Clay in the Hands

What will 2015 hold for us – for you?  What do you think God will do this year?  What will you do this year to make 2015 at least as memorable as 2014?

All over the world, people are making resolutions – and some have most likely already been broken.  We resolve to lose weight or live more healthily.  We resolve that we will work harder at being a better employee or spouse or parent.  Some of us might even resolve to make God a bigger part of our lives in the coming year.

The reality is, as worthy as each of these resolutions is, the majority of us won’t keep our commitments.  The good intentions solidified into an actual resolution will end up being just that, good intentions.  The result?  Another year, pretty much like last.

Now, before you get frustrated with my negativity, let me offer a simple thought that could make a difference in 2015 for you.

Instead of thinking about all the things you don’t like about yourself and your situation and resolving to change, ask yourself this question:  What are the desires God has for me this year?

In listing what you believe God wants for you this year, remember this criteria:

1. God desperately wants a  relationship with you.
2. Whatever you believe God’s desires for you to be – they must line up with scripture.

If you will consider what God would want 2015 to look like for you and do so with these two thoughts in mind, I think you will arrive at some healthy goals for 2015.

Goals are important.  When we aim for nothing we normally hit it.  So give it some thought.

God does love you and desires your fulfillment – just make sure you are looking for that fulfillment in the right place.

Be blessed!

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Here we are at the onset of a brand new year.  Call it sentimental, idealistic or simply psychological – but for me, standing here refreshes my soul and ignites my passion.  I see opportunity and adventure that comes with a new year.

Some may say, “January 1st is just another day like any other.”  I suppose that is true from a literal sense.  But for me, there is something exciting – even liberating and life-giving – about starting a new segment in time, a new leg of the journey.

Sometimes it might seem safer to hold on to the past and try and maintain what we see as comfortable.  Don’t get me wrong.  We need to remember the past – to reflect on it, celebrate it and learn from it.  The path before us is often harder to see if we don’t know where we are and where we have been.  So we look to the past as a reference, but we cannot dwell there.  Life demands that we press forward.

Isaiah 43:18-19 says this:

The writer reminds us that we cannot get lost in the past, we have to keep looking forward. God is doing something new. The tone of the author is that we need to pay attention so that we don’t miss it.  Eugene Peterson in The Message translates this idea like this: “Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?” He may have taken a bit of liberty with the text but I think he nailed the intent.  

It is so easy to get wrapped up in the past and take a passive attitude toward the future – as if the future is what is going to happen to us.  The writer of Isaiah reminds us that God is at work doing something fresh and new and we need to pay attention so that we can be actively involved in what is happening.

2015 is here.  We stand on the shore of a vast sea of possibility.  God is already at work creating something new and we are invited to join in.  Don’t miss it because you are too busy looking at the past.

How will you approach this opportunity?

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We are just a week away from one of the biggest holidays and celebrations on the American calendar – in fact, on most calendars around the world.  It is a day we celebrate giving.  A day we celebrate hope.  A day we gather with family.

But is it a day we truly celebrate the coming of God to earth?

We have set this day aside on our calendars to create space in our busy lives to stop and remember but I wonder if we – if I – really grasp the significance of it all?

Luke tells the story of Jesus’ birth.  The very son of God was born to a lowly family, in a scandalous manner and in deplorable conditions.  He was not born in a palace in plush conditions.  His first bed was a feed trough.

As I have meditated on this fact, I have asked the question, “Why did the son of God come to earth in this way?”  And why was his birth first announced to a bunch of social outcasts like shepherds instead of being proclaimed to the religious leaders of the time?

What I believe is that the son of God came to earth in this manner to let us know that he is accessible.  Regardless of how messed up I am – how sinful and selfish – he is still offering salvation to even me.  I don’t have to achieve some level of holiness in order to “qualify” for his grace.

Nor do you!

Praise God that he has made a way for us to relate!

Thank you Jesus for loving us that much!

Brian

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