Thursday, January 1, 2015

It's a New Year, 2015!

Well, 2015 has arrived! Many people will be reflecting on the past and anticipating the future. What will 2015 hold? How will things turn out in the world? How are you processing things personally? Donald Whitney has a great post about reflection and anticipation with some great questions to consider as you look forward to 2015. You can check it out here.

It's also a time to think about and put down some concrete goals you want to meet this year and some concrete habits you want to establish in your life. I've been doing that over the last few days as well. I took a legal pad and made three columns at the top: personal, ministry, and family. Those are the categories under which I've spent some time praying about what kind of goals God would have me pursue in 2015. Under each category, I've written 4 to 5 goals and/or habits that I want to cultivate this coming year.

There are several resources that I've used to help me in the process. Check out Michael Hyatt. He has a great blog about using Evernote to help keep track of your progress in reaching your goals. You can also check out Donald Whitney as well.

I shared with our church family this past Sunday about "Running Strong, Finishing Well, and Making our Days Count for Eternity" from 2 Timothy 4:6-8. In Paul's epitaph, he exemplified three commitments that we must make if we are going to run strong, finish well, and make our days count for eternity.

We must:

  1. Make the necessary sacrifices for running strong
    • Romans 12:1-2
    • Hebrews 12:1-3
  2. Strive to meet the conditions for running strong
    • Fight the good fight
    • Finish the race
    • Keep the faith
  3. Look forward to the rewards for running strong
    • Crown of righteousness
Paul is not referring to "earning" one's salvation. It is one's salvation in Christ that enables and empowers you to in fact run strong according to the grace of God that is at work in you (Philippians 2:12-13) through the Holy Spirit. Our commitment to these three strategies are the spirit-filled response to the gospel.

Now, let's run strong, finish well, make the days count for eternity, together! Godspeed!