Seven Resolutions Guaranteed To Improve Your Spiritual Health in 2018 1. Have a daily quiet time alone with God. Psalms 119:147-148 147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. 148 My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word. During my freshman year of college, I was making many decisions which I thought were very important and life-changing. My major, my dorm, my classes and more. I made one, though, almost on a whim--to start getting up early in the morning to read the Word of God and pray. An upper classman had invited me to do this with him. He called it “A Daily Quiet Time Alone with God.” We would pray and ask God to speak to us from His written Word – the Holy Scriptures. Then we would read a chapter in Proverbs. After this, we would ask three questions – From the chapter, what is one thing God would like me To Know, To Be and To Do. We would record these in a notebook. Afterward, we would go and have breakfast together and discuss how God had spoken to us from His Word. The other decisions which I so worried over, prayed over, turned out to be inconsequential while, this one decision, which I made almost as an afterthought, turned out to be one of the most important and life-changing decisions of my life.
2. Read through the Bible. Deuteronomy 17:18-20 "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 "It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.” Christian businessman Gene Warr challenged me that, if I wanted to be used by God, I should hear every word that God the Holy Spirit had to say about me every year. To do that, you must read through the Bible yearly. It seemed daunting but then he also pointed out to me that to read three Old Testament pages and two New Testament pages each day would do the trick. Most Bibles have about 1,500 pages. Given 352 weeks in a year, it is a relatively easy thing to do. That was 1972 and it has been my practice ever since. Later I came across the above verse, which explains very distinctly the value of reading the Bible every day. Take a moment and consider the impact that reading through the Bible every year, on a day-by-day basis, will have on your relationship with God, your character and your family.
3. Make a list of 12 people to whom you will witness - choose one each month with whom you will share Christ and invite to church. Luke 8:38-39 38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, 39 "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him. Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Here’s a nice little trick. Put a notecard on your mirror in the bathroom with these 12 names on it. Next to each name write a month of the year. As you begin and end each day, pray for all 12 but, especially, for the “man of the month.” As you pray, ask God to open up your mind as to how to creatively share Christ with that person. God will answer this prayer. All you have to do is “not be ashamed of the Gospel.”
4. Eat five family dinners each week – four evening and Sunday after church. Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” When my son was in high school, his sociology teacher took a poll. He asked, “How many of you have sit down meals as a family?” (Not seven/week, not four, not two, but simply sometimes) Only my son and the Mormon girl in his class raised their hands. Both proudly gave the number as six times a week. (What a shame that fathers and mothers belonging to a pagan cult place more value on family meals than many leaders in the Church.) As you consider this practice, it may not seem spiritual but, consider for a moment the spiritual importance of meals throughout holy Scripture. In Revelation 3:20 it is a picture of our salvation. In Revelation 19:7-9 it is a picture of Heaven. In Psalm 23:5 it is a picture of God’s sovereign protection. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus used meals for both witnessing and for intimate times with His disciples. A few of the very many examples of this may be found in – Matthew 9:10; 26:6 – 13; 26:20 – 25. If this form of fellowship is important to God, then it should be a centerpiece of your family’s spiritual traditions.
5. Faithfully attend church – taking notes on the sermon and then discuss them over lunch with your family. Hebrews 10:24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Every Sunday, every member of your family sitting tougher in church, listening and taking notes. Every member of the family, every Sunday, enjoying a Sunday meal together and then afterwards discussing the sermon from their notes. Most evangelical parents put far more emphasis and priority on school attendance, scholastic activities and sports than they do on church attendance. Then they wonder why, when their children go off to college, they do not attend church. Some para-church parents repeat the false and empty refrain “we go to church all week and need a day off Sunday.” They, too, are surprised at the indifference of their children to spiritual things. Again, some pastors are too busy on Sunday to attend to their family’s spiritual needs and wonder why their children resent the church for stealing their father. No matter your position – layman, para-church minister or pastoral staff--make this commitment to the spiritual care of your family.
6. Adopt a missionary – pray daily, communicate weekly, give monthly 3 John 7-8 “For they went out for the sake of the Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the ..’ At your family sit-down dinners, pray for your missionary. Each week send a text, email or letter to your missionary. Each month make a financial contribution to your missionary, either by check or automatic bank transfer. When our children were in the home, I would write mission agencies and let them know that, if they had a missionary traveling through town or making a visit to our area, they could count on a place to stay. All my children were impacted by these visits and it is no wonder that, because of the faithful practice of #6, that they have all served on the mission field at one time or another in their adult lives.
7. Forgive and restore relationships with any member of your immediate or extended family with whom you are estranged. Matthew 5:23-25 23 "Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” If any family member has a right to be bitter and refuse to reconcile for the hurts received, it is Jesus. As your Brother (Matthew 12:50), He had to suffer for your sins – He was the innocent child of God but He had to pay for your sins that you might enter the family of God. If any family member has a right to refuse to forgive, it is your Heavenly Father for what His innocent Son suffered because of you. If God the Son and God the Father can suffer, reconcile, forgive, forget and even bless, then who are you to not restore relationships with your earthly family member? If they refuse to reconcile or to forgive, that is up to them, but do not let this year go by without seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with any family member with whom you are alienated.
It will be a simple thing to print this out and systematically apply these seven resolutions to your life in 2018. (If you do not like my applications/resolutions, then meditate on the passages and come up with seven of your own.) Luke 11:28 But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
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