Happy New Year!

This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad!" I can hardly believe that 2009 is here, primarily because I have not recovered from 2008. I thank God for every new day and new year, today is no different.

Our family has a tradition that instead of making New Year's resolutions, we choose to make a list of everything we are thankful for and then pray to seek God's direction for the days ahead.

With each new year comes uncertainty. We never know exactly what tomorrow holds, but we can know for sure that God is sovereign and at work to accomplish His will and purpose in our lives. I am so very thankful for that truth. Our health may decline, our job may change, we may face death or any number of "uncertainties"........but God never changes, His word is always Truth, His love is perfect, His righteousness unchanging, He is just and Holy!

Jonathan Edwards was a great pastor, recently Nancy DeMoss shared on her radio show that she "discovered not too long ago a series of 70 resolutions that were written by Jonathan Edwards. He, as you know, was a great pastor and Christian thinker and leader -- one of the men God used in a significant way in the first Great Awakening here in the United States.

In his memoirs we have a list of 70 resolutions that he made over a period of a couple of years. I did not know until recently that all these resolutions were written by the time he was 20 years of age."

He said, "Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, but what tends to the glory of God."

"Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God"¦Resolved to do so, whatever difficulties I meet with, no matter how many or how great those difficulties."

He said, "No matter what happens in my life, no matter what I face, no matter how hard it is -- I want to live my life for the glory of God." Isn't that what the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31? "Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we are to do everything for the glory of God." (paraphrased)

You say, "How does this live out -- this matter of living to the glory God?" Some of his resolutions show the very practical way he envisioned living life for the glory of God. For example in his use of time he said, "Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it [or use it or maximize it] in the most profitable way I possibly can."

He realized that one day in eternity he would be giving account to God for how he used his time here on earth. He wanted to be able to look back and to say, "God I have glorified You with what I did with the moments that You gave me here on earth." He wanted to live wholeheartedly.

He knew this would bring glory to God. So there's a sense of earnestness that comes through in these resolutions. He said, "Resolved, to live with all my might, while I do live."

Can you imagine most of us thinking that way? Once we settle the issue -- that it's not about me; it's not about my convenience; it's not about my comfort; it's not about my happiness -- but all that matters is that God is glorified, that He is pleased with my life. Then we can endure and bear up under circumstances and challenges that we might not otherwise be able to face -- if we know that my sole purpose for living is to bring glory to God. So Edwards resolved to live purposely.

As part of that, we then see that he resolved to live a growing life, not just to stay where he was spiritually, but to keep pressing on, to keep seeking new heights in his relationship with the Lord.

He knew that the study of the Scripture was an important part of living a growing life, and that was how he would bring glory to God. He said, "Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently that I may find"¦myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

Edwards said, "I'm resolved to strive every week to be brought higher [spiritually], and to a higher level of grace, than I was the week before." That's a challenge to me. As I was reading his resolutions last night I found myself wondering, "Am I further ahead spiritually this week than I was this time last week?"

How about you? Have you grown in grace, in your knowledge of Christ, in your knowledge of His Word in the last week? Have you grown in the last months?

Think about where you were a year ago. As you look back over this past year, can you say, "I've grown spiritually. I know more of the heart and the ways of God. I've grown in grace. I'm not where I want to be. I'm not where, by God's grace, I'm going to be, but by God's grace, I'm further in my walk with Him and in my ability to glorify Him than I was this time last year."

Do you love Him more? Do you know Him more? Are you pleasing Him more with your life? Are you growing in your walk with God?

Have you settled the issue? Edwards did. He settled the issue, "The purpose of my life is to bring glory to God, and that's all that really matters."

Have you settled that issue? If you haven't, then life will be for you one non-ending wrestling match -- resenting, resisting, struggling with the circumstances that come into your life.

But if you say, "Lord, all that matters to me is that You are pleased, that my life reveals to this world what You are like"¦." It was one of the Wesleys who said that our job here on earth is to give the world a right opinion about God.

That's what Edwards was saying. "I want with all my might, in the way I use my time, in all of the details and circumstances of my life, I want to shed great glory on who God is. Excerpt taken from http://www.reviveourhearts.com.

So, whether you read Edwards list of 70 New Year's Resolutions or you choose to just make a quiet list of all of the things you are thankful for and pray that your life would serve the purpose God has intended to accomplish through you here on earth.........I challenge you to take the time to put God first place in your life, your home and your family in 2009! Happy New Year!