By Dr. Rebekah McCloud
This is the time of year that people start reflecting on their last 12 months’ accomplishments, failures and almosts. People also start preparing their New Year’s resolutions. Many put things on their lists such as lose weight, get out of debt, get more sleep, exercise more, or be more grateful.
It is estimated that about 40-45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions, but only 46% maintain them[1] and only 8% achieve them.[2] Instead of resolutions, I want to suggest that we declare and decree something over our lives. Declare means to announce the beginning of a thing[3] and decree is to order a thing to be done.[4]
First, declare and decree to spend more time with God. That would mean reading the Bible more, reading a daily devotional, and/or adding the Word to your daily routine. Matthew 4:4 says, “Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In the age of technology and smart devices, it should be easy to add the Word to our daily routine. A little Word goes a long way. Amen.
We should also pray more and not just when we want something. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says to “pray without ceasing.” There are five basic kinds of prayers: blessing & adoration, petition, intersession, thanksgiving and praise. In 2019 we have 365 days. That’s plenty of time to incorporate all five kinds of prayers into our prayer time. Amen.
We should also go to church. Hebrews 10:25 tells us to not forsake the “assembling of ourselves together.” Here at Grace we have church on Sunday and occasionally at other times. But that does not mean you cannot participate in mid-week Bible study or prayer meeting elsewhere. You can attend in person, online or on the phone. Let’s declare and decree that we will spend more time with God. Amen!
Second, let’s declare that we will depend on God. The word depend means to be controlled or determined by or to rely on.[5] Dependence means that God’s not the co-pilot, he’s the pilot. Philippians 4:13, a familiar scripture says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Let’s break this scripture down; in school they say let’s unpack it.
- Who? I.
- What? Can do all things.
- How? Through Christ which strengthens me.
Grace, we can do nothing on our own. Our lives are not our own; to him we belong. In Ephesians 3:16, Paul in his prayer to the Ephesians says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.” Colossians 1:11 reminds us that we are “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power.” Again, we can do nothing on our own. Let’s declare and decree that we will depend solely on God. Amen.
Third, let’s be the person God has called us to be. The young people would say, “do you.” We all have talents and spiritual gifts. Romans 12: 6 says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” It’s up to us to use them.
The Bible contains three lists of spiritual gifts. They can be found in Roman 12:3-8, 1 Corinthians 12: 8-11 and Ephesians 4:10-12. Let’s declare and decree that we will use the talents and spiritual gifts, that God through his grace so generously bestowed upon us. And, let’s use them to the glory of God. Amen.
Grace, let’s declare and decree that 2019 will be our best year ever. No matter what we put on our resolution list, let’s spend more time with God, let’s depend on God and let’s be the person God has called us to be. Let me leave you with this little prayer. It resonated with me; perhaps it will with you.
“Dear
Lord, So far this year I’ve done well. I haven’t gossiped, I haven’t lost my
temper, I haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m
very thankful for that. But in a few minutes, Lord, I’m going to get out
of bed, and from then on I’m probably going to need a lot more help. Amen.”
[1] Proactive Change at https://proactivechange.com/resolutions/statistics.htm
[2] Diamond, D. Just 8% of People Achieve Their New Year’s Resolutions. Here’s How They Do It. (2013). At https://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2013/01/01/just-8-of-people-achieve-their-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-they-did-it/#1e69585b596b
[3] Bing Dictionary at https://www.bing.com/search?q=declare&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=declare&sc=8-7&sk=&cvid=63A820C00AD14ADBBFE6A62D337414EA
[4] Bing Dictionary at https://www.bing.com/search?q=decree&cbir=sbi&imageBin=&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&ghc=2&pq=decre&sc=8-5&sk=&cvid=BD8F2454D0CE406091DA0EECC94B8CD8
[5] Bing Dictionary at https://www.bing.com/search?q=depend&form=EDGEAR&qs=PF&cvid=46fa18e1a935419aa2c5df62fd3e99c4&cc=US&setlang=en-US&PC=DCTS