Joshua De Gracia
I wanted to start the new year off with this verse..
Proverbs 29:18 (NKJ)
“Where there is no vision, the people perish”
Year after year, you here about people making resolutions and goals that they set for themselves to follow. Some may include, “I’m going to the gym to lose weight” or “I will stop smoking this year.” Unfortunately, only a VERY small percentage of people that make new year’s resolutions follow through. More than half of people give up within the first two months of the year and about 80% of them forget about their goals midyear.
Where there is no vision, the people perish. When you have a goal, an objective, a purpose, life seems that much more meaningful people you are striving towards something. Perhaps the most important goal that you could set for yourself is to make 2010 a year where you take your relationship with God to a “higher level.”
No matter what your goal, 2010 begins a new season where your start brand new. Set goals, set a resolution and allow 2010 to be a year of break through, abundance and expectancy. I encourage you to pray for your goals so that you won’t be another statistic that forgets that vision halfway into the year.
Here are some resolutions that people were so gracious to contribute. Take some time to read them because they really inspired me and I hope they do the same for you.
-Continuously have a more deeper & intimate relationship with God. To not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Time to stop playing games!
-I will put God first in all areas of my life. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) I will not allow money, family, fame, or any material object to become more important to me than the God I serve. To become consistent in living by His word, and not of this world and, become more be spiritually & character driven and not emotionally driven.
-I plan on not being idle, to not stay comfortable and to take risks. To serve God and to become a leader.
-For me, it’s to put character over comfort. I want to do the right thing even in the face of difficulty when doing what’s wrong seems easier. I want to continue developing character and making the most of those “defining moments” in my life. 
-I will continue to serve my God. I will trust in Him with all of my heart. I will make Him Lord of every single area of my life. I will better my relationship with my family. I need to have a humble heart all the time. I will let Jesus take full control of my life and lead my path because Proverbs 14:12. I will hold on to God’s promises for me. I will have faith in God that I will overcome all the challenges/obstacles that will come my way in 2010.
-I won’t be a people pleaser at the price of shrinking my belief’s. I will follow God and his will regardless of what others think. I will pursue the dream of acting professionally and get an agent. I will start a family and teach them to love God. (:
-Keep my heart right, free from anything contrary to the Word of God.
Do only what God tells me to do – nothing more, nothing less.
Walk in love at ALL TIMES with ALL PEOPLE.
-I would start my homework earlier so I can sleep earlier, because it was a pain in the butt working under pressure every time. I would finish Driver’s Ed, pass my road test and get my provisional. I would want to increase our Victory Club on campus and to be able to have a leader in training. Above all, I would stay confident in God. I will stay secure in Him. PERSEVERANCE.
-In 2010 I will continue to get into the Word daily, and work at improving my prayer life. I will strive towards being the hands and feet of God instead of worrying about being His mouthpiece. I will choose joy, and show grace in the face of opposition. I will be a better friend, sister, daughter and granddaughter. I will not take the ones I love for granted. I will worry less about the faults of others and work on being the best version of myself I can be
-I love that the principle of setting resolutions comes from God… “the old has gone, the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17) “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…” (Phil 3:13) With God, every day is a chance for new beginnings, not just January 1!
In reality, I’ve never really made any (freal kine) resolutions, but just vowed to do “more” of what I’ve already been doing… spend more time with God and family, cook more, read more books (including the Bible), be more creative, save more (lives/money), pray more, give more, risk more, love more… the list goes on of “mores.” haha!! But I realize there’s just something special about the turning of a calendar year that “magically” allows for new beginnings of waning efforts, and gives us a chance to wipe the slate clean of mistakes that have bruised our hopes and passions over the past year.
So if anything, today, December 31st, 2009, I resolve to love God MORE than yesterday, and to serve His people MORE through the purposes and plans that He’s allotted me…And to do MORE of this forever
