A Promising New Year

The beginning of every new year find us reflecting on the last year and promising ourselves that the new year will not be like the old. Promises that we will do more for God, spend more time with family, laugh more, take life a little slower, get our finances in order, and make a greater effort to say "I love you" more often. Oh, I almost forgot the promise of losing the weight that we gained from the holiday meals of turkey, dressing, ham, green bean casserole, potato salad and the host of pies and cakes we couldn't resist.

We start out every year with the right mind set and determination but somewhere in the course of the year it fades. We loose sight of the promises and goals we have set and sometimes excuse ourselves by saying they were to ambitious from the start. I said this year I would not make new promises or goals as I had not accomplished those from last year.

We have a saying in church that the race is not given to the swift, neither to the strong but to those that endure unto the end. Most often we start off strong but loose the faith, hope and determination we need to make it to completion. There are a few things that God through the Holy Spirit has made me aware about myself. I have need of patience, followup, follow through and consistency. I have found that it is not just me that struggle with these principle elements of success but most of us. See we live in a microwave kind of generation and believe that instant gratification is the norm and a must. But how many of you know that the Christian walk is just the opposite of the world prospective and most things in God take time and faithfulness on our part. Now I bless God for Jesus and His knowing our frailties and shortcomings and not holding them against us. He continues to remain faithful to us no matter what.

Ask God to assist you in completing those things that you have not completed and show you your weak areas as we all have them. Take those weakness to Him in prayer and watch Him make them strengths. There is so much to and will be accomplished this year. He calls us to assist Him in His work. There are many promises He has spoken in and over our lives and He will hasten His word to perform them. And perform them He will!!!!