Can you See Tomorrow?

It is the new year, and we are taking the next two weeks to look at what we should be looking forward to. There’s two ways to take that statement, Aren’t there?

/ / What are you looking forward to?

It either means, what are you excited for? What are you anticipating? Like, I’m really looking forward to that. It’s a statement that’s sort of easy to say.

And then there’s, I am looking forward, toward something, in a particular direction with a particular purpose to get a particular result. And that is where we will be focusing today.

The bible says in Proverbs 29:18, / / When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

What is guidance? It’s direction, it’s instruction on which way to go, how to get to somewhere. Can you guide me? Can you give me some guidance...

Listen to how other translations says it…

The KJV says, / / Where there is no vision, the people perish…

ESV, / / Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint…

And the CEV says, / / Without guidance from God law and order disappear…

Essentially, this verse is saying this. / / If you aren’t looking forward with intent, you won’t reach your goal. If you haven’t decided where you are going to look, something else is going to get your attention and you won’t get what you truly desire.

We have a saying, Idle hands are the devils playground… Basically saying the same thing. If you haven’t decided what you are going to do, you are saying you’re open to doing anything.

If you know me you know I’m a fan of Dave Ramsey, who started a financial training course called Financial Peace University. And one of his concepts, that has become the name of one of their budgeting app is what he calls “every dollar”. If you don’t give every dollar a place to go, someone else will.

Someone, something, life itself, is just waiting to give your time, money, energy and attention something to occupy it. So when we don’t choose to intentionally give ourselves a purpose, we are opening ourselves up to what Proverbs 29:18 warns us of, running wild, casting off restraint, or even as far as perishing…

Think of it this way, it’s like going on a trip without knowing where you’re going, and because you don’t have a destination, a map is kind of pointless, so you’re left sort of just wandering. Now, that’s fine for a fun afternoon. “Hey, let’s just hit the road and head to the keys and see where we end up.” But in life, without a purpose, without a destination, without a map, we end up wandering from one thing to the next.

In my experience, when we don’t have a plan, we become complacent over time, and as we become complacent we care less and less, and eventually come to a point of lethargy. And a lot of times we don’t even realize it’s happened. They say you can boil a frog by putting them in a pot of cold water and slowly turning up the heat. If you put a frog in a boiling pot of water it will jump out right away, but if you slowly increase the temperature over time, it won’t even realize what you’re doing.

And the longer we sit in that place of complacency, it’s like our emotional, psychological, even spiritual muscles get almost atrophied, and dulled to the point of numbness.

We even say that, don’t we? Of people that have kind of given up, / / they’re numb. Or when we have spent a long time avoiding emotions, we say we have become numb.

What is / / numb? by definition is deprived of the power of sensation, to deprive of feeling or responsiveness.

This is what Proverbs is talking about. Without a vision, without a purpose, without a direction, we become numb, and numbness leads ultimately to suffering. The bible says those without vision perish, or really, we suffer the consequences of not having vision.

So, this week and next week we are going to start this year off right with looking at what it means to have some vision, both from a personal perspective, and from what makes community happen.

Now, this can be dangerous. I would caution anyone who steps up to pray a prayer such as, “God give me vision, I don’t want to perish in my lack of purpose...”

At the end of 2020 and going into 2021 we did a 2 week series called “Crossing Over” where we looked at the need to leave behind the old, and embrace the new. I would encourage you, if this is resonating with you at all, go onto our youtube channel and look up that series. I was going through the notes this past week again and for myself I need to go back and listen to them, because it sets us up for taking steps to experience the life God has for us.

In fact, we have redone our sermons on our website in a great way that makes things really easy to find. You can go to our website, cutlerbayworship.org and click on sermons, and in the search just type ‘crossing over’ and it will come up.

I remember saying at the end of 2020, “I just don’t want to continue with the same frustrations, I don’t want to continue in the same brokenness and issues.” And 3 weeks later I found myself in Addiction Recovery meetings…

It begs the questions:

/ / Do we really want to be free?

/ / Are we willing to do what it will take to experience life?

Sure, we don’t want the effects of our bad habits, of our way of life. We don’t want to continue being stuck in the same ol’ ways. But are we willing to make the hard choices to see something change?

The sad reality is: / / Everyone wants change, but most are unwilling to actually change to experience the change they want...

I read an article in the Harvard Business Review this past week, where they outlined a bunch of different reasons people resist change so much. We don’t always like change, do we? In fact, I think if most people are honest, they would admit they don’t like change at all…

When faced with change we are faced with:

/ / Loss of Control

This is the very focus of the gospel, isn’t it? Jesus says if you desire to follow me you have to give up your control by denying yourself, your desire, your wants, and trust that He knows best! But that’s scary, isn’t it? We feel like we’re giving up something that has been keeping us safe.

/ / Uncertainty

Most of the time change requires us to do something we haven’t done before. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, which means the the other side of change is doing something new, something different… and that brings a level of uncertainty that most resist.

/ / Unwanted Surprises

Change when we don’t intentionally embrace it can end up being imposed on people in a moment of final desperation.

I realized this a few years ago, the word / / Discipline is a very interesting word. We use it in two different ways.

/ / Discipline - the practice of training ourselves to obey rules or a code of behavior. Someone lives a disciplined life...

We show discipline in going to the gym everyday. We exhibit discipline by eating healthy, by making the right choices. And the more disciplined we are, the more we see the change we want.

But we also have a different definition of discipline

/ / Discipline - the punishment or consequence of not following the rules or code of behavior

And I realized that / / if we do not choose to live disciplined lives our lives will end up disciplining us. If I choose to forfeit the discipline I have learned throughout this past year with food I will very very quickly experience very high blood glucose levels that will cause my body to act and react in many very dangerous and life threatening ways.

The discipline, or consequence of my inaction or bad action, becomes the very thing I could have avoided if I had chosen to discipline myself.

My own actions of ignoring what I should do end up disciplining me.

A lot of times these things surprise us, we get to a point where we absolutely have to change, the Dr. telling us if we don’t change we will die, if we don’t fix this, we will suffer dire consequences, if we don’t change our spouse will leave us, if we don’t adapt our relationship with our kids won’t get better, it will get worse. If we don’t fix our behavior our boss will have no option but to let us go. etc…

And we don’t like surprises...

/ / Creatures of Habit

When things get different we get thrown off, out of the loop, out of sync. We are creatures of habit, and we don’t always adapt well. And so when we experience too much difference we want to walk away. Change means to do something different, but it brings up questions, can I handle it? Will I know how? We are faced with our fears of failure and fears of not being enough. And thats a big one!

/ / Fear

Fear of failure, fear of change, fear of it being too hard, fear of not measuring up.

I realized at the end of 2020 I was so afraid of failing again that I was actually choosing to do nothing. That’s why I hired a life coach in the first place, because I was so frozen in my own fear that I needed help to see some truth.

My belief was if I know I’m going to fail, why even start? Wow, talk about a sad state of being!

/ / Dealing with the Deeper Issues

This could easily be linked to fear, although I think fear itself is behind all of these things. But lets look at this specifically, to change we need to deal with the reasons we ended up where we were in the first place. To change we need to come to grips with what made us the way we are, and why we need to change.

It means being willing to give up resentments, anger and judgement. It means embracing forgiveness, honesty and transparency.

It means being willing to leave the old behind and embrace the new.

Remember Israel when they left Egypt? They had been enslaved for 400 years, the mentality was so engrained in who they were as a people. So, what was their big problem? Being physically free but not knowing how to live free. They were free in body, but had to also pursue becoming free in their minds and hearts. And until they were able to embrace the freedom in their minds they were unable to truly experience the promises that God had for them in their lives.

So, this morning let’s make the decision to leave these things behind. Loss of Control, Uncertainty, Unwillingness to live disciplined lives, fear of the challenge, fear of the change itself, fear of failure, and not wanting to deal with our past and the things that hold us back.

And let’s decide instead to embrace change, embrace trust, faith, hope and the promise of God’s love that he would lead us and guide us in truth and freedom.

So, this week we are looking at four areas of our lives that we need to embrace change in to set ourselves up for success. It’s almost inevitable that at the beginning of the year we ask ourselves, / / What can I do better? What do I need to change? What do I want out of this new year?

Do we have new years resolutions? Do we make new goals? How do we want to see our new year turn out by the end?

And if I’m honest, I struggle with setting goals. I struggle with making a concrete goal or writing it down, or even speaking it out because I still struggle with a fear of failure. I don’t want it there, so that’s why I force myself to do it, because I don’t want to live in this fear of not achieving, or not succeeding, or not finding the life God has for me. And I don’t want to leave it up to chance. The Bible says that faith without works is dead. I can’t just say, “I believe God wants me to be healthy”, and not back that up with living a life that will produce health!

James 1:22 says, / / But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

What’s he saying? He’s saying what Proverbs is saying, You can know a place exists, but if you don’t make it your destination, don’t actually embrace the vision, the truth, the direction, you’ll stumble around, not doing what you know to do. It takes intentional effort!

So, this week we are looking at / / making ourselves a priority. That may be new for some of you. That may be something you’re not used to, or something that feels selfish.

Some of you need to hear this. / / It is OK to focus on yourself.

In fact, it is irresponsible to deny what you need, even at the expense of serving others. I’m talking about needs here, not wants. I’m talking about looking after you. Making sure you are healthy. Making sure you are looked after. Making sure you are getting what you need. It’s not selfish, it’s wisdom.

Kelley and I learned this a long time ago. / / If I am not ok for me, I won’t be ok for you. If I don’t learn to look after myself, as much as I try to look after you, it will decline and decline until I can’t do it, OR until I am so resentful that I walk away.

Prioritize YOU.

So, if you want to succeed and experience the life that Jesus promises, you need to seriously and intentionally make some focused movements.

First area of your life you need to prioritize in 2022:

/ / 1. Spiritual Health

This is an absolute must. There is no way around it. If you want to experience life you must follow after the one who is life Himself, Jesus Christ.

Paul writes to his protege Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:7-9, / / …train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, BUT training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it.

The first call of the christian is not to evangelize, it is to follow. You have to BE a disciple before you can MAKE disciples. Remember, the word disciple simply means someone who is learning. A student. A follower of the way!

So, first things first, we have to commit to this. Jesus says in Matthew 16:24-26, / / If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

That word soul, it’s the greek word / / psyche… it means your soul, your life, your mind, heart…the core of who you are. More literally breath, or spirit. Is anything more important than the eternal you that makes you you by the gift of God for your life? Is anything more important than that?

/ / To get to know the creator of your soul is to get to know the true nature of your soul itself because you were made in His image!

The best way to understand who YOU are is to understand who made you.

We have also looked quite a bit recently at this idea of willful self-denial. Jesus did this in the garden, not my will, not my desire. Yes, Jesus had his own desire, but he gave up that desire for the desire and the will of His Father. We are called to the same. If you want to follow after Jesus, you need to give up your own way. CHOOSE to follow, intentionally.

John 14:6, Jesus says, / / “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me...”

He’s the only way. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life we are looking for. He is the only way to experience the eternal kingdom of God our Father. To believe in Jesus Christ.

So, what’s it look like in 2022 to prioritize our Spiritual health?

Well, we just finished our 2021 Bible Reading Plan where we read through the bible in a year. In fact, we read the Old Testament once, New Testament twice, and if you stuck with it you read Proverbs 12 times.

My guess is some of us got into certain parts of the Old Testament and thought, “wow, this is too weird...” and gave up. Or maybe it was, “Ya, I don’t understand this...” and as a result, “Maybe this isn’t for me.”

That’s ok, In fact I think it’s really good and healthy to ask questions. I grew up in a church where I didn’t feel like I was allowed to question. I felt like to question meant doubt and doubt meant lack of faith, which was not ok. But I think question is one of the healthiest things we can do. In fact, I think if we aren’t asking questions we’re not truly loving God the way Jesus explained we should.

When asked what the greatest commandment, or instruction for our lives is, Jesus answered in Mark 12:30, / / …you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.

That word mind is your understanding, it means to think deeply. You can’t think deeply without questioning. Anything you’re not allowed to question is simply control, and we know that God is not a god of control, but a God of free will. We get to choose to believe, choose to follow, and question is part of that process. Exercise the mind, the heart & the soul in your relationship with God!

And when it comes to the Bible, just try again. Or change your focus. Listen, I’m 39 years old. My mom led me to pray when I was just 4 years old to accept Jesus as the savior I needed in my life. I grew up in church, I have been deeply involved, started on the worship team when I was 8 years old, and I’ve been involved in the process of church work and ministry for nearly 20 years as the primary focus of my life. You want to know how many times I’ve read through the entire Bible in a year?

Once. This past year. Oh sure I’ve started a dozen or more times, but I’ve completed it once.

Spiritual exercise is just like physical exercise, it’s not about getting it perfect all the time, it’s about simply getting to it. It’s about trying and not giving up. It’s not about understanding it all the time, or wanting to do it all the time, it’s about making it a priority.

Did I want to wake up all 365 days this past year, post on facebook what the days reading was and then sit and read it myself. Honestly. No, I didn’t want to do that everyday. I would have much rather slept in some mornings. But I made it a priority. And I’m glad I did. I feel more connected because of it. I had times with God I enjoyed. It became a part of my life that I love. And I’m not giving it up. The longer I did it the easier it got. The more I looked forward to it. It became a part of my routine, my habit, a part of my day that sets up my day!

Now, I’m going to do it a bit different this year, and you can join me on that if you want. Or, on our website I’ve changed 2021 Bible Reading plan, to simply, “Bible Reading Plan”, and you can go ahead and start at the beginning. If you didn’t make it, try again, if you fail, don’t worry, it’s not about perfect, it’s about movement. It’s about forward motion. It’s about NOT giving up!

Personally, I’m going to slow down a bit, read a little less, but study more. Take smaller portions, and read some commentaries, and studies on the scripture, look a little deeper into what is being said, not just reading it. Listen, there’s no right way. Just make a choice to commit to moving forward.

Second exercise in your Spiritual health to focus on in 2022 is / / prayer & worship, or personal connection with God. I believe, not just because I’ve read it, but because I’ve experienced it, that God is a relational God. He is not a God who sits on his thrown demanding absolute servitude and nothing else. He is a God who gave everything of himself, so that we, who could offer nothing to him, would receive all of him, and be connected to him forever. If God wants us with him for all eternity, why would he ignore us now? It’s not in his nature. His desire is to connect with you.

Psalm 46:10 says, / / Be still and know that I am God.

Simply put. Stop striving, stop fighting, take some time to simply rest and connect with God.

The CEV says it this way, / / Calm down and learn that I am God!

The Good News Translation says, Stop fighting and know that I am God.

Prayer is conversation. Worship is adoration. Being and building connection is the goal. And sure it’s a bit different than calling a friend and going out for coffee and seeing them face to face, but it’s not so different than that because God uses the quiet, the still and the moments to connect with us.

Sometimes we make all of this more complicated than it is. Think about it, if I want to connect with a friend I contact them, set up a time, make sure it’s in my calendar so I don’t forget, and then when the time comes I make sure that I’m there, with no distractions. I don’t keep working or doing something else, I simply focus on the person I’m with. I talk, and I listen. I have conversation, I enjoy their presence.

And if it’s Kelley, sometimes we simply sit and enjoy each other’s company. No words even need to be said.

Connect with God in the exact same way. Take time, don’t try to do something else, invite Him to spend time with you and talk to him, and take time to listen for His voice.

And invite him IN to your life. Going for a walk? Ask God to be with you. Doing the dishes? Start a conversation. Have a hobby you can simply commune with God while you’re doing it? I feel the pleasure of God when I’m doing some woodwork.

And we have resources you can use to learn what that can look like. But again, its not about perfect, it’s about doing it!

Alright, continuing dedication to your spiritual health in 2022, / / make church a priority. Yup. It’s true. Some say, “I can be a christian without going to church...” Sure, but you’re missing out. “But the church hurt me…the church doesn’t understand me… the church is just an institution… it’s not perfect...” Ain’ that the truth! And that’s not right that you’ve been hurt, and that should never have happened, and I’m deeply sorry that it did, and I wish it hadn’t happened.

The church is made up of people. And the church doesn’t exist without the people. And the church is the body of Christ and without all of us, we’re just not what we are meant to be.

Hebrews 11:24-25 says, / / Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Can’t motivate and encourage each other without being around each other, right?

Listen, the reality is, and we can’t get away from it, the church is made up of people, which means you may get misunderstood, hurt, neglected or rejected at some point. Church isn’t going to be perfect because it’s made up of a whole bunch of imperfect people. I said this last week, and I believe it with my whole heart. I would rather be a part of a community that is committed to learning how to be a better community, than just give up and not be a part of one at all.

Let’s grow together rather than think we need to wait until something is perfect before we jump in. And maybe you know someone that needs you to say that to them. Maybe they need to hear that.

We need each other, and there are people who need us because the church is a pretty big part of God’s plan for this earth. We are an extension of God’s love to people around us. And when we are able to motivate each other to good works, and encourage each other in community, people experience the love of God that we ALL need so desperately.

/ / Part of your spiritual health in 2022 will be linked to your decision to commit to the body of Christ.

The last area I’ll focus on this morning when it comes to your spiritual health is to / / live righteously. That’s where we started in 1 Timothy, ...training for godliness is better than physical training.

/ / What is godliness?

It’s righteous living, it’s doing what is right. Not by the worlds standard, but by God’s standard. It’s making the decision to live our lives in a way that honors God and aligns with His standard for life. Integrity, honesty, righteousness, kindness, love, following His instruction. These things matter. Romans 6:16 says, / / …you can CHOOSE to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

This takes some learning. What does it mean to live righteously? What is doing the right thing in God’s eyes? That’s why I started with reading the bible, and prayer & worship. When we make God a priority he leads us. Proverbs 3:6 says, / / In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.

In ALL your ways, ACKNOWLEDGE or give recognition to, consider His thoughts and intentions in your situation, and as we allow Him to be involved He can direct us. And as He directs us, we can make the CHOICE to follow His ways above our own. Remember, James 1:22 says it’s not good enough to just read or know the word of God, but we have to follow it, otherwise we’re just fooling ourselves.

So, make the decision to live your life righteously before God. Be a Godly person. Again, this isn’t about perfection, it’s about honoring God with our lives. It’s about following after him which leads to the life he wants for us, and I can assure you that the life that God wants for you is WAY more amazing than the life you can imagine for yourself. It might be way different, but it’s going to be better. He is the one who has far more in store for us than we could ever hope or imagine. He is better than we can dream. He is kinder than we could understand. His ways and his thoughts are just too amazing for us to truly get in this life. Choose to follow Him and make Him your priority this year.

Like I read from 1 Timothy, our spiritual health is the MOST important, so we spent the most time on that, but how your 2022 turns out will also depend on you dedicating and focusing intentional living in other areas of your life.

/ / 2. Physical Health

Paul says that our spiritual health is MORE important than our physical health, BUT, doesn’t disregard our physical health. Again, this comes down to, if you’re not ok for you, you’re not going to be ok for anyone else. You are either able to help others, or end up needing help.

If you have health issues, if you have a little extra weight, if you have some bad habits, you’ve probably been told more times than you want that you need to change… And I don’t want to be just another voice lost in the echos of undesired advice, BUT, I truly believe that this is absolutely necessary if you desire to experience the LIFE that Jesus offers you.

Jesus said in John 10:10, / / My purpose is to give [you] a rich and satisfying life.

But, he also said, / / …the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (Matthew 7:14)

So, we need to make some decisions here. I said earlier the oddity of the word discipline. It’s fascinating to me. I either choose to live a disciplined life, or my inaction or poor choices will end up being the very thing that disciplines me.

I had to make some seriously difficult decisions in 2021, but I am grateful I did, and you all know, I’m quite convinced that I’m alive today because of some of those decisions. God preserved my life in August, no doubt about that, and I am convinced it started with decisions He offered for me to make months earlier in January…

This is about experiencing life. Sure, selfishly we all want everyone around for as long as possible, but to experience health and life is incredibly important.

I’ll keep this one simple. If you’ve been waiting for some sort of sign to make the choice to change how you live, / / (sign) this is it. Make your physical health a priority in 2022. Because your life will be better because of it.

If you want the life Jesus promised, you gotta learn to deny yourself, lay down your own desires, embrace self-denial and pursue what He has for you!

I think to love the Lord your God with all your strength means you have to have strength to love him with. It means being able to follow when he says follow, do when he says do, run when he says run. I can’t run yet, but I can walk a little faster and a little longer than I could a year ago.

/ / 3. Emotional / Mental Health

Another one that is equally important. I would say that Spiritual health is the most important. Your relationship with God should be priority above all else, and the rest of these could all be a distant second together.

And just like loving the Lord with all your strength points to our physical ability, I think loving the Lord with all your mind and soul point to our mental and emotional state. If we are not whole emotionally, we are not able to love Him with our whole emotional state. When we are broken, hurting and wounded, we are not whole.

This again is all about life. It’s about God leading us into a life of wholeness.

/ / This might mean you need to go to a doctor.

This might mean you need to go to a therapist.

This might mean you need some medication to help.

You know me. I believe 100% in the healing power of Jesus Christ, but I also believe that we are meant to walk toward healing and if in the process we experience a miracle, we give praise for that, and if we simply walk until we experience greater freedom, we give praise for that too!

I came into a hard realization this year that I deal with a very real addiction. Part of my process is to not deny the weakness. Like Paul I have to say, “when I am weak, then I am strong”, not always because God has made me strong, but because in my weakness, I experience HIS strength.

Will I always deal with this issue? Maybe not, but in the meantime I will do all I can walking 12 steps to freedom because in that I experience life. And God IS at the center of it.

So, like Paul, I will boast in my weakness. And I’m ok with that. Because i’ve experienced a level of Grace I never would have if I would have continued to deny that I had a problem. Maybe you’ve seen the t-shirt that says, / / “It’s ok to have a Jesus AND a therapist”. I agree.

Choose this year to make your mental and emotional health a priority. If you’re not ok, then I’m not ok, because I want you to be whole, healthy, happy and free!

/ / 4. Relationship

This last one this morning is super important. If you are married, in a relationship, have friends, have children, work with anyone, if you have people around you at all, make healthy relationships a priority in 2022.

If you’re married or in a relationship, don’t wait for problems to make it a focus. I’ve seen too many people get to a point where their kids grow up, leave for college and the couple realizes they gave all of themselves to raising their kids, to soccer games, to school work, and now they have nothing left to give each other, and the relationship crumbles because they didn’t focus on each other.

/ / Never stop dating the person you’re with. They deserve it, and so do you!

Again, this is not about perfect, it’s about learning and growing and experiencing LIFE… This is not an excuse to turn to your person and say, “ya, ya big dummy, date me, would ya...”

Yes, sometimes we need to look at what’s gone wrong, or what isn’t working, but don’t just point out what you think is wrong, or what you don’t like, just make a decision that you and them are worth it, and you can have a great relationship.

/ / Relationship can work when two people are willing to work at relationship.

First things first, don’t make it about them working out their issues… Never stop working on yourself, your spiritual, physical, emotional and mental health have a direct impact on your relational health. The better you feel, the better you’ll connect.

And maybe it’s time to get a therapist, not because you have problems, but because you want the best relationship you can have. Is it worth it?

When it comes to our personal relationships and friendships, focusing on yourself will make you a better friend and better at relationship. If you do 1, 2 & 3, #4 is going to go easier. And learning to heal, allowing God to make you whole, deciding that you won’t give up on people, but you’ll pursue relationship. Understanding we all make mistakes and relationship takes work. These are things that produce great relationships, great friendships, great community

Working things out is worth it!

Forgiveness is worth it!

Reconciliation, mending broken relationships, dealing with issues, is worth it.

Relationship, friendship & community are a central part of God’s plan for us.

Listen, / / The people who get the most out of life are the people who give the most to their life. Intentional living produces results.

And the closer you are to God, the more you learn of Him and His ways and His purpose for your life, the better YOU you will be. The more you learn to love yourself by looking after yourself, the better your relationships and connection to community will be.

It’s all connected, and it’s all about experiencing the life that GOD has for you.

As we start this new year the question I feel to ask myself, to ask you, to challenge us with, is simply this:

/ / Are you all in?

Am I all in?

Am I committed, truly committed to seeing this thing happen? This thing being what is in front of me. My life, what God has called me to, our community, our relationships…am I all in?

This isn’t about making some lofty new years resolution and doing our best to not fail. This is about recognizing that there are some things in life that God simply intends for us to give our everything to.

Resolutions rarely work. In fact, statistically speaking within 6 months less than half are actually still successful in keeping their resolutions. I’m not saying resolutions are wrong, but what I am saying is make a decision, today, that fail or not, you will keep moving forward.

Proverbs 24:16 says, / / The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.

Perfect isn’t the goal, not giving up is… I used to smoke cigarettes, and thankfully I haven’t had one in almost twelve years, but you want to know something amazing…I’ve only quit one more time than I started! And trust me, I quit a LOT!

You know how many diets I’ve been on before coming to grips with the reality of my addiction? And although each of those ultimately proved to fail, I am grateful because each one of those moments, each one of those attempts, were part of the journey toward truly figuring it out. And I am not saying I’ve figured it all out, and I’m not saying I won’t fail… but I am grateful for the seven times I’ve tripped and the strength to get back up again...

Keep going, try again, let’s do this thing. You have a God who loves you, who believes in you, and desires for you to experience a measure of life you have not seen before! And just like Hebrews 10 says, we get to be a part of each others journey as we encourage each other in our lives, and motivate each other to good works!