Happy New Year!

Every new year most people try to come up with some resolutions for the new year. Some people follow through with them and some do not even get started! But regardless of which one you are let me encourage you to consider three spiritual resolutions for 2019! The first one is to read the Bible more than you have in the past! Remember that quantity is not always quality! Some of you like me are going to read through the whole Bible in 2019 and that is a great goal especially if you have never done it before. Make sure you get a plan and make sure you keep on track so you do not fall to far behind and get discouraged and quit! Some others may be making a resolution to read one Scripture a day! If you are committing to do that I encourage you to get the daily Scripture from the Bible app and set it to be sent to you everyday at your desired time! Whatever and however you choose to read the Bible it will not be time wasted! It will further your knowledge of God and deepen your walk with God so I encourage you to choose your plan and commit to it! Remember the grass with wither and the flowers will fade but the Word of God will stand forever! The second resolution I would recommend is for you to pray everyday! Somewhere and sometime during your day you need to intentionally set aside time to pray to God! I like to pray the acrostic ACTS which stand for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. When you read your Bible God is speaking to you and when you pray you are speaking to God! Effective communication is the key to any relationship and when you are reading your Bible and praying consistently then your walk with Jesus will be fresh and full of the power of the Holy Spirit. Morning, noon or night the time does not matter but the consistency will! The third resolution is for you to fast! I know this is a tough one for many because it is misunderstood but this is one that will potentially be the most powerful resolution of them all in your walk with God. Fasting is abstaining from something for the purpose of drawing closer to God. Now it used to be that fasting was only connected with food because that was something that everyone desired frequently and food is a great thing to fast from. But one of the more rapidly growing fast is from social media! Social media is something that grabs a hold of our attention and most of the time it is a futile pursuit that leads to resentment or discontentment. So fasting from social media could be very powerful and productive in your christian walk. Fasting lets God know that you are serious and every time you desire to fulfill what you are fasting from you rather pursue God in prayer and seek Him that will no doubt strengthen your relationship with Christ! I hope you will consider these three simple suggestions and may your walk with Christ in 2019 be the strongest yet! In Christ, Pastor Ted