Well, it's a new year. A new decade. A new start... wait a minute. Why do we always wait until the new year to start with diets and exercise plans... with promises to spend more time in our Bibles or to give up something that isn't good for us? It's one of life's mysteries I guess. Something I'll probably never understand. One thing that, for some reason, really annoyed me this year was TV preachers. Now I'm not against TV evangelists or that the Word of God is being taught (on some of the programs) over the airwaves... it's just that every channel I turned to had someone telling me a new slogan for the year. And all of them had the same theme... new levels of breakthrough, the best year yet, prosperity, victory, heaven on earth! All kinds of really cool stuff that God was supposedly telling them to tell me. Now again, don't get me wrong... I'm not opposed to victory and breakthrough. I'm not opposed to prosperity or having the best year yet. But isn't that the same thing we heard last year and the year before that? And if I'm not mistaking last year was one of the worst years economically that we've seen since the great depression. What about all my Christian friends who are in the housing and construction market right now? I don't think they would tell you that 09' was an awesome year of breakthrough. For some reason I've really gotten frustrated with ministers always preaching and telling me that all I'm going to see is prosperity and breakthrough. That's not in the Bible and that's not true! Sure I will have periods of prosperity in my life but there will probably be times of famine as well. Sure, I'm going to have periods of breakthrough in my life but there are also going to be times of having to press through difficulty. That's where the beauty of having a true relationship with Christ comes in. That's where we can say along with the Apostle Paul that, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and that "I've learned to be content no matter what my circumstance." You see 2010 could be the best year yet and I hope it is. But 2010 might be a difficult year, who knows? But one thing I do know is that even if there is a fight... we win. Even if there is a struggle... we'll come out on top. Even if the gates of hell are unleashed against me and everyone I know... they will not prevail! For greater is He who's in me than he who's in the world. Now having said all of that, let me say this... as I was reading the other day, a scripture jumped out at me. I really felt like the Lord was speaking to me about 2010. It was in Joshua 3:5. It's where Joshua was leading the people of God into the promised land and they were just about to cross over the Jordan river into what God had been promising them forever... remember the story? Anyway, right before they crossed he said this. "sanctify yourselves because tomorrow the Lord is going to do amazing things among you." This is what I feel like God is telling us. He IS going to do great things for us in 2010 but we need to sanctify our self first. We need to totally set our self apart for Him and him alone. We need to get rid of all the unholy things and all of the things that aren't necessarily sinful but the things that are slowing our spiritual progress too. We've got a saying for this year (just like all those TV preacher guys. LOL!) and it's "Lean In 2010 (twenty ten)". Lean In to God... press in to Him and His presence, totally pursue Him and nothing else. So that's what I'm doing this year. My resolution is to go after God like I never have before. Me and my family are going to fervently run after Him and everything He has for us... good or bad, happy or sad, easy or difficult. We're Leaning In to 2010!
Happy New Year,
Jim
PS - I'm also going to lose weight, exercise and manage my time better this year. For the first few weeks anyway. haha
