2 Samuel 21:2-4
He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior, you save me from violence. I all upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

As we look forward to Christmas and a new year let’s stop for a moment to see what we can do different. What are you doing to honor God this Christmas? Is He getting lost in the midst of all of your hustle and bustle? What could you do different this Christmas within yourself to honor Him? I know many people make their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight or stop a bad habit and those are all good things but how about we also ask God what changes we can make in the New Year so we can become more like Him. What attitudes can we change or what habits can we develop to become more Christlike.

Take inventory over the next few days with the Holy Spirit’s help and see what He speaks to your heart about. Do you put yourself down all the time? Are you negative? Do you put others down? Do you complain a lot (I know people that will lie about a person or situation just so they have something to complain about! Really, how do you think God feels about that?) Are you too busy, do you feel as though you just have to go, go, go all the time. The list could go on and on for things that need to change but let’s begin with these verses and see what comes to your mind:

Philippians 4:8
“Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”

Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law”

Ask yourself; Are you thinking on the right things? (Phil. 4:8) Does your life reflect the fruit of the Spirit of God living within you? (Gal. 5:22-23)

God’s desire is to help us become more like Him so you can count on Him giving you the ability to do what you need to do to become more like Him. The more you allow the Holy Spirit access to your behaviors and attitudes the more fruits of the Spirit will flow out of you. The more control you give to Him, the more of Him you will see in your life. God is good, God is always good, so let’s take this season and the new year and instead of just focussing on what we hope God will do for us let’s ask Him what we can change in our own lives so we can be more affective for Him!

Quote:
“Without hope, people are only half alive. With hope they dream and think and work.”