2020 RESOLUTIONS

ALOHA FAMILY & FRIENDS,  Beloved of God,   John 3:16

2020 RESOLUTIONS,   “WORTH CONSIDERING”   12/31/19  (Across my desk today.)

Today’s Scripture

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…”   (Psalm 51:10, ESV)

Christ Makes Everything New

With this new year comes fresh starts, resolutions and new beginnings. It is a time for making plans, setting goals and writing visions. But the greatest “new start” of all comes through Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” If you need a new beginning this year in any area of your life, allow Christ to make you a new creation, and the old will pass away! He will put a new and right spirit within you when you call on His name! This year, make your relationship with Him your number one priority. When you put God first place and make it your highest priority to please Him, you can expect to live a blessed, fulfilled life. Scripture states, “God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Notice who God rewards. Not people who half-heartedly seek Him, only seek Him when they have a problem, or come to church only on special occasions. God rewards people who diligently seek Him. Psalm 34:10 adds: “Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.” When you seek God daily with your whole heart in this new year, you won’t be able to outrun the good things of God!

A Prayer for Today

“Father, as we enter into a new year, I choose to put You first. Wipe the slate clean as I develop a deeper personal relationship with You. Thank You for new beginnings as I walk every day with You in Jesus’ name! Amen.”

My Thoughts:
We all deeply know that in a friendship, business, school, marriage or ministry that being half-hearted (mediocracy) is a most certain step towards finding failure.  And then we play the blame game by giving God the credit for our failures.  And so many today are really upset at GOD for not giving them deliverance from their own Adamic choices.  That lust when it is conceived produces sin and the completion of sin is death or separation from our HOLY Creator God.  James 1:15…  I am finding that we have good days and bad days and usually the temptations come to sin on my bad days.  And also the longer that I have victory over an issue in the Grace and Power of the Holy Spirit the stronger I get.  But If I submit to the temptation then the weaker I get.  The nature that I inherited form Adam just does not want to die.  Really difficult at times to keep the coffin lid on tight on the flesh (Adamic Nature)  and through a few more rocks on the casket.  As when ever Adam does get loose he sure makes a mess of things.  And of course that is where 1 John 1:6-9 comes in. 

“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   Paul says it this way:   ³ For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  ⁴ That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  ⁵ For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  ⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  ⁹ But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  ¹⁰ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  Romans 8:3-10….  So we need to encourage each other with HIS promises:  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 2 Cor.7:1,  2 Pet.1:4.  That the Rom. 8 victory is ours when we find and have heart faith for the promises of God. 
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?³³ Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.³⁴ Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?³⁶ As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.³⁷ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM who loved us.

Christian News
Sudan church, harassed by Islamist government, receives personal apology on Christmas
In a gesture of reconciliation following years of persecution, the new religious affairs minister of Sudan, Nasr al-Din Mufreh, attended Christmas celebrations in Khartoum to personally apologize for former dictator Omar al-Bashir’s harassment of Christians.
Wang Yi, Chinese pastor, locked up for 9 years for publishing manifesto against Xi Jinping’s ‘sinicization’ plan
Chinese pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to 9 years of prison on December 30th, following a year of detention in an unknown location in which he was deprived a lawyer by President Xi Jinping’s Chinese Communist Party.
Texas pastor thankful parishioners had ‘opportunity to protect during church shooting
A minister at a Texas church where a parishioner shot and killed a man who opened fire on the Sunday congregation thanked state leaders for granting the man the right to carry a firearm to the service.  worthybrief@worthynetwork.com