Thriving in the New Year

Last Sunday our preacher gave a message that focused on Philippians 4:6-9,
^"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." He then gave five different disciplines for starting each day of this new year, that he derived from these verses. I would like to pass these on to you.

First, we should Rise Thankfully. Each day we should wake up giving thanks to the Lord for all the things He has done in our lives, no matter how big or small. We need to give thanks for his protection, salvation, and provision in our lives.

We should also Pray Expectantly. In the scripture above it says to not be anxious about anything, but to tell God about every single thing. We should not only pray, but pray expecting answers, because God answers every pray. He may answer with a yes, no, maybe, or not right now, but he does answer every prayer. As our preacher said, we can pray and believe and receive or we can pray and doubt and do without (James 1:6-8).

Each day we need to make sure to Speak Kindly. The things that we think about are evident in our actions. Not only what we do, but what we say. If we think of the positive attributes of others then we will become better people. We need to focus on the good in others and praise them for it.

This next one can sometimes be difficult but we should Forgive Quickly. We need to forgive and forget, just as God has done for us. When we ask for forgiveness, He forgives us and forgets our sins. As is says in Psalms 103:12, God has cast our sins as far as the East is from the West, and I don't know if you realize this, but that's an infinite distance. In the same way, we must forgive those who have hurt us and not hold a grudge against them for whatever they have done.

The last thing is to Work Worshipfully. As our pastor said, Worship is what you do every day of your life, and do EVERYTHING in the name of the Lord. Worship is where your heart is and how it is responding to God. Every aspect of our lives should reflect an attitude of worship.

These five daily disciples are a good way to not just survive this new year, but to thrive in 2012. I challenge myself to live each day by rising thankfully, praying expectantly, speaking kindly, forgiving quickly and working worshipfully, and I hope that you will do the same.