Rethinking New Year’s Resolutions

By James H. Pence –

New Year’s resolutions. Most of us make them. Or at least we think about making them. Maybe we need to lose weight, exercise more, get out of debt, or read the Bible through. The New Year often gets us in evaluation mode. We examine our lives with a view to being better people.

Unfortunately, more often than not we break our resolutions before January ends. We sink back into long-established habit patterns, and in the end our resolutions are forgotten until the next year. Then we begin the process all over again. This has led some people to think about abandoning the idea of New Year’s resolutions altogether. It’s not that resolutions are bad, but if we repeatedly make them only to break them, they become discouraging and self-defeating.

I’d like to suggest a different approach to resolutions. It was exemplified over 200 years ago by the great pastor-theologian Jonathan Edwards. Early in his life and ministry Edwards made seventy lifelong resolutions. His resolutions are inspiring and challenging, even if some of them are a bit daunting.

Here are a few:

• Resolution #5: Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
• Resolution #7: Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.
• Resolution #69: Resolved, always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it.

What is it about Edwards’ resolutions that make them significant? Most New Year’s resolutions tend to be “me-centered.” Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions were God-centered. Personal commitments—made one time—with God’s glory in view. How did he manage to keep them and especially to keep from forgetting them? The answer is found just before the first resolution:

“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake. Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.” (Emphasis added.)

Whether or not you make New Year’s resolutions, take Edwards’ example to heart. We should all regularly resolve to live to the glory of God; however that plays out in our daily life. May all the resolutions in our lives be God-centered.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, grant that I might not make meaningless resolutions this year. By the power of Your Holy Spirit please enable me to resolve daily to live for Your glory.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31 NIV).

Today’s devotion is by James H. Pence. James is an author, speaker, singer, and gospel chalk artist, but prefers to be known as a storyteller. To learn more about James and how he draws the stories of your heart, visit his Web site at: www.jamespence.com.

The Sweet Agony of Anticipation

By James H. Pence –

When I was growing up, Christmas Eve was the longest day—and night—of my year. Even when I was old enough to know that Santa Claus was really Mom and Dad, I still became so overcome with excitement that I felt the day would never end. At bedtime, I’d lay for what seemed like an eternity, looking at the ceiling and wondering when I’d ever fall asleep.

My feelings on that day could only be described as “sweet agony.”  Agony, because it seemed all the clocks in the house were running in snail mode; sweet, because I was anticipating something that was going to be utterly delightful: Christmas morning. But although the joy of Christmas morning was great, it paled in comparison to the sweet agony of Christmas Eve.

It is that same sweet agony that I see in the apostle Paul when he sat under house arrest, facing trial and possible execution: “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:23 NIV).

Most people facing execution will try their best to avoid it. Paul practically says, “Bring it on! I want to go and be with the Lord.” How can we explain this attitude? Paul lays it out for us a few verses earlier: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 NIV). The apostle explains that remaining in the body means “fruitful labor,” but dying means to be “with Christ.” He caps it off by saying that being with Christ is “better by far.” Paul’s mind is so focused on the joys of being with Jesus in heaven that death not only fails to frighten him, he welcomes the idea.

Paul lived with the sweet agony of anticipation: The anticipation of an eternity with Christ.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, may our hearts be overcome with childlike anticipation. Not the anticipation of material things, goodies, or food. Rather, let us experience the sweet agony of longing for heaven, of desiring to be with Christ, of understanding that for us, living is Christ and dying is gain.

That God’s Christmas gift to us: The hope of heaven in Him.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your only begotten Son into the world for us. Please help us this Christmas season to embrace the attitude that says, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

“Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” (Jude 21).

Today’s devotion is by James H. Pence. James is an author, speaker, singer, and gospel chalk artist, but prefers to be known as a storyteller. To learn more about James and how he draws the stories of your heart, visit his Web site at: www.jameshpence.com.

Forgotten by God?

By James H. Pence –

There are times when I wonder if God has forgotten about me. Ironically, I rarely feel this way in times of great difficulty or trial. When bad things happen, I am hard-wired to cry out to God. And generally in those times I sense His presence, comforting and sustaining me.

Nor do I wonder about God’s presence in my life when He is tangibly pouring out His blessings.

Most often, I wonder where God is during life’s dry times, when I feel like I’m wandering in a desert. Or when I’m feeling my way through a spiritual fog bank, not knowing which way to go or what to do. Or when life itself seems like an exercise in frustration.

That is when I want to stand cry out into the gray cloud banks surrounding me, “God? Are you still there?”

As I cry, I am often greeted by stony silence. I look. I listen. I cry out again, but He is nowhere to be seen or felt. It is on those occasions that I feel like the psalmist who wrote, “O Lord, why do you reject me, and pay no attention to me?” (Psalm 88:14 NET).

Yet in the midst of that fog, God has not left me without comfort. When the clouds obscure His face, I look to the Scriptures and am reminded of His watchful care. Jesus said “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows,” (Luke 12:6-7 NET).

Even when I cannot feel Him, cannot sense His presence, God reminds me that He is there. For if He does not forget a single sparrow, and he numbers the hairs on my head, He has not forgotten about me.

And so I must put away fear and despair, and trust in the One who knows the location and behavior of every molecule in the universe–even when I cannot sense his presence.

AUTHOR QUOTE: Even when I cannot sense God’s presence, He is still there with me.

“Aren’t five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. In fact, even the hairs on your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7 NET).

Today’s devotion is by James H. Pence. James is an author, speaker, singer, and gospel chalk artist, but prefers to be known as follower of Jesus Christ and a storyteller. To learn more about James and how he draws the stories of your heart, visit his Web site at: www.jamespence.com.

Walking Before God in the Land of the Living

By James H. Pence –

Not long ago, some dear friends of mine received news their son had died suddenly. If this wasn’t bad enough, their youngest son died in an auto accident about ten years ago. Another friend of mine learned last year that his eight-year-old daughter has an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer. Someone else I know lost his wife and two sons to murder. Nevertheless, in spite of their terrible tragedies, all of these people are praising God in the midst of their grief. More than that, they are taking that sorrow and using it to bring glory to God and influence others for him.

How is it possible to praise and worship God when you are experiencing unspeakable pain? The psalmist gives us a key when he writes, “For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living” (Psalm 116:8-9 NIV).

Believers in Jesus Christ can worship and praise God in the midst of tragedy because He has worked a three-fold deliverance in our lives. First, He has delivered our souls from death. We know that when this brief life is over, we will enter into God’s presence and enjoy Him forever. Through His death, Jesus Christ removed death’s sting, and that has a powerful impact on our outlook.

Second, God has delivered our eyes from tears. The Bible reminds us on many occasions that God will wipe all tears from our eyes when we’re in heaven. But it also says He is our comforter now. Paul told the Corinthians that God is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles” (2Corinthians 1:3-4a NIV). Because God is constantly wiping the tears away from our eyes, we can press on through trial and tragedy, bringing Him glory.

Third, God has delivered our feet from stumbling. While it’s true that all believers stumble and fall at times, God always raises us up and heals us. Jude reminds us that God “is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy” (Jude 24 NIV). Even though our circumstances may feel unbearable, we can rest assured that our God will preserve us through them and bring us safely home.

AUTHOR QUOTE: Because of the ongoing, sustaining grace of God, His people can pass through the worst fires human experience has to offer and come out victorious.

“How can I repay the LORD for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD” (Psalm 116:12-13 NIV).

Today’s devotion is by James H. Pence. James is an author, speaker, singer, and gospel chalk artist, but prefers to be known as a storyteller. To learn more about James and how he draws the stories of your heart, visit his website at: www.jamespence.com.

Swimming Upstream

By James H. Pence –

As I consider my Christian walk, I often feel like a salmon swimming upstream.

Most of us have seen videos of this amazing phenomenon of nature. These fish not only swim against raging currents and rapids, but often have to jump up small waterfalls, all to fulfill their final task in life—spawning and creating a new generation. It is an all-out effort in pursuit of a virtually impossible goal, and it takes every ounce of strength these fish have. And when their task is complete, they die.

It is a nearly perfect picture of the Christian life.

The Christian life is all about pursuing a goal. You can describe the goal in different terms: heaven, glory, holiness, righteousness, etc. As Paul described it in Romans, God’s goal is for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:29). He puts it in more practical terms in his letter to the Ephesians: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Ephesians 1:4 NIV).

God’s goal—and our goal—is to become like Jesus Christ. The problem is, everything in our world runs counter to that goal.

To pursue Christlikeness while living in this world is like swimming upstream against roaring rapids, jumping over waterfalls, and fighting a constant, unending battle against a current that would inevitably take us in the opposite direction. What is worse, not only do we have to struggle against the current of the world; we also have to resist our natural inclination toward sin. At least salmon don’t have a sin nature to contend with.

Yes, this is a nearly perfect picture of the Christian life. Except that we have something the salmon don’t have. They must pursue and reach their goal, driven only by instinct and gritty determination. We have One who lives in us and empowers us daily, and He has promised to complete the work He began in us.

I often find myself discouraged in my daily battle against my own sin, against my own tendency to allow the stream to carry me away from God. But God has begun a good work in me through His Son, Jesus Christ, and He has promised to carry it on to completion.

AUTHOR QUOTE: I will finally reach the goal of Christlikeness, not because of my own will and gritty determination, but because of His faithfulness.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NIV).

Today’s devotion is by James H. Pence. James is an author, speaker, singer, and gospel chalk artist, but prefers to be known as a storyteller. To learn more about James and how he draws the stories of your heart, visit his website at: www.jamespence.com.

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