January 2015 - Page 3 of 3 - Daily Thoughts about God

It’s 2015!

A clean slate. A fresh start. A blank canvas. Just waiting to be written on. What will you and I become this year, I wonder?

To be honest, I hesitate to make New Year’s resolutions because I rarely make it through January before they’re broken. Discouragement gives way to hopelessness and I wonder if I will ever resolve to do anything that costs me very much.

But this year, I was recently challenged to consider letting go of the New Year’s resolutions and instead choose “One Word” to give my attention to throughout the whole year. I was encouraged to reflect on the kind of person I want to become by the end of the year. It’s not about making external changes but internal ones.

It’s about the heart.

As I envisioned what I want to be, I began to write out heart struggles that I long to have victory over:

I want to celebrate other peoples success without wishing it was for me.

I want to be Holy Spirit-driven rather than self-driven.

I want to be an open book, with nothing to hide.

I want to be a lover of God, craving time alone with Him.

I want to embrace the life God has for me, instead of wishing I had someone else’s.

As I reflected, I discovered my one word . . . Undivided. Undivided in my love for God, undivided as a follower of Christ, undivided in my passion for Him.

“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalm 86.11

My focus and my attention, as I travel through this year will be to have a heart that is Undivided.

So what about you? Will you take up the challenge and discover your One Word to be intentional about?

What needs to change in your heart? What person do you want to become this year?

Have you been discouraged with your New Year’s resolutions in the past? Why not take some time today to discover One Word and a Scripture verse that will challenge you all throughout the year. Here’s a website that I found to be really helpful in this journey:
My One Word.

May this be the year, we all look more like the Christ!

By Kristi Huseby

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2015/01/18/kh_one-word/

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“So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty.” Romans 8:1 (ERV)

I believe condemnation and guilt has been a great discouragement for many in the Body of Christ. Too many have left the church and their relationship with the Lord, feeling they are no longer worthy of His love.

The Bible is filled with many stories of those that failed greatly. Let’s take a look at David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11). David stayed home from war. He saw Bathsheba on the roof bathing and sent for her. To make a long story short, she became pregnant and he had her husband killed after he refused to lay with his wife. When you read Psalm 51 and many of David’s Psalms you will find that David knew how to get back into God’s good graces. I believe this is why God referred to him as a man after his own heart. If David can pray and ask for God’s forgiveness after doing what he did, why can’t we?

In Psalm 32:5 David said God instantly forgave him of his guilt. He did not continue carrying it. It did not keep him out of fellowship with the Father. Many of us, however, feel as though we have no right in His presence. Hebrews 4:16 says we should come boldly before the throne of grace to receive the help we need in our failures. The Lord is the only one that can help us get back on track. David believed God would be gracious to him. If he can believe that and Jesus had not died yet, how much more can we? His blood shed on the cross left us with NO CHARGES!! We, as born again believers, are NOT GUILTY in the eyes of our Father. Our penalties have been PAID IN FULL by the blood of the Lamb!!! Now that is good news!

My prayer for you today is that you will no longer believe the lies of the enemies. No longer walk in condemnation or guilt. The past is the past. You are a child of the King and He wants to be in fellowship with you. He loves you dearly. It is time to freely receive His grace in your life and begin to move forward. Forgive yourself, He already has.

By Mary Pinckney

Month: <span>January 2015</span>

One Word

Not Guilty!