What is your New Year’s reSOLUTION?

Happy New Year and welcome 2018!

Every new year we consider it as new beginning. Another chance to start and another opportunity to make a significant change in our lives. For some of us we already start making plans throughout the year and and some start listing down and writing things that they will stop or start doing. We normally call it a “New Year’s Resolution”.

So what exactly a “New Year’s Resolution” is?

According to wikipedia.org, A New Year’s resolution is a tradition in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life.

A new year’s resolution contains a goal or set of goals that needs to be accomplished throughout the year. Popular goals includes resolutions to:

* Improve physical well-being: eat healthy food, lose weight, exercise more, eat better, drink less alcohol, quit smoking, stop biting nails, get rid of old bad habits.
* Improve mental well-being: think positive, laugh more often, enjoy life.
* Improve finances: get out of debt, save money, make small investments.
* Improve career: perform better at current job, get a better job, establish own business.
* Improve education: improve grades, get a better education, learn something new (such as a foreign language or music), study often, read more books, improve talents.
* Improve self: become more organized, reduce stress, be less grumpy, manage time, be more independent, perhaps watch less television, play fewer sitting-down video games.
* Take a trip.
* Volunteer to help others, practice life skills, use civic virtue, give to charity, volunteer to work part-time in a charity organization.
* Get along better with people, improve social skills, enhance social intelligence.
* Make new friends.
* Spend quality time with family members.
* Settle down, get engaged/get married, have kids.
* Pray more, be more spiritual.
* Be more involved in sports or different activities.
* Spend less time on social media. (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr etc.)

Image source: bigdogwraps.com

So do you have a New Year’s resolution? I do and I did have last year. Unfortunately I would say that I wasn’t able to comply 100% with the set of resolutions I had back then. A certain study shows that only 8 percent of people actually keep their New Year’s resolution. The most common reason for participants failing their New Years’ Resolutions was setting themselves unrealistic goals (35%), while 33% didn’t keep track of their progress and a further 24% forgot about it. About one in 10 respondents claimed they made too many resolutions.

I’m pretty sure that you already experienced listing down a resolution that you failed to comply or finish. In any case that you were able to keep all of your resolutions then that’s great! I envy you! Haha! You’re the best! But… do we really need to set up a New Year’s resolution every year?

I would say that we all need to make plans. We have to make sure that we have a goal in life. A purpose as to why we actually exist. Life is a journey, and is an exciting one. We need to have goals to improve and make our lives better. There are times that we also need to stop and/or start doing something. A new year’s resolution is a great and nice opportunity to make a new start but everyday can also be a new start. We can always change, set goals, and make plans whenever we want. It actually doesn’t have to wait until after New Year’s eve.

But how should we start?

There are a lot of books, articles and knowledgebase media applications that can give you tons of information when it comes to life goals, goal setting, and creating the best New Year’s resolution. But for me, before we actually start working on our resolutions, we need to first start knowing the SOLUTION.

The solution to whatever we’re about to put in our New Year’s resolution.

The solution for all of our plans to succeed.

The solution for us to have a bright future ahead.

The solution for us achieve our goals this year and the coming years.

The solution for us to change.

The solution which is Jesus Christ.

Yes, Jesus Christ is the solution.

Because of Jesus we have been redeemed and regained access to all of God’s words and promises.

“But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.” – Ephesians 2:13 NLT

We were once far away from God and does not have full access to His promises. All of our plans are actually bound to fail apart from God.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” – Proverbs 19:21 NIV

We need God in our lives. We need Him to direct us, to help us, and provide for us. We are incomplete without Him and our New Year’s resolution can be considered null without Him. God is the best director of our lives. He directs our path to make sure that we can walk in abundance. He is the one who will sustain us, preserve us and will help us until completion.

That is why we really need to know the solution first. We need to know who Jesus is. Know Jesus, accept Him and then God will show us the way regarding on how we are supposed to live our lives this 2018. We will be able to come up with a Spirit guided New Year’s resolution or maybe an actual plan for our future.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

It is great to have a New Year’s resolution but it is incomplete without the actual solution. Jesus is the solution, a free solution with no risk at all. So as you write down your plans for this year or your New Year’s resolution make sure to include the SOLUTION.

 

 

 

 

 

5 Reasons Why “YOU” matter.

There are times in our life that because of the things that we hear and the situations
that we experience, we start to define our worth based on our current situations or on what people say. There also comes a point wherein we start thinking about our
significance in this world and then we start feeling inferior and unimportant. We start to think less of ourselves then we start isolating.

I’d like to share you some facts from the word of God about how significant and how important you are. You matter.

1. You are God’s creation.

You are not a monkey, you are a creation. God created you in His image and  likeness. This is how precious you are to God as He even patterned you into His own image.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” – Genesis 1:27 NKJV

2. You are a masterpiece.

You are not a random thought. You were not created just for the sake of having
a creation. God designed every detail of you in His image. You are His masterpiece and in fact, His best masterpiece. The book of Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 to 31 tells us the story of creation wherein God created everything including us. Notice that in
everything that God created He described it as “good” but not until He created us, you, in His own image when He described it as “very good”. That’s how much of a masterpiece you are.

Genesis 1:1-31
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was 
good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and 
the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 
7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry 
ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from 
the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 
16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the 
livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each 
according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,    in the image of God he created them;    male and female he created them.28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that 
move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

3. God knows you.

Since you are God’s creation. He definitely knows every part of you. God did
not create you just to create you. He wants you and He knows your very being. You
matter to Him. You are important to Him.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

“Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are far 
more valuable than many sparrows.” – Luke 12:7 AMP

4. God loves you.

He definitely does. He actually even gave His own Son for you. He sacrificed
His own Son for you/us to be saved from eternal punishment and experience life with and through Him.

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] [a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 AMP

5. Jesus died for you.

We know that God gave His Son Jesus to die for us but Jesus himself has His own
free will to decide on His own. Yet, Jesus decided to still die for us even though He
knows what He is about to experience. He still decided to sacrifice and suffer for us.
That’s how much He loves us. He was actually thinking of you while He was hanging on that cross. That is why you matter. You are important. You are significant.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.” – John 15:9 ESV

This is how much God values us. We are so important to Him and He knows you by name. So stop letting your situations or other peoples thoughts define your worth. You mean so much to Jesus and He is desperate for you. You are important and you matter.