCB7QzqrP19JLfIKJVA5cNPRoCe58QAvD_BwE
  • Look at Ecclesiastes 5:10, "Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!" (NLT). Look at Proverbs 15:27, "The person who cannot budget and control their spending brings heartache to their family" (PAR). Even Jesus said this in Luke 14:28, "Don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if he has enough money to pay the bills?" (TLB). Look at Proverbs 27:23, Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds" (ESV). Look at Proverbs 21:20, "The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get" (NLT).
• Fourth, start getting some exercise. You don't have to join a gym. You can walk each day. It will be refreshing and help you stay healthy. Experts suggest a 30 minute walk per day. And if you walk with others, it turns it into an enjoyable social occassion. Or, you could play some music, or a podcast.
  • The Bible says this in 1 Corithians 6:19-20, "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, (20) for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body" (NLT).
  • Look at 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, "Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? (17) God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple" (NLT).
• Fifth, plan to learn or do something new in 2024. You can do this by reading books, or listening to podcasts or taking classes. Stretch yourself for the glory of God.
  • The Bible says this in Ecclesisates 3:1-5, "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (2) A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. (3) A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. (4) A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. (5) A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away" (NLT).
  • Look at James 5:11, "As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (NIV).
  • Look at Ecclesiastes 7:8, "Finishing is better than starting! Patience is better than pride!" (TLB).
  • Look at Isaiah 43:18-19a, "The Lord says, `Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. (19) Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it?'" (NCV). I pray you get the point. 
• Sixth, push yourself to grow in your relationship to Jesus Christ. Would God say the depth of your relationship to Him is deeper today than it was one year ago, 5 years ago or about the same? We have no idea how much God loves us and desires a relationship to and with us. 
  • Look at 1 Timothy 2:3-4, "God our Savior, (4) . . .  wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth" (NLT).
  • Look at Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me" (ESV).
  • Look at John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (17) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him" (ESV). Since God loves us this much, out of gratitude, our attitude should be to want to grow and nuture a relationship to Him.
• Seventh, get involved in a ministry at church. God did not save us us in order for us to sit, soak and saturate. Anything that does that for long rots and stinks. We should be what 2 Corithians 2:15 says, "Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing" (NLT).
  • Look at 1 Peter 4:10, "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace" (ESV).
  • Galatians 5:13, "Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (ESV).
  • Matthew 20:28,  Jesus said, "Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (ESV).
  • The Bible is very clear about this: the person who claims to be a Christians but does not serve the Lord is probably not saved at all.  Jesus said this in Matthew 7:20, "Thus you will recognize them by their fruits" (ESV).

It's a brand new year with all kinds of possibilities. Choose 2024 to be different for the glory of God. Let 2024 be the year your character becomes more like Christ's character. If you fear you may fail, then ask another committed disciple of Jesus Christ to be your accountability partner. Happy New Year 2024. If you are struggling with any of these, reach out to me or our Associate Pastor, Hunter Long. We will be glad to assist you with this. Trust the truth in Ephesians 3:20, "Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think" (NLT).

Scripture To Meditate On: Isaiah 43:18-19a, The Lord says, “Forget what happened before, and do not think about the past. (19) Look at the new thing I am going to do. It is already happening. Don’t you see it?" (NCV).

Prayer To Pray: "Dear Jesus, I am about to enter into a brand new year. I do not want 2024 to be a brand new year, but the same old person. I really do want to be different for You. I want to make You smile in 2024, not frown. There are many possibilities, so please guide me on how and what I need to do in 2024 to be that "new creation" you saved. When I die, I want to hear from you, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter now into your reward." If I need an accountability partner, lead me to someone to help me with this. I simply pray what Jesus prayed on the cross for my life, "Not My will, but Your will be done" (Luke 22:42b, ESV). In Jesus' name, Amen!"