What’s better than a resolution?

It’s a new year!

I have already consumed sugar and missed more than one day of exercise.

There go the resolutions.

Just kidding. Improving eating and exercise is on my mind, not perfection.

Why am I here on earth?

I am quite fascinated by how small earth is compared to the galaxies and how small my life span is compared to eternity. I have lived with this comparative lens for decades. The concept is in the fiber of my being.

We will be forgotten.

The Passion Conference took place in Atlanta this week and each session was live streamed. Jonathan Pokluda spoke at session two. At one point he asked the college-aged audience if they knew the name of their great-grandfather. Most of us don’t know the answer to that question, including me. His point was that we don’t even remember family members who lived just 50 years ago, and the same will be true of each of us. As I age, I am grappling more with the reality that our lives in and of themselves don’t count for much unless we invest in something larger that lives on after we are gone. Though we will be forgotten and not known by our great-grandchildren, the results of living our lives for God can potentially last forever.

Better than a resolution.

Prayers in accordance with God’s will are sure things. Since God is about building His Kingdom — Thy Kingdom come, They will be done on earth as it is in heaven — all prayers about building His Kingdom will be answered.

My life verses are Colossians 1:28-29:

We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I also labor, striving with all His energy working powerfully within me. (BSB)

Using these verses as the foundation, I regularly ask God to use my life to:

• Increase the size of heaven (share how to know Jesus)
• Mature the body of Christ (help people grow in their relationship with God)
• Accomplish the purpose for which I was created (with His energy, not mine)

Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. (Acts 13:36)

Those are my big three.

If these prayers are answered, my years of life will have been worth living. I have settled with the fact that, like Abraham, I will close my eyes without knowing the full extent of what He did with me. This will be true of you as well. But I will close my eyes clinging to these prayers and trusting that God did it.

We don’t know how many more years earth’s history will go on  after we die. Only God knows when the curtain on earth’s history in time and space will close. We don’t know what seeds we have planted for God will continue to grow after we are gone, and we don’t know to extent they will grow. All such matters are in the hands of God.

We must live by faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

My new year’s resolutions may not pan out, but rest assured the above three prayer requests will. Because of God, not me. Because the prayers are His will, not mine. Because my faith is in Him, not me. Even if I die unexpectedly. Even if I die without seeing any results. Even if I am anonymous to the world. Even if my reputation gets slandered. Even if I am poor. The value of my life — and yours — is not determined by how things are measured on earth. God measures differently.

Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:36-38)

What prayers are you going to hand the Lord this year?

What verse grabs your heart? Listen carefully for it. What prayers have nothing to do with you and everything to do with God keeping His Word? Because He will. And rest assured, our life with count.

Happy 2024, everyone!

Picture Explanation: These people will remember me after I am gone, and One Gritty Blink keeps my eyes on eternity! Both are life saving.

Two One Gritty Blink studies are planned so far for 2024! I sent off a Leader Guide to the person facilitating the first one.

Speaking of living for God instead of ourselves: If you are interested in being contacted to participate in a One Gritty Blink Bible study, click on the Oaks Ministries link below and send me an email so I can place you on a list to be contacted as online and face-to-face studies are planned. Let’s not just focus on things in this short life, but also what counts for eternity!

Note: No part of my posts are derived from A.I. Thoughts and writing stem from my mind and heart as I process life week-by-week and continue to grow in my understanding of God and how to apply His wisdom to the world around me.

© 2024 by Oaks Ministries. All rights reserved.