The beginning of a new year...

There is something about new beginnings that brings hope and a sense of renewal. Even with the all the ups and downs of last year, I am thankful for the opportunity to grow. With this being a new year I feel like I can have another chance. I am not big on the whole "New Years Resolutions" but I am wanting to make changes, so by default, I am making resolutions.

I don't know why we are so scared to say that we are making resolutions. Maybe it's because if we fail, or don't change, then we have let ourselves down (and no one wants to do that). It could also be that if we don't succeed in our change then we would be looked at as a failure.

So why make resolutions at all? I'm sure that the answer is different for each and every one of us. For me, it is because I want to be a better me. Better by whose standard, you may ask. Better by God's standard. He has a plan for me, for you. If we are born into sin, and saved only by accepting that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, then it should be a no brainer that once we accept Jesus as Lord, then He is going to begin a work in us.

Ephesians 2:10-13, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands) remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

That means He is going to begin to change us, make us more like Him. God's Word says that we are a New Creature in Christ (that means change).

 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, " Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation."

The Bible also says that we are to be imitators of Christ (that means change).  

1 John 3:1-3, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

My resolutions probably look a lot like yours, but here's my simple list:

• Drink 8 ounces of water every 2 hours to improve overall health
• Work out 4 times a week to improve physical health
• Quiet time for an hour with God to improve spiritual health & to have a closer relationship with God

It may not be much of a list, but it is enough. It's not about "success", it's about striving everyday to improve in each area of my life. So what are your resolutions?

~Peace & Blessings~
Jen