The Walk That Makes New Years Resolutions All Possible

Today is the fourth and final blog in my series on New Years Resolutions. If you would like to read the the other three, please click on the links below. Today's thoughts may make more sense if you do.

Requirements For The New Year
Just, Justly, Justice- How Do We Act?
What Do You Love?

As I really think about the upcoming year, and I think about the previous year, I know I must make changes. It is healthy, and I would be very arrogant to think that I am so right in everything that I do, that no change is needed.

My favorite quote is:
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten".
(author unknown)

If I want changes in my life but I do nothing differently, that is called insanity. How can possibly expect a change, simply based on a statement, "I want change."?
Let me give you a couple of examples:

I want to lose weight and be more healthy.
I still eat the same foods, in the same amounts, and do not exercise.
Can I expect to lose weight?

I want to keep my home more in order and be more organized.
I still continue to leave things lying around, and do not put things away, and push them into piles in the living room and on the counter.
Can I expect my home to be neat and orderly?

Now apply that thought process to the following:

I want to be the person God has created me to be, and to love Him and treat others the way He wants me to.
I believe that I am doing exactly that. I need nothing to be different. The problem is actually with others who just don't get it, and who just need to obey God more. Like me.
Can I REALLY expect that my relationships with people will change? Can I expect my walk with God to deepen?

The verse that I have been meditating on for the last few days tells me exactly what my issue is and what I need to change.

Micah 6:8

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God. 

 

When I shared my favorite quote from above, I had someone say to me, "But what if you like what you've got? There really is no need to change now is there?".

That statement really got me to thinking. There are many things I would never desire to change, such as;

being a wife to Larry. I like what I got.

being a mother. I like what I got.

being a granny. I like what I got.

Then it comes to my spiritual life. 

Such as;

being a child of God. I like what I got. 

But if I were to say: 

I am;

being a holy person. I like what I got.

being a godly woman. I like what I got.

being an effective light for the lost in the world. I like what I got.

so connected with God, everything is just like it should be. I like what I got.

Arrogance.
Self-righteousness.

I need to change my thought process about myself, if I want my behavior to change and my heart to change, and me to do what the Lord desires and requires of me.

to walk humbly with my God

 

If I want to deepen my walk with God, if I want to be in His will this year, if I want to do HIS WILL, I must know WHO HE is and who I am. 

He is God. I am not.

He is perfect and had NO need to change. I am not.

The answer for arrogance, is humility.

Humility does not mean lack of confidence. I know who I am in Christ.

Humility does mean I realize who I am in relation to God. And I know I will NEVER be equal with God. Even though I am a joint heir with Jesus, He is still God and I am not. 

The key to me being able

To act justly 
and 
to love mercy 
 is simply this:
He has shown me, O mortal that I am, what is good.
I need to see that God alone is the giver of all that is good. He is good with nothing bad found in Him.
 AND
I need to
walk humbly with my God.

It is much easier to be just and show mercy when I see myself in the correct light of Christ.

I need to see that I will always have room to change and grow in His grace and knowledge.

I need to desire that change. For me. 

Because of what He has done.

And that is good.

Now I know what God wants of me.

Now I know what I need to change to bring that about.

 

I need to surrender my will to HIS, so He can mold and make my heart more like His.

Happy New Year. Be resolved to be more of what He requires!

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

 

What Do You Love?

As I begin my walk through this New Year, I have decided that I needed to see WHAT GOD DESIRED for me. The last two blogs started this journey, and I encourage you to read them. Requirements For The New Year

Just, Justly , Justice-How Do We Act?

Today, I will look at my heart and see what I love. I must. Going back to Micah 6:8;

⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
   And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God. 

 

The last time time, I discovered God has desired me to act justly. To treat all people the same, and to desire the very best for them. Like one of my dear friends Sandy reminded me; We all want justice but it is hard to give it, like God does.

As I have meditated on this verse in Micah, and read other verses in the Word, I have come to the next thing God wants from me this year. 

To Love Mercy.

Interestingly enough, to love mercy, is the only way I can act justly.

The two go hand in hand.

 Over and over again throughout Scripture we see God described as merciful. As a matter of fact, our salvation vs our damnation is the perfect example of that. We deserved to be separated eternally from Him. We deserved to die. We still do.

But, because God is BOTH just and merciful, He chose to pay for our sins Himself, through His Son, Jesus, so we wouldn't have to.

Stop right there. Just think on that for a moment.
Right now you should LOVE mercy.

Now it gets a little more difficult. This is where I must allow God to change my heart, to be like His.

Romans 12:1-2

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

In view of WHAT?

God's mercy.

I am to do WHAT?

Offer my body as a living sacrifice.

HOW do I do that?

Be transformed by the renewing of my mind.

WHAT will that do?

I will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For me.
And I will have a heart more like God's.
I will not only love mercy when it is shown to me, but,
I will love mercy so much, it will become part of my character,
and I will desire to show it, to whomever God puts in my path.
Regardless of:
Who they are.
What they have done to me or others.
Whether they are friends or self-proclaimed enemies.

With that changed mind set, I will will always act justly,
because I LOVE MERCY!

How does this look?

I think for me, and just quite possibly for you, it means:

When I am responding or reaching out to someone,

MERCY not RETRIBUTION,

will be the FIRST thing that I think of.

Today I pray O Lord, that You conform my mind, and my will to Yours. I desire to merciful like You are. Please change my heart!

Next time, what it takes to allow God to change our hearts!

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Requirements for the New Year!

The New Year is here. 2011. I keep reading about resolutions. Plans for this year. Changes people want to make in themselves.

Why do we do this? Why do we choose the first of the year to decide to make a change? 

People, myself included, tend to resist change. It is not comfortable, and yet, change is necessary for a healthy life. Your child's doctor always does a check on height, weight, and skill changes when you take your child to see them. If there are no changes then there is a problem.

We are either growing and changing, or we are dying. 

This relates both to our physical life and our spiritual life.

Since it seems that people from all over the world are deciding it is safe to make changes it is easy to jump on the band wagon. 

It's "ok" to make a change since "everyone else is doing it"!
This is also the very reason so many fail at keep New Year resolutions. They are made for the wrong reason, at the wrong time. A clear set up for failure.

I have spent the last two days pondering this very thought. There are many things I want to change and do for myself and my family. 

I want to make changes because it is God's will for me to do so. This verse spoke to the very core of what I have been searching my heart and pleading to God for insight to, the last few days.

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” - Micah 6:8

The very question, "What does the Lord require of you, (ME)?" is answered so clearly here. 

No "maybe". 

No "if".

No "when".

No doubt, what God wants me to do.

No doubt why God wants me to do it.

God truly has shown me what is good. 

His love.

My salvation.

His grace.

My response to those things?  My response is what God actually REQUIRES of me.

Act Justly.

Love Mercy.

Walk Humbly before Him.

 I need to know what it looks like to do those things. 

What I need to change , in my life, to do what is required of me, by God.

The next three blogs will cover those thoughts and searching of God's word, and my application to my heart and life.

You are invited to join me as I chase after God's heart this year!

Chasing After Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

My New Years Resolutions

These are my TOP TEN New Years Resolutions.  Take a peek.

10.
1Pe 4:7  The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray.
I will be self-controlled this year so that I am able to pray with a clear mind.

9.
1Pe 3:15  But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect. 
I will strive to make sure that every answer I give to all will be with gentleness and respect. I will never use the Word of God or the guise of truth to beat anyone up.

8.
Psa 119:30  I have chosen a life of faithfulness. I have set your regulations in front of me.
I will keep God's Word forefront in my mind. I will be faithful to Him in my words and deeds.

 
7.
Psa 27:13  I believe that I will see the goodness of the LORD in this world of the living. 
Instead of looking for the negative all around me,  I will choose to see the goodness of the Lord all around me.


6.
2Ti 2:1  My child, find your source of strength in the kindness of Christ Jesus
I will find my strength only in the kindness (grace) of Jesus. I will stop trying to find it within myself or others. 


5.
Pro 25:15  Patience and gentle talk can convince a ruler and overcome any problem.
 I will have more patience with people. A little time will help solve problems instead of demanding immediate changes from those around me.

4.
Psa 62:5  Only God gives inward peace, and I depend on him. 
If I want peace, I can only get it from God. There are no worldly circumstances that  can produce the peace I am craving.

3.
1Th 2:20  You alone are our glory and joy! 
Only God can be what I glory in and what I can have true joy from. Nothing I can do or experience aside from Him can truly be glorious or joyful.


2.
1Pe 4:8  Above all, continue to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. 
I will choose to love deeply. In choosing to love, I will be able to look past some sinful things to be able to show the love of Christ to those around me. And pray that others choose to view me through that same lens.



1.
2Co 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and-look!-all things have become new!

I will remember every moment of every day that I have been made new! I can live a new life for Christ. The old life with all of it's failures and pain and sorrow can be behind me. I AM A NEW CREATION!

Any of these sound like a resolution you need to make? You too can be new!

I also should add, out of total disclosure, I have resolved to lose 50lbs to be more healthy!

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson
www.twitter.com/GlendaJohnson63
womanaftergod@gmail.com