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

 

Daily Devo- Luke 20:41-47 " So You Think You're An Expert?"

Luke 20:41-47

41 But he said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is David's son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit at my right hand,
43 until I make your enemies your footstool.’

44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”

45 And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 47 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Jesus I see you letting all know that You are the Messiah. Physically You were born from David . Spiritually, You are David's Lord. I find it interesting that You pose a question that You do not answer. You are establishing that being the Lord of all eternity is more important than being from David's lineage.

You then transition right into dealing with the Scribes, the experts in the law. They were not the priests, but because of their jobs, they felt knew more about the law than anyone. You established with Your question about David that they did not.
These men were arrogant and demanded special greeting, special seating all while treating others badly.

As I look at this in today's realm, I do not see this as the preacher, because that would have been the priest of those days, but as someone who has so puffed themselves up with "knowledge" that they feel they know all there is to know about Your word. They become conceited and then abuse others, doing all they do,  justifying how holy they are and how much they know.

Jesus, You set it all straight by saying, " They will receive the greater condemnation."
Lord I do not want to be like the Scribes, ever. May I always study Your word, so I can know You and Your heart. I want to know how to treat people, how to live so that I can point others to You, not to me.

What I know is only worth what I can translate into love. 

You translated the Word into a sacrifice for me. I want to sacrifice all for You, without fanfare, without the best seats, without the recognition. Simply out of love and gratitude for the life You have given me. 

Today:
I will know You are the Messiah!
I will make sure I look into Your Word to be changed within myself to be more like You.
I will look into Your Word to see how you want me to treat others.
I will search my heart and see where there is pride that needs to be removed. I will come to you for cleansing of that pride.

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

Daily Devo- Luke 20:1-8 "You Can't Lie To God"

Luke 20:1-8

 20:1 One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John from heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” (ESV)

Lord, I believe who you are. I trust what You say. I look at these chief priests, scribes and elders, and I think, they are ridiculous because they are trying to trap Jesus. Jesus knows their hearts and their motives. He knows what they are up to. He also knows just what to do. They cannot answer the simple question He asked them. To do so would either get them in trouble with God, or the people. They really did not want to please God, but themselves, and they did not want the people riled up against them. So they lied. They lied to the the Son of God. To God himself. To the King of Kings. As I read this, I think, 'That's crazy!".

But Lord, are there times I think I can lie to You and get away with it? By doing things with a wrong motive, thinking You can only see the act , not my heart? By thinking evil of someone and sharing that thought with others, all in the name of God, with a selfish motive? Lord you know every thought of my heart. You alone know me from the inside out. There is no telling You a lie and getting away with it.

In this passage today, there are only two sets of people to emulate.
Either I am like the men who had an ulterior motive of greed and power when they approached Jesus, or I am becoming like Jesus, and I submit myself to Him fully and honestly.

One group will lead to death, the other, right to the heart of God, and to life.

Today:

I will remember that each decision I make, my Lord knows my reason for doing it.

I will choose to acknowledge that Jesus alone holds the answers of life and He alone is to be submitted to for life.

I will not try to please man with the words I speak today, but God alone, in humility, praise and love.

I will point people to the giver of life, with the motive being that they are reconciled to God.

I will Chase After the Heart of God!

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Daily Devo- Luke 18:9-14 "Self Righteous or Justified?"

Luke 18:9-14

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (ESV)

 Lord, I know I sin and fall short of what I should be. I am trying. I desire to serve you with a pure heart. Please let your Holy Spirit continue to mold me. I never want to be found to have the attitude of the Pharisee. I never want to think that I am more righteous than anyone else. All of my righteousness comes from you. All of anybody's righteousness come from You. To attack someone else, and to say how horrible a child of Yours is, would be attacking Your righteousness. Lord, I am nothing without You!

Today:
I will remember that You desire my humility. This means, not comparing my life with others, but looking at You, and knowing that You alone are God, and I am not!
 

Chasing After Hearts,
Glenda Johnson 

Daily Devo- Luke 17:1-10 Temptations, Forgiveness and Servatude

17:1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

7 “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” (ESV)

As I read this and meditate on it , my heart cries out to the Lord.

Lord please help me to remember who I am in relation to who You are. I never want to be the one who Satan uses to tempt someone to do wrong, especially the the little ones. Please keep my heart and my motives pure.
 

As I deal with people around me, Please let me 'Pay attention to myself". 

Let me always watch and be aware of what I do and what I say. And when someone sins against me, let me remember Your words, "You must forgive him'. If a person says they repent, I must take them at their word and forgive. There is nothing else that I can do. I must forgive. There are no other judgments I am to make. I forgive, it is then all turned over to You.

I find it interesting that in this passage right after the command to forgive, the disciples ask for their faith to be increased. I believe that it takes great faith to forgive people and then embrace and love them. If I forgive like you do God, then I must forgive and forget as you do. 

To say" I forgive you, but I will not forget what you did", is really just another way to say,"I don't really forgive you at all'. So please increase my faith so that I can learn to forgive like you.
 

The last part of this verse Lord is really the key. It is reminding me that I am just a servant. I am to serve you and expect nothing from anyone simply because I am doing what you have called me to do. I must be humble and my motives must be right. I pray that I never do anything to be seen of men, or for a reward or pat on the back. May all I do simply flow out of gratitude for who You are and what You have so graciously done for me.

From beginning to end, this passage is about my heart's motives and choosing to love like Jesus or not. It really is as simple or hard as that. Whether it is simple or hard, is my choice.

Today I will chase after your heart God, by how I love and forgive your children!

Chasing After Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson