Philippians 3:12-21 New Living Translation ®,
12 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you.
16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.
18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth.
20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
A New Year! Realizing we are spending this our last day of 2011, hope you are making the most of this historical day.
What I love about the New Year is that we get to make a fresh start. Right now, you and I have the most fantastic opportunity, we actually get to leave behind what did not seem to work for us in 2011 and we now have the opportunity to embrace the vision of all that we would like to see take place and be fulfilled through us in this New Year of 2012. As my quote says:
"May you lend yourself to the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ in this New Year and let Him give you another chance to fulfill His will and get all things done right in 2012."
For the past twelve years, I have had a simple New Year's ritual that has been a great way to ring in the new for my life. I love to read and use the writings of the Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:12-21, New Living Translation ®, in looking over the past year and setting my goals for the New Year, so that I can accomplish the will of God in and through my life this coming year.
I have shared this with a few of my personal friends who have loved what I am trying to do and some of them have joined me in doing these things in a similar way. I want to share these few things with all of you. I suggest you do this on New Year's morning, shortly after you get up and get the New Year of 2012 off to a good start:
1. Start with a fresh cup of hot home brewed FOLGER’S which is always the best part of waking up. (You can use a lesser brand of coffee tea or your favorite soft drink), this is simply to stimulate you and awaken you so you can get yourself focused on your day.
2. Start with a 10 - 15 minute quiet time in which you set your attention on releasing yesterday and opening yourself to this new day.
3. On this first day of the New Year write yourself a list on a note pad, i-pad, computer or other electronic device. Write all the things in 2011 that you would like to release. This can include old sinful things that do not serve to promote the will of God through your life. Such things as grudges or resentments you are personally hanging onto, fears that are holding you back, circumstances in your life that you would like to see changed, or things you failed to do in this old year.
This list can include the old habits in your life that are holding you down such as eating too much, not exercising, you having a negative or bad attitude. Make sure your list is as complete as you can possibly make it with everything that did not seem to work for you in this past year of 2011. My list is usually a few pages long.
4. I personally read my list a couple three times and get it into my mind that I am not going to let these things control me or hold me back in this New Year (2012). When I made a hand written list I then would shred these pages through a paper shredder and make a deal with myself these things are in my past they are behind me and I am looking forward to this New Year of fulfilling the will of God. (You can shred your list, cut it into many pieces and throw it into a trash can or step out doors and burn it, but whatever you do get it behind you.) Now that I make the list on an electronic device I keep them stored on my hard drive, but I still put them behind me. The one advantage of this is when I go to make my new list at the end of this another year, I can look back and know whether I really did put these things behind me or if they hampered my efforts yet another year.
As I release this list, I imagine letting go of the past and putting it behind me, I then make every effort of getting myself into the presence of the Lord and release myself to following His will this New Year.
5. Now, I go on to setting my New Year Goals. Make a list of all that you wish to accomplish for the Lord and for yourself in 2012. Include the good habits you would like to embrace, the external circumstances you would like to change, and the internal spiritual experiences you would like to experience this year (joy, freedom, ease, love, peace, acceptance of all that is, etc). You must be as specific as you possibly can. Make your goals obtainable, have short term goals and long term goals in your life. Some of the goals are goals that are continuing goals that are progressively being obtained each year. These continuing goals need to be written again for this New Year, but they must be written from the point they were at the ending of the Old Year and where you plan for them to be when they are completed in time to come.
Read your list of goal out loud to yourself, more than one time. Speaking these goals out loud to yourself will help you to actualize them in your mind. You will actually get a picture of them etched into your mind if you read them over and over to yourself. You can get a positive feel for each and every goal visualizing them through faith as though each one of them were actually being fulfilled as you read and speak them. This will give you the courage to obtain them this New Year.
Put this list of your personal goals in a special place, where you can glance at them often and keep them fresh in your life, this will keep you focused for this coming year.
Notice how you feel after doing this ritual. I always feel cleansed, lighter, renewed, and excited about what is ahead in this New Year.
Please let me know your experience with this and why don’t you share with me any New Year ritual you love through email rodbankens@yahoo.com or in a private message on my Rodney Bankens Facebook page.
This is a very special New Year's for me. I will for the first time in many years spend New Year's Eve in the privacy of my own home with my wife and my two toy poodle’s, this is an extraordinary way to spend New Year’s eve. I cannot think of a better way to start this New Year of 2012.
I am praying, hoping and wishing that this New Year of 2012 be a great year for you and your family as you all work to fulfill the will of God through life? A year that is so full of God’s wonder, grace, mercy miracles, love and the deepest fulfillment of your soul.
But as I end this I must tell you this is going to be a year of radical change for our nation and our world. As we strive to reach our goals and fulfill the will of God and reach souls we had best do it with urgency and with all our might, understanding the end of life as we now know it is here. As far as liberties and freedoms, they are almost at the end. What we are going to do for the kingdom of God and winning souls for the kingdom we better do it quickly, if things continue as they are now going we will not have these same rights and liberties at the end of 2012. Wake up saints of God, let us realize this is a New Year, but it is also the beginning of the end.
Like I said, I was just thinking…
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