Listen to Godly Advice

Everyone of us have times when we can't figure out what to do. We may need to talk to someone or perhaps need to hear someone preach the word so that it can speak to our inner being. Our church recently hired a pastor to fill a vacancy that had lasted almost one year. During that time we had other speakers but it wasn't the same as having one person as a source for encouragement and advice. Listening to someone explain the Bible has taken on a new meaning. New insights, a new focus in our life, and a leader who has made a commitment to stay and assist with church growth. How much more we gain from having a leader who seeks out God's will.

Perhaps many times we turn to someone else close to us who is living a godly life. We can learn from them about how to gain a real closeness with the Lord. We can either be the one seeking out advice or the one giving advice, but the real important part for any Christian is being sure that the answers are based on the Bible and its teachings. It's not what others say that is important; rather it is what God says in His word. He is the majestic leader of our Christian faith and the one we can rely on for direction and discernment.

To Be More Like Christ

Walking with God isn't easy and when life presents challenges during this year, I need to know that He will be with me and give me the right direction if I will follow His leading. It's hard to believe that half of the month of January has lapsed and I need to keep my commitment to Christ to be more like Him and to be available to friends who need help. That may be something like prayer, a chat on the phone, or running an errand but whatever that is it needs to be motivated by love. Doing it just because I have to or think I need to is not taking the right attitude. So for this month and for the year ahead, I am trusting God to give me the right direction and to open my eyes to new opportunities.

A NEW YEAR

With the start of 2009 most people set aside resolutions or goals that they want to achieve during the year. The hard part of this is keeping the resolution. Many people can work hard to make progress but many fall short of their goal and quit after a month or so. Keeping the commitment sounded easy but in actuality it is much harder than it was made.

I could say that I have a long list of resolutions for this year but I really don't. I am trying to keep an open mind to opportunities that come my way and will try to trust the Lord to give me guidance and direction. Our church has been without a minister for a year and this Sunday we will finally have a new minister in the pulpit. It will be refreshing to hear sermons from a whole new perspective and hopefully our church will begin to grow both in numbers and in a closer walk with the Lord.

For this new year I challenge each of you as well as myself to keep my eyes on the Lord and watch for his presence in each day of the year. You will be amazed at the little ways that He lets us know His presence.