December 31, 2015

New You in 2016

As the New Year approaches, we are all in this mode of making New Year's Resolutions.  If you're like me, that almost always includes losing weight!!!  However, there are many who make resolutions along the lines of becoming a better person, reading the Bible more, etc.  It is true that if you want to be the person that God created you to be, you need to be transformed by your mind (Rom. 12:1-2) and for our culture, that necessitates that we become good readers.  For some good tips to start a Bible reading plan, this is a good post from Dr. Chuck Lawless with some practical ideas to help you get started.  What I want to do today is share some of the things that has helped me through the years (and some things I'm doing this year) to help me grow in my own personal walk with the Lord this year.  

1) You always have to have a plan for reading the Bible.  I love the saying, "If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail."  Having a Reading plan is something set in stone for you to read every day.  This year, I'm using Dr. George Guthrie's plan of reading the Bible in 1 year Chronologically.  You can find the plan here.  If you are a member of BBC, I will have these plans printed for you this week in case you want to join me in this plan.  One thing I'm doing differently this year is actually reading from my Bible (a physical Bible with pages!!!) instead of my Bible app on my Ipad.  This is just my preference, but I'm one of those people that likes to write in my Bible.  if you're new to this, make sure you get a great study Bible to help you as you read.  I recommend the MacArthur Study Bible or the ESV Study Bible.

2) Read other devotional material alongside of your Bible reading plan.  Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest is a classic, but there are a number of good devotionals out there for you to choose from.  One of the books I'm going to read as part of my devotion time this year is The Battle Plan of Prayer, which goes along with the movie War Room.  

3) Join a small group.  The small group I'm a part of  is getting ready to study the book of Joshua together and use Max Lucado's new book Glory Days as a guide.  But being a part of a small group is more than the knowledge you receive (or give), it is about the people of God spending their lives together; about becoming a real family/community of believers.  God's desire for you and His church is not to just meet for one hour every week but to invest our lives in one another in such a way that the watching world sees a visual demonstration of the love of Christ.  I really don't know where I would be today if it were not for a small group of believers that invested their life into me when I first became a follower of Christ in 2001.  It helped influence me tremendously.  If you are not a part of a small group, then that will help you become a Better You in 2016.

I could say a lot more, but these are three things that I believe will help you tremendously as you seek to be all that God created you to be this year!!!  May the Lord do great things in you and through you this year!!!