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New Year’s Resolutions

resolutions, goals, Christian, new year's, new years, plan, new year's resolutions, Christian
In 2010, I created a set of goals.  It was an aggressive list of over 27 goals broken into 9 categories.  I’ve been working on those goals ever since.  They weren’t exactly new year’s resolutions because I knew that was too much to expect but I think the categories might be a helpful way of determining where you need to improve most.

  • Know/Love God – Seek to know God & ‘Who needs me Today?’ (Mark 12:29-31)
  • Family – Home is the Primary Mission Field (Acts 10:2)
  • Finances – Be a Good Steward of Finances (1 Timothy 6:7-10)
  • Health – Accomplish All of God’s Will in my Life (Philippians 3:12)
  • Career – God is in Control; Work as on to the Lord (Matthew 6:31-33)
  • Ministry – Hope for the Hopeless (Matthew 28:16-20)
  • Avoid Idols – Starve the old self! (Matthew 6:24)
  • Recreation – Observe a Sabbath Rest (Mark 6:31)

For each category above, I create a list of things I thought were critical and that I either aspired to do, or to continue to do.  So, for example, under knowing God my list looked like this:

Know, Love, God, new year's resolutions, resolutions, goals, ChristianI choose the goal ‘Knowing God’ to show here because it is probably the most generic and many of these goals probably could apply to you as well.  My goals under the other categories are very specific to my walk and may not apply.

I know, and science proves, that the highest achievers all have one thing in common… you guessed it, they set goals.  So, I’m reviewing my goals before I start the year so I can make sure I focus my attention.  I’m far from where I want to be and likely even farther from where God wants me to be.

So, why not share your new year’s resolutions here, or on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/NYMensministry

I hope you have a very happy new year’s day and a blessed 2013!

Creative Commons License
New Year’s Resolutions by Westchester Men’s Ministry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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Casting Crowns – Courageous (Official Music Video from the Movie)

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God’s Response to Our Wounds

The Situation: We are all Wounded

  • We are all impacted by our parents. Their actions, their example and their love.
  • Since they are imperfect (like us), we are wounded.
  • These wounds leave us unsure about ourselves and afraid that we will be exposed as less then what we appear to be.
  • They are a lie, that says we are unworthy or not valuable.
  • Like any lie or half truth, it can cause us to respond incorrectly.
  • Even Jesus needed to hear words of affirmation from his father.

You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased  – Luke 3:22

God’s Response
Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the fullness of time had come. God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” (ESV)

Joshua 1:9
“…Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where you go.”

Psalm 139:7-10
“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Proverbs 3:11-12
”My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (NIV)

Hebrews 12:7
“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?”

Proverbs 17:6
“The glory of children is their father” (NKJV)

Study Questions

  1. What words or thoughts strike you in the verses above?
  2. How has God affirmed you in a way your father didn’t or couldn’t?
  3. What implications does this have on us, as fathers?
  4. How can we pray for you as a father? For your son or daughter?